Why Has My Beard Stopped Growing? 9 Reasons Your Beard Isn't Getting Longer

You've been growing your beard for months, perhaps even years, but suddenly it doesn't seem to be getting any longer. It's a common frustration, and while genetics certainly plays a role, there are several reasons why beard growth can appear to slow down.

Interestingly, your beard might still be growing perfectly normally. The problem could be that you're struggling to retain the length you're growing.

Understanding Beard Growth

Every beard hair follows a natural growth cycle. During the active growth phase, known as anagen, the follicle produces new hair. Eventually, growth stops, the follicle enters a resting phase, and the hair is shed before the cycle continues.

How long a hair remains in its growth phase is influenced by genetics, helping determine its maximum potential length. This explains why some men can grow exceptionally long beards while others reach a natural limit much sooner.

Age and hormones also influence facial hair development. Some men find their beards continue becoming thicker throughout their thirties and beyond, while others develop their full growth pattern much earlier.

Could Your Beard Be Breaking Rather Than Growing Slowly?

One frequently overlooked reason for a beard that seems to have stopped growing is hair breakage.

Beard hair is exposed to considerable daily wear, from washing and brushing to friction, heat and the weather. Over time, this can damage the hair's protective outer layer, making it rougher, more prone to tangling and vulnerable to breaking.

If your beard continues growing at the roots but loses length through breakage at the ends, you might see little noticeable progress.

This is where proper conditioning becomes particularly important. Keeping facial hair soft and manageable helps reduce friction during grooming and can limit unnecessary damage. While conditioning won't accelerate the rate at which hair grows, it can help you retain more of the length you've already achieved.

Why Looking After Your Beard and Skin Matters

Maintaining a longer beard involves more than simply putting down the razor. The condition of your facial hair and the skin underneath deserves regular attention.

Your skin naturally produces sebum, which helps lubricate the skin and hair. However, weather conditions, cleansing habits and individual skin characteristics can contribute to dryness and irritation.

A well-formulated beard oil helps condition facial hair while caring for the skin beneath it. At Hairy Highlander, we use carefully selected botanical oils, including jojoba, castor and meadowfoam, to help soften coarse facial hair and improve manageability.

For longer or particularly dry beards, richer conditioning products such as beard butter can provide additional softness, while beard balm combines conditioning with gentle styling control.

Using a suitable beard wash, avoiding excessive heat and brushing gently can also help protect your facial hair from unnecessary damage.

The objective isn't to force your beard to grow faster, but to keep the hair you already have in the best possible condition.

What Else Can Affect Beard Growth?

General health, significant stress and nutritional deficiencies can sometimes influence hair growth and shedding. However, there's little convincing evidence that taking additional beard-growth supplements will improve facial hair in someone who already has adequate nutrition.

If you notice sudden patchy hair loss, unusual shedding or persistent inflammation, it's worth seeking medical advice rather than assuming it's simply part of your natural growth cycle.

Can Fragrance and Certain Grooming Products Affect Your Beard?

Many conventional beard care products contain synthetic fragrance blends, often listed simply as Parfum or Fragrance on ingredient labels. These blends can contain numerous individual compounds, some of which are associated with skin irritation, allergic reactions and contact dermatitis.

More concerning is the growing scientific scrutiny surrounding certain chemicals used in fragranced personal care products, including some phthalates, which have been identified as potential endocrine disruptors. These substances can interfere with the body's hormonal signalling, and researchers have investigated links between exposure to certain endocrine-disrupting chemicals and reproductive problems, developmental effects and increased risks of some cancers. Although the risks depend on the specific substances and levels of exposure, these are legitimate scientific concerns that deserve attention.

At Hairy Highlander, we deliberately avoid conventional synthetic perfume blends, choosing carefully selected natural essential oils to create our scents. It's part of our commitment to botanical ingredients and a more considered approach to what we put on our skin.

What Does Science Say About Natural Ingredients and Hair Growth?

Some natural ingredients have attracted scientific interest for their potential effects on hair growth. A 2014 study involving mice found that a peppermint oil preparation encouraged faster hair regrowth and increased several measures associated with follicle activity. Interestingly, jojoba oil was also included in the study, although primarily as a comparison rather than demonstrating a significant growth-promoting effect of its own. Source:

Chaga mushroom has also been investigated. In a 2019 laboratory study, researchers discovered that certain compounds extracted from chaga stimulated the proliferation of human hair-follicle dermal papilla cells, which play an important role in regulating hair growth. (Source):

These findings are particularly interesting to us at Hairy Highlander, as jojoba, peppermint and chaga all feature within our ingredient range. However, animal experiments and laboratory studies don't establish that these ingredients, or our finished products, accelerate human beard growth. Our focus remains on their cosmetic benefits, particularly conditioning the hair and caring for the skin underneath, while keeping a close interest in the developing science.

DHT-blocking oils: great for scalp, maybe not so great for beards

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Some natural skincare oils - including borage seed, argan, grapeseed, sweet almond, and hemp seed - are high in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) like γ-linolenic acid, α-linolenic acid, & Linoleic Acid. These oils are valued for their light texture and moisturising qualities, but emerging research suggests they may not optimally support beard growth biology.

In vitro studies have indicated that certain PUFA-rich oils can inhibit 5α-reductase - the enzyme responsible for converting testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a key androgen involved in facial hair development. While DHT is often associated with scalp hair loss, it plays a different and essential role in promoting beard density and growth.

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The Bottom Line

Genetics largely determines your beard's natural growth potential, but how you look after it can influence its condition and how much length you retain.

Regular cleansing, effective conditioning and gentle grooming won't change your genetics, but they can help reduce damage, improve softness and keep your beard looking its best.

At Hairy Highlander, that's exactly what our beard care is designed to do: look after the hair and skin you have, naturally.