When you start your beard growth journey, you’re going to be teeming with excitement at the prospect of having a glorious beard! All of this excitement aside, how long does it take to grow a beard?
In most cases, growing a baseline beard will take 2-4 months. On average, facial hair for men grows at a rate of 1/2 inch per month! Some factors can impact how quickly your beard grows, which we will cover here.
Let’s explore the different stages of beard growth, beard growth factors, and briefly touch on how to grow a beard faster.
This article is Section 3 of The Beard Playbook Part 1 by The Gentleman’s Playbook.
Stages of Beard Growth
First, it helps to understand what the general stages of beard growth are. We won’t go too far into the actual scientific phases of how a beard hair grows, as that’s not really of much use to you.
We want to look at how long each stage of beard length/look will last. Here’s what we teach in The Beard Playbook when it comes to the different stages of beard growth.
The 6 Stages of Beard Growth, according to The Gentleman’s Playbook, are:
- Stubble – Occurs over weeks 1-3. Your beard will be rough and almost gritty.
- Patchy – Occurs over weeks 3-6 (or longer). Your beard is growing in and getting close to filling out. You’ll still have some patches until the length grows enough to fill in the patchiness.
- Foundational – Happens after 2-3 months of beard growth. This is where you have a short, but established beard. You can now officially say you have a beard!
- Medium Beard – Occurs after 3-6 months of beard growth. Your beard will be fuller, fluffier, and maybe slightly unruly. It will still follow the shape/contour of your face, and without proper grooming may make your face look a little round.
- Long Beard Plus – This is where the legends are made. This stage is very long, as it continues until you get rid of your beard!
- Maintenance – The Final Stage of beard growth is Maintenance. This is when you reach your desired beard length and fullness. Everything after this is maintaining the appearance of your beard. This can occur at any stage, but it’s your last stop on the beard growth journey.
When Does a Beard Stop Growing?
Eventually, your beard will stop increasing in length or slow down critically. Fortunately, it won’t happen for a long time.
Even then, your beard doesn’t stop growing. What happens is your beard will reach a point where it starts to shed, making way for new facial hair growth.
This is called terminal length or terminal beard and all it means is that you’ve reached the max length your beard can go before it begins to shed to make way for that new hair.
This can take years to occur, so don’t stress! You’ll have plenty of beard length at this point.
Beard Growth Factors
When trying to answer the question, “How long does it take to grow a beard?”, there are a few factors to consider. Everybody is different. One person may grow a beard quickly while another takes a few months to get to a foundational beard.
Luckily, some factors can be controlled (and unluckily, some are harder to overcome).
Here are the beard growth factors that can affect the rate at which you grow a beard:
Testosterone
Testosterone is naturally the first one we need to mention. Generally, more testosterone equates to faster and thicker beard growth. Some men have lower than normal testosterone levels, which is an issue that can be addressed with your doctor or health professional.
Some natural ways to stabilize or help with testosterone production are to maintain a healthy diet and work out.
Age
Another major factor that impacts how long it takes to grow a beard is your age. If you’re in your teens, just now going through puberty, you’ll struggle to grow a thick, rich beard.
Once you hit your mid-20s and onward, growing a beard will become much easier as your facial hair becomes denser, coarser, and grows more quickly.
Age is not something you can control, but you can definitely improve your beard growth by making sure you follow the other tips we outline on this page for beard growth.
Also, check out The Beard Playbook for an exhaustive resource on all your beard growth needs.
Hygiene
Beard hygiene is one of the most controllable factors when it comes to how long it takes to grow a beard.
By making sure you are washing your beard (the right way) and conditioning your beard appropriately, you can ensure that your face has the right foundation for healthy facial hair growth to occur.
Again, we go in-depth on beard hygiene in The Beard Playbook, so check it out already!
Health and Diet
You are what you eat…or something like that. Yes, you’ve heard it before, but making sure you’re healthy and eating whole foods is critical to making sure you have a beard that grows as quickly as possible.
Eat healthy foods, make sure you take proper supplements, and consider getting a blood test with your doctor to make sure you don’t have any vitamin or mineral deficiencies.
We recommend all readers of The Gentleman’s Playbook consider getting a yearly blood panel for general health purposes and analysis, anyways.
Genetics
Lastly, the least controllable factor that affects how long it takes to grow a beard is your genetics.
If you look at your father and his father, or look at your mother’s father and see that these men grow facial hair at a slower than average pace, you may also experience this as well.
Don’t fret! You can still grow a great beard with the right beard care routine. We outline plenty you can follow in The Beard Playbook.
How to Grow a Beard Faster
You want to grow a beard faster than you are currently. Many men also crave this outcome!
While we can’t tell you how much faster you can grow a beard, we can give you some tips on how to grow a beard faster.
Here are some great places to start if you want to learn how to grow a beard faster than you are now:
Follow The Beard Playbook
Self-plug. Check out The Beard Playbook from The Gentleman’s Playbook! It’s free and all available on our website.
Start with Part 1 and read through the overview of the first part of The Beard Playbook. Then, click the link at the end of each of the Sections you see on that page, and you’ll be taken into even more detailed guides for that particular topic concerning beard growth.
Part 2 isn’t out yet, but once it is, you’ll be able to get to it from The Beard Playbook Part 1. Make sure to bookmark Part 1 to come back to it as often as you need!
Have Good Beard Hygiene
Another way to increase the speed at which you grow your beard is to make sure you have great beard hygiene.
We already touched on this earlier, but this is by far the most controllable factor when it comes to how long it takes to grow the beard of your dreams.
Washing and conditioning with the appropriate beard products will make sure the skin under your beard is clean of bacteria that could inhibit beard growth.
Some washes and conditioners come with essential oils infused within them. These essential oils are often picked due to their abilities to enhance beard growth.
Use Beard Oil
Beard oil is seriously magical. After your shower in the morning (or evening), use a few drops of beard oil and work it into your beard.
Beard oil will keep your face and beard moisturized, immediately make your beard look more full, and also work to help your beard grow even faster and thicker.
We go over beard oils in-depth at various points throughout The Beard Playbook. We even have a guide on how to make your own DIY Beard Oils.
How Long Does it Take to Grow a Beard?
As we mentioned at the start of this section, it will take about 2-4 months for most men to grow a baseline beard. Different factors can alter growth speed such as:
- Testosterone Levels
- Age
- Hygiene
- Health & Diet
- Genetics
You can also attempt to increase the speed your beard grows by doing the following:
- Reading The Beard Playbook
- Having a Great Beard Hygiene Routine
- Using Beard Growth Oils