Stanley Cup Final beards!!!

Well, I confess I had to shave once these last five weeks because of a promo photo shoot.

But my current state of furtive hirsuteness are officially my official Stanley Cup Final whiskers. Not impressive.

But if you've grown yours and don't know what else to do with it ... advice!

Q. Fostering facial hair for, dare we say, a bit of care and style know-how. To aid in this hirsute endeavour, we have JJ Lee, our man of style. First of all, before getting into specifics I noticed you’re developing your own plantation there...what would you call it?

I should tell all, I’m not an expert Beard grower. I’ve never had thick facial hair. However, with my deep journalistic skills I’ve been able to figure out the type of beard I am growing, however thinly.

I have hair on the chin. I have a small bit under my lower lip. I have a moustache that’s not too patchy BUT my problem is none of those parts connect. It’s kind of like the lost overland connection between Asia and Alaska. You can see where they could connect but they don’t.

If they did, I would technically have a Van Dyke or sometimes it’s called an Imperial and it is a chin beard plus a moustache.

Need to identify your beard? Visit my Round 1 post.

Q. What do you think about the beards on the Sedin twins?

They both have a moustache, soul patch, beard, and they have also grown hair along the cheekline which connects the beard to the sideburns. They’re sometimes called the short box beard.

What I really like about their beards is they are letting them grow out.

Sometimes I think it’s Daniel, he over-grooms the beard so it looks like a pencil line (early in the playoffs).

That look has been called the Ben Rothleisberger, after the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, for his notoriously over-trimmed beard.

Glen O’Brien, GQ's Style Guy, wrote against the Rothleisberger beard because it requires shaving the  neck  which “makes guys look like they have double chins, even if they don’t. “ He says the look is”self-conscious and a bit vain.”

Luckily for the Sedins, they’re letting their beards get a bit more full. So, yay to a deep run!

Q. So, overly groomed is not good. What would be the best advice for playoff beard grower?

I spoke with Farzad Salehi. He runs Farzad’s Barbershop in Yaletown at Homer and Davie. He is one of the few men who will give a straight razor shave.

Farzad’s advice is just let it grow. He says, “Don’t do anything fancy with it. If you you have to work in the office, trim under the chin.”

So it won’t catch on the tie and shirt but more importantly, trimming will give you a professional looked but avoid making your neck look like it’s been waxed. Don't shave who sections off. It’s just odd.

Just avoid looking overly shaggy.

If you have to trim, make it look like George Clooney instead of George Michael with his permanent five o’clock shadow. If you google the word sleaze-beard you get a picture of George Michael, so you might want to avoid that look.

Q. One of the things people have about growing out a beard is in-grown hairs. What advice do you have for them?

Farzad says massaging the skin in the growth area always helps. Part of combating in-grown hairs is you have to wash the hair properly.

Farzad says use shampoo for the beard. And then use cream for the skin because the skin can get dry down there.

Obviously, never pick at it. Farzad says you can try pre-shaving oil. It can help short hairs stand up and grow out.

And remember to treat the beard part like your hair. Keep the soup out of it. Somebody is going to have to kiss your face during the next two months.

Q. What can a person do about overall itchiness?

I spoke to Graham Bingham, he runs a shaving store called Momentum Grooming at Burrard and Davie.

Obviously, in-grown is the number cause of itchiness.

If it’s persistent. You can try to exfoliate using In Grown Hair Treatments. They cost $26.50.

They’ll last for two playoff seasons. They have acids in them that will help exfoliate and free the hair plus it will reduce swelling and redness.

Now, if the person complaining is not the beard grower, but the beard kisser, consider using beard creams.

They can soften a beard. They smell good. Graham sells one called Bluebeards Beard Saver, it has a hint of lime and goes for  $24 (they may not have it in stock any longer but they will recommend another).

There’s also beard shampoo, if you don’t like the taste of soap in your mouth and they’d make a good present for the Playoff Beard grower in your life as well.


Q. What would a real NHL player say about it all?

Glad you asked. Dave Tomlinson, fellow Montrealer - his dad was an Alouette, played with the Leafs and is the colour-commentator for Canucks Radio at Team 1040.

Dave says:

"I used to either grow a playoff beard or I would shave it into some pseudo-intimidating fu-man chu creation. Anyway, those days are long gone for me...but a real playoff beard should just be let go to grow wild and wooly.

Problem is, they get itchy to the uninitiated...so shaving after each round is permissible:) 

Pretty much anything goes in terms of shaving creation...but if one does try and pull off a reverse goatee...you better hope you win the game/series(or you might end up looking like a goofy guy who just lost a hockey game)."