Growing beards came naturally during my university days, there were times I had to leave my beards due to my roles in certain theatrical productions.
I was tired of having a boyish face really. Beards defined my look.,I faced the challenge of deciding what shape my beards would take. I started out with thin beards. I felt it accentuated my facial looks but one day I decided to go the beard gang route. It took a while to achieve my target. By that I mean itching, looking rough etc.
I tried different creams and barbers but each kept messing my looks up till I met my current barber who advised me on what would best fit me. Now it looks cool on me. Being traditional Africans, my parents could not fathom why I would want to have beards and not stay clean shaven.
How do I take care of my beards?
I trim it every week, also I use creams on it and ensure its well brushed. Baby oil helps to keep it from being brittle.
Is keeping beards fashion or style?
It’s a fashion because at the moment it’s a fad. You could say come tomorrow, some of us beard gang members would go with the latest fad. The days of Macaulay comes to mind.
As a style statement, being a beard gang member now is like a rite of passage to being responsible, successful and matured.
Razor Bumps?
I once had to deal with razor bumps. Used a shaving stick and had bumps. Since then I stopped using a shaving stick. I didn’t scratch the bumps or touch them despite the urge to. Within 6 hours they were gone.
What I mean by rite of passage
Traditional African men underwent circumcision before they could be called men. In this age, once you join the beard gang, you are seen as a man automatically.
It is assumed that since you can maintain a beard, you should be able to cater for yourself and your immediate family. And that is just how a part of society sees you.
Another strata of society in Nigeria being the law enforcement agencies see it as a symbol of affluence and as such beam the searchlight on you with the aim of extorting money from you.
Finally, women. I might be wrong but some women prefer their men having beards. My wife is super crazy about my beards. I bet you she has never seen me clean shaven really.
Speaking of Mybeardgang blog
MybeardGang is a great blog. The beards have long been ignored despite being a very vital part of the male body and your blog is bringing more attention to it. Kudos on this.