My beard is coming in slowly but fairly nicely. I first started noticing my sideburns coming in and I got really excited!!! That was at about 3 months or so. Started with the chin then the mustache then the sideburns and quietly started filling in after that. I'm at a 18 months on testosterone now and I've got a full chinstrap and my cheek hair is coming in lightly but the vellus/transitional hair pattern looks very good! Still got a cute little baby mustache though :^/.
A beard is my number one goal for being on testosterone other than top surgery. It takes patience, determination and discipline. Throw out your razor. You wont be needing it for this trip. I've been growing out my chinstrap since May and I'm very attached (literally!) to it as I am with the rest of my facial hair.
If anyone other than your boss tells you to shave it off just brush their comments off your shoulder. If it's what you want then keep growing it! It's your face not theirs. If YOU'RE not satisfied with it then you can shave it off. But don't do it for anyone else. It's one of the biggest factors in my honest opinion for any FTM to pass 100% of the time as male.
Here's a timeline of my facial hair for you. Since I live in 2015 and document practically every part of my facial hair growth but never seem to post a lot of it. (There's just too much).
3 months on Testosterone
Barely noticeable. Is there anything there??? The answer is probably: no.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BwacunoIMAIDild.jpgFast forward to December and what do we have??? 8 months on Testosterone!!!
You can see it if you squint. It's so light. So light i probably cried myself to sleep every night or something???
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B5-oZYYCIAEDmEI.jpgLets fast forward to January ok we're 9 months now.
whoa what is that??? Thank u iPhone flash. xoxoxo. #nofilter
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B9u_qWDCYAMOJ9M.jpgWhoa!!! Let's super fast forward!!! Let's go to this june!! 14 months now.
Just about a month after shaving completely.
The gods are good. I have a chinstrap without the need of flash. This is when I stopped shaving completely.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CIroI-EVAAIVpPT.pngHow do we look now? 18 months on testosterone?
How's that facial hair doing Rengar? It's fantastic thank you. I don't even need flash anymore and you can see it from a distance thanks.
http://40.media.tumblr.com/18a05e300eba46c2b5a2e59a6b85d6e5/tumblr_nx6a95tC8y1qi3lk0o2_1280.jpgWhat a long strange trip it's been! Facial hair plus a good 28 pound weight loss (I went through a break up :^/ dont try it at home kids).
Now let's be honest. I used to shave my cheeks. The last time I shaved my cheeks was August 2nd and I've been growing them out since then. If you're serious about wanting facial hair and maintaining a beard then I'd definitely check out Jefffsbeardboard. They've got a ton of info on products such as minoxidil (be careful) and a lot of growing tips!
Good luck and happy bearding!
(Sorry for all the pictures of me.)