Ah, youth. Brilliant youth. The days where you feel indestructible, and your body is generally quite happy to push on through anything. Hangovers last for hours, not days. Thoughts of shame and embarrassment are for other people. One thing that is not for you at this age, though, is a big, thick beard. You might feel annoyed at the rare boys in your age group, 15-18, who do have a good beard. However, don’t use those boys as the standard: beards at such a young age are not common.
You might be so determined for a beard, though, that you will try anything. Maybe the girl you are into is really a big fan of beards. Maybe you feel like it will get you into clubs and pubs faster. Maybe you just hate your sensitive teeth feeling horrible in winter, and you want a beard to impress. Whatever the reason is, you want to make sure that you don’t go too far in your quest for a beard.
The problem is that outside of potentially dangerous and crazy options, there are no ways to make your beard grow faster at such a young age.
What makes my beard grow faster?
Beard growth is going to be determined by lifestyle, genetics, and diet. The problem is that at your age, you shouldn’t have as many issues as those who are older than you. As such, many of the conventional solutions suggested to an adult – improving their diet, sleeping more, exercising more – should not be of huge impact to your body. While we recommend always living a physically ambitious and healthily fuelled lifestyle, it’s not going to make you wake up with a full beard.
On average, the adult beard will take 2-6 months to grow into something impressive. At your age, though, there is not much that you can do that isn’t needlessly risky or experimental. For example, one of the most common solutions is to try and boost your testosterone level. At ages 15-18, though, this is playing with fire.
We cannot recommend that you try and start boosting testosterone intake just to grow a beard. We’d recommend that you speak to your family about this, and then go and speak to your family physician. They can more fully detail you the information that you need to know, and what the potential risks of messing with your testosterone could be.
Remember, your body is still growing – and things like your hormones and testosterone are in flux aged 15-18. As such, if you want to know how to grow a beard at 15, 16, 17 and 18, you need to accept that it will take time. Even then, you will still need time to let the therapy work and to build results; you won’t find a beard with a click of the fingers, no matter what.
What else could I do?
You could also look to try and boost your intake of three things: fruit, vegetables, and water. Healthy bodies are going to be fuelled by mostly fruits, vegetables, and water. If you give your body plenty of that, then the minerals and vitamins needed for hair growth should be more present. Why does that matter? Because our bodies react on a ‘fight or flight’ basis.
If your body has issues elsewhere and it needs selenium (which is VITAL for hair and beard growth), it will use it elsewhere first. Our bodies often treat hair as a happy bonus, and thus won’t prioritise hair over other parts of the body. Therefore, you need to make your body as healthy as possible so that it can make space for the hair growth ingredients you need.
Sleeping is essential
Now, not to make stereotypes, but most young men have a habit of staying up later. We get it; as Nas says, sleep is the cousin of death. However, your body needs plenty of sleep – at least 8 hours for every 24 hours of activity is important. You need to give your body the chance to rest and recover. Otherwise, it will be too busy using its time for other things to contribute to a full beard.
The bottom line
However, it’s essential to remember that kids at your age are usually not rocking full beards. If they are, they are likely the beneficiary of very strong genetics matched with good lifestyles. Considering expensive treatments like hormone and testosterone boosting therapy is not recommended at your age. Still not seeing a full beard in your early 20s and 30s? Maybe then.
For now, though? Enjoy the miracle of not having to shave every few days. Before long, you’ll dread how your thick beard has you shaving all the time!