So it's No-Shave November! I've wanted to really participate in this since well before growing a beard was even an inkling of a possibility, and since starting T about four months ago I've been looking forward to it even more. I'd kind of expected that at the end of the month I'd have some kind of awesome, mountain-man yeti look going on, and well...

...That's clearly not going to be the case. Although I've got noticeable facial hair, it's more... scraggly, patchy, and a little sad (all save, inexplicably, a truly majestic neckbeard). I know folks say it can take as long as 2-5 years to have a really filled-in mustache/beard, if it even happens (it will happen, I'm pretty sure - guys in my family are hairy like whoa), but I'm curious about the interim.

Once you guys started having visible male facial hair patterns... did you keep it shaved? Do you let it grow because you want facial hair and you've already waited -this- long for it? I'm curious how others handle the transition period  between smooth babyface nohair and the Hagrid stage. Shave? Rock what you've got?

my beard isn't filled out on my cheeks yet, but i keep it trimmed. i don't shave it completely (so no baby face), but i don't keep it scraggly. i use an electric razor and it just keeps the stubble. it doesn't look bad, gross, etc. that's how i like it. i bought a decent electric razor from walmart that works on my like not-so-epic beard and will buy a newer one when my beard is more filled in.

My sideburns and chin/neck are coming along. The mustache is a work in progress. I just shaved for an interview last week, but before that I was just rocking it. I might shave once a month if I feel like it, otherwise it just gets trimmed every two weeks when I trim my hair.

High five for epic neck beards! That was where my facial hair came in first as well. I kept that shaved, obviously.

I work in a professional setting in management so I was always hesitant to let the patchy beard grow. Since about 6-8 months on T, I've kept the hair on my chin. I usually trim it at least once a week. I like at least keeping that because it's reasonably thick.

When I was off 4 weeks for surgery, I decided to grow out what I could and found my jawline and sideburns came in pretty well. (This was at about 15-16 months on) What tends to happen with me is that I grow it out and keep it trimmed (at about 3/8-5/8 inch length) and then after a few months, I get frustrated at the areas that are still patchy or I feel like it's not getting thicker so I'll get frustrated and shave everything but my chin. Then I realize that I really prefer the hair I have and end up growing it back out. I do think that it is sometimes nice to shave and then have it grow back as it is always thicker and what patches there were do seem to improve each time. Not because of the shaving but because giving my mind a fresh start and 4 additional weeks of development always makes me feel better. I recently went through my last shave this past weekend. I don't want to have a not fully grown out beard for seeing family on thanksgiving though so I decided to stay bare cheeked through this month and then start again in December.

It's all very individual but I definitely feel you on the waiting part. It's like watching paint dry and is soooooo painfully frustrating.

Agh, I forgot the whole No Shave November thing. But on the other hand, I gotta try to look somewhat decent for practical training so what I got for facial hair wouldn't be that good.

It's still hard to say how my face is gonna fuzz up because most of it is this blond soft fuzz. The mustache area was the first one to get darker hairs and during the last 12 months or so I've gotten some on my chin and sideburn area. I don't even try to grow the sideburns because I can literally count the dark hairs with one hand's fingers but I don't mind the pathetic chin scruff. |D And no sign of neck beard.

Somewhat unrelated - from which side of the family do we inherit our facial hair and hairline? I read somewhere that amabs (idk if I'm using that term correctly) get it from their maternal grandfather. I read something else somewhere that since we have 2 X chromosomes, that gene is recessive or something. So does anyone know if we inherit our mothers or fathers side?

I think the answer that you usually get for AMAB is a little bit murkier for us. It is typically said that you should compare to men on your mother's side. But since we have 2 X chromosomes (most of us), I think that gets a little bit harder to determine. Personally, my hair pattern (body growth, the small hair loss on my head that I've had so far, and facial hair development) that has developed seems to have characteristics of both the men on my mom's side and my dad. So, unfortunately for us, I think it's much harder to predict.

I've heard males on the mom's side. If you have brothers I think that would be a much better indicator than anything else.

In the UK it's called 'Movember'; the challenge is for guys to grow a moustache (which is a very unusual thing to see in the UK) for the month of November, to raise awareness of prostate & testicular cancer. It's a big charity event here.

Before I went on T I was looking forward to the day when I'd have enough facial hair to be able to participate... but now that I have enough hair I can't do it, simply because I'm a late transitioner and my facial hair definitely helps with my passing ability. It's only just started to fill out properly after 2 years on T, and it's blond anyway (as you can see from my avatar; yes, that's me!) so if I were to shave it off I'd get a lot more stares off the Muggles.

Plus where I grew up (South Africa), moustaches are associated with a very negative stereotype of Afrikaans men... which is a major turn-off for me. So, whilst I may sympathise with those affected by prostate & testicular cancer, I ain't prepared to change my facial hair for anyone.

I´ve always associated November with the month I was born, so I am not going to place it in the light of facial hair. It´s called Movember here too, but I just refuse to call it that 

Actually have a serious stubble on my chin - even pre everything - but it looks ridiculous when I let it grow. It´s just two patches, on either side of my chin, and nothing in the middle.

If it grows in like this while I´m on T, I will keep it shaved. No point in getting stared at for having two beards on my chin. But I´m expecting it´ll fill up a bit with hormones.

I rocked Movember. Beard was shaved for a fresh start.