Growing Your Beard for the First Time? Read This First

I sell at a handful of farmers markets around northern Utah, and it's the best customer research I could ask for — I talk to a lot of guys, I see a lot of beards, and I see the same mistakes over and over. A while back I wrote up some of this advice for r/BeardTalk, and it got enough traction that I wanted to expand on it here.

If you're growing out your beard for the first time — to ZZ Top length, not just a weekend of stubble — here's what actually matters.

Genetics set the ceiling, not the internet

If your stubble comes in patchy after a day or two, no product is going to change that. Minoxidil isn't some secret unlock either — it's not the miracle solution the internet makes it out to be. Some guys are built for a full beard, some aren't, and no amount of effort changes your DNA. What effort does change is how good the beard you can grow actually looks.

Don't shave your neck. Not once. Not "just to clean it up."

This is the mistake I see more than any other. Guys spend weeks growing out their beard and then reach for a razor on their neck "just to tidy things up" — and it ruins the whole thing.

Think of it like a hedge. What makes a hedge look full isn't the leaves you can see on the surface — it's everything growing behind them that you can't see. Your beard works the same way. The hair below your chin and down your neck is what gives your beard its fullness. The hair above your chin is what gives it shape. Shave the neck, and you lose the fullness — what's left just hangs off your cheeks like curtains, no matter how long you grow it.

The rule: don't touch your neck until a professional does it for you, and even then, not until you're ready.

Find a barber before you touch a razor

Here's the actual plan I'd follow if I were starting over:

1. Budget $50–60 for a proper shape-up.
2. Find 5 barbershops in your area — check social media, ask around, and don't rule out female barbers. Some of the best beard shapers I've seen are women who specialize in exactly this.
3. Book an appointment at least a week out. The longer you wait to see them, the more they'll have to work with.
4. Don't touch a razor before that appointment. Let it grow untouched. Tell the barber exactly what you're going for — full length, ZZ Top territory — and let them line you up.
5. Follow their maintenance plan. If you can swing an ongoing appointment, do it. If not, leave it alone and let it grow between touch-ups every 2–3 months.

It's going to look bad before it looks good

There's an awkward middle stage every beard goes through. Don't panic and don't shave it off. Beards grow around half an inch a month on average, so if you're picturing a long, full beard, you're looking at months, not weeks. Patience is the actual product here — everything else is just maintenance.

Gravity is doing more work than you think

Beard hair on your neck often grows in a different direction than the rest of your face early on, which is part of why a young beard can look messy. As it gets longer, gravity takes over and starts pulling everything into the same downward direction. This is also around when you'll find out whether you're one of the lucky guys with a naturally straight beard, or whether — like me — you're reaching for a blow dryer every morning to keep the front from curling.

Once you're at this stage, this is where a good beard oil and a boar-bristle brush actually start to matter — not for growth, but for training the hair to lay the direction you want and cutting down on the daily fight.

Get your person on board

If your partner isn't into the beard, you're fighting an uphill battle the entire time you're growing it. This isn't me being dramatic — having full support at home made a bigger difference to how confident I felt growing mine out than any product I used. Grow what makes you feel like yourself, but don't underestimate how much easier the process is with the right person in your corner.

The bottom line

Rock whatever length actually gives you confidence — short, stubble, full ZZ Top, doesn't matter. Just know that the guys with the best beards aren't the ones with the best genetics necessarily; they're the ones putting in daily effort. Don't shave the neck, find a barber who knows what they're doing, and give it time.

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Originally posted to r/BeardTalk — expanded here with a few more years of farmers market conversations behind it.

Once you're past the awkward stage, Core Beard Care has everything you need to keep it looking the way you worked for.