The latest edict from beard-obsessed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth adds strict new regulations to his crusade on facial hair, which rights groups have characterized as an attack on troops’ civil liberties.
In a March 11 memo, Hegseth, who has made grooming and appearances a central focus in his time at the helm of the U.S. military, raised the bar to qualify for a religious exemption to his blanket ban on beards. The guidelines lay out a strict new process by which service members may apply for a religious exemption and subject those who’ve already received one to a reevaluation, arguing they need to ensure their religious beliefs are “sincerely held” and have a genuine conflict with the grooming standards.
Service members who have spoken against Hegseth’s focus on grooming standards say his restrictions on beards are exclusionary to people from religious communities that require adherents to follow specific tenets of faith around beards, hair, and other grooming matters.
Sikhs, for example, who have served in the U.S. military since at least World War I, are required by their faith not to cut the hair on their head, to keep a beard, and to wrap their long hair in a turban. Members of many schools of Muslim tradition likewise have rules around beards and hair length.
The more this pissant and others of his ilk rage against beards the more I’m tempted to grow a big auld John Brown beard. I have the capacity to and simply choose not to because it gets right fucken itchy.
Beard oil. It exists, it is amazing, and it stopped my itching. I comb a little into my beard every one or two days, takes like 5 minutes if I go slow.
Beard oil and beard balm are why I don’t look like a crazed mountain hermit. They’re really phenomenal stuff!
for many types of beard itch, beard oil can also be a long term negative. if the itch is caused by fungal infection (same as dandruff and lots of skin issues), that infection feeds on the oils
in that case, you need daily anti dandruff shampoo, and not all are created equal: different types may work better or worse for different people
And it’s not always treatable with shampoo. At some point, dandruff is dermatitis, and at some point after that, dermatitis may be psoriasis. If OTC topicals don’t cut it, check in with a dermatologist. That’s how I learned I also had psoriatic arthritis, as it was resolved with prescribed medication
Thanks for the advise. I may let it grow out more than an inch and this will help.
Tell us about this bear oil.
I grew up in a fundamentalist environment and heard tons of crap about how beards were bad or whatever. Never made sense to me, Jesus had one. Soon as I left high school I grew a beard (dirty-ass chin-strap because it was the year 2000 lol). I’ve sported a full beard pretty much ever since. It gives me a jawline, plus I enjoy the feeling of spite.
That, and isn’t there a lot of stuff in “the” bible about not cutting your hair and your beard?
Yes. At least the beards and hair by the temples.
I’ve had a beard for years now. The itchiness goes away after the first few weeks.
Anti dandruff shampoo also helps.
The only time mine itched against my neck was a fresh cut to under 1/2". It was the right combo of fresh-cut squared hair ends and short length allowing a stiff stab to the neck. The hair ends taper to a flexible point after a couple weeks. It’s been significantly longer for years. Now I just get some surprise tickles in my ears on polo shirt days
For me it’s not the hairs making things itchy, it’s the hair follicle itself that gets itchy past a certain length.