Growing and grooming an epic beard

So just to state the obvious right up front... Beards are here and they are here to stay.

  Just as more extreme haircuts and tattoos have found there way into the mainstream, so have beards. Even epic beards are no longer reserved for ax weilding mountain men. Beards are being worn by everyone from professional athletes to tech gurus.

  So how do you grow a great beard without alienating your significant other or looking like a homeless man?
First let's start with beard to haircut ratio. Now I could go on and on about esthetics and statistics about balance being the most pleasing to the eye, but I won't.

   I'm a barber for goodness sake, we tell it like it is. Good, bad but never indifferent we always have an opinion. Make that double for me because I'm a woman.

     Ok, hair to beard ratio, its fairly straight forward. The longer and fuller the beard the shorter and tighter the haircut should be. The reverse also being true if you like to keep your locks a little longer try a shorter beard with distinct sharp lines. My one caveat to this rule is a man bun or for hair that is long but worn pulled away from the face giving the illusion of tightly cut sides.

  Now that you have a length in mind, how do you get it there. This should be the easy part, right? Well maybe, but if you're like most a little guidance along the way helps. Depending on how quickly your beard grows you will need to take a trip to the barbershop.
This is the key to not looking as though you have given up all hope in life. Even a beard in its infancy  stages will look purposeful with a good trim and shap-up/ line-up. From my experiance this and great smelling beard products are key to getting your wife or girlfriend on board.
As you beard grows you will need to take care of it by washing, conditioning, combing and keeping it hydrated. Keeping in mind your beard hair gets older faster it will have a tendency to be more dry and brittle then the hair on your head. This is also he reason men will find gray hair in their beard long before it ever shows on their head.

    Now put away your razor... At least for now

 ( coming next the five things you and your beard need )