Just began growing your beards? Excellent! Still confused about what to do during the stages of beard growth? Well, that’s expected for a start.
Your initial confusion shouldn’t be a cause of too much worry for you, because to be honest, a lot of us weren’t sure about what was going on with our faces when we started growing beards.
Personally, I was lost on how to go about the whole beard growth progression, especially seeing that there were different stages of beard growth.
But hey, I can proudly say today that I’ve nurtured my beard long enough, to know better about everything that should be done throughout the process because it’s pretty easy if you know what to expect in each stage of beard growth,
As such, I’ve compiled a guide to help first-timers to understand what really to expect as the beards begin to grow.
Without wasting too much time, let’s dive right into explaining these different stages of beard growth in the Follicles.
Table of Contents
Stages of Beard Growth in The Follicles
The knowledge of these stages of beard growth that will be discussed here would set your mind ready for the other lessons on how to take care of your beard in different stages of beard growth. And under this section, we’ve classified the beard growth cycle into three; Anagen, Catagen, and Telogen.
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The Anagen
Anagen is the first stage in the beard growth cycle, and depending on a few different factors, this stage can last for months, or even years sometimes. Beard scientists have even placed the average period for this stage to be between 1-4 years, so don’t get too surprised when the stage takes up to a couple of years on your beard.
Also, bear in mind that genetics play a significant part in determining how long this stage would last. Meaning, if you are a person that naturally grows hair fast, then you can expect to have an awesome beard in less time than others.
If your hair grows slowly, on the other hand, don’t fret, just be patient and with time, you’ll be where you want too. The key to growing an awesome beard is patience and proper maintenance.
Now, during the anagen stage, the beard has been discovered to grow at about an average of 1cm every month, meaning that with proper maintenance, you should be pulling up to 12 cm of facial hair before the year runs out.
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Catagen
This is the stage in the beard growth cycle where the hair stops growing but stays embedded in the follicle. You may call this stage the resting stage for the beard. However, behind the scenes, there is often a process going on, which is often responsible for cutting the hair off from the production cells of new air. Usually, this phase lasts for about two weeks before entering the telogen state.
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Telogen
At this stage, there’s no serious growth happening with your beard, as the stage only leaves room for the transitioning of hair follicles. As the old follicles begin to retire and fall off, new hair gets born, and the whole process starts from the beginning again with the anagen stage.
It is important to note that every individual will have to go through these three stages of the beard growth cycle, although the rate may be different. And the last stage is the reason why you find random strands of hair locked on your comb or brush once in a while.
Naturally, you may lose on average between 50-100 hairs every day, but if you subject your body to extreme stress, then you may lose even more.
Stages of Beard Growth by Weeks
The section above might seem like some strange language to a lot of people, after all, who has the time to study words like anagen and telogen? Except of course you are a high stylist or a beard expert, which I’m almost sure you are not. So I’ll try to spell out the different stages involved in beard growth by weeks. However, bear in mind that beard classification by weeks is done by different people based on various criteria. So, I’ll try to base my classification on genetic.
- Week one: Inactive stage
- For Week two – three: Beard formation stage
- Week four-six: Continuous beard formation and development stage
- For Week six – seven: Beard development and maturity.
- Week eight – 10: Full maturity of beard.
How Much Beard Growth Happens in Each Stage
In this segment, I’ll try to explain the stages of beard growth by age, breaking down what happens in every week of the beard’s life cycle. The time your beard takes to grow can be classified into the following:
Week One
The first week of beard growth is usually the most inactive stage, as there isn’t really a lot happening. If you used a double edge safety razor to cut your beard previously, then there’s a good chance that you’ve either cut the follicle to the skin level, or you’ve just cut a fraction of it below the surface.
Whatever the case may be, you can expect to notice a faint stubble, which will start forming on your skin surface within the first few days.
I’ve seen a few people get a bit antsy about this stage, going as far as defining the lines of their beard by the stubble growth. Well, although there’s nothing really wrong with doing this, I will still advise you to wait a few more weeks before picking up your razor blade.
On the use of beard products, the first week of beard growth would not require any beard products. Even though these beard products are great for moisturizing the skin, they would not be really necessary at this stage, as your sebaceous glands will be handling the heavy lifting at that time.
Week 2 – 3
This stage is when you’ll begin to see signs of the formation of killer beards.
Depending on your genetics, this growth takes different forms and growth speed.
Generally, you should begin to look out for great beard products that would do your beard growth real good, because you may need them in the next couple of weeks.
I would personally advise that you still try to stay away from the barber’s shop during this time because at this stage, letting your beard grow unkempt, wouldn’t be a bad idea after all.
Week 4 – 6
It is at this stage that things begin to pick up some speed. Between the fourth and fifth weeks, you should begin to notice sizeable growth.
As the beard growth begins to pick up, you should probably expect things like little itches here and there, in fact, you should expect more in the coming days.
The most common cause of beard itching is often as a result of dryness of the skin on which your beard is resting.
At this stage, you’ve crossed the mark when sebum oil naturally produced in the sebaceous glands, will be enough to keep your beard moisturized.
Hence, you will need to strongly think about incorporating the use of beard oil in your grooming routine.
Here, beard oil would come in handy for instantly relieving any symptoms of beard itch.
Apart from helping your skin against itching, beard oil is also useful for softening beard follicles.
Week 6 – 7
At stage this stage, you’ll want to see your barber.
Personally, I recommend that you avoid trying to trim your beard at this stage, especially if you are starting out with beard growth. This is so because it would be difficult trying to define your cheek and necklines by looking in the mirror.
Of course, you know that one minor mistake with the shears might mean shaving off everything and starting the process all over again.
So, you’d be doing yourself a lot of good by leaving the job to professionals who are good at doing these things.
Once the barber has been able to give your beard a definite shape, you can then clean up the lines with your favorite beard trimmer when necessary.
And once your beard follicle finally gets as strong as you’d love, you can now then incorporate the use of beard brush or beard comb for styling it, depending on your personal choice.
Week 8 – 10
At this stage, your beard must have reached its full development. Thus, there’ll be a need for you to maintain a tight style here, especially if you fancy a more attractive look. As such, a regular visit to the barbershop would do you so much good for keeping the wiry whisker in order.
So, there you have it, everything you need to know about beard growth. Growing a beard may not be the easiest of tasks, but it is one that’s worth the stress. With the information here, you should know what to expect at the different stages of beard growth, and how to go about getting the best out of each stage.
