I had a full head of hair and a mustache in my 30s, but started rapidly balding in my 30s.

One day my wife looked at me and said, "That's too much white meat...can you grow a beard?" I let my face grow until she said I looked a little too rabbinic.

So for the last 24 years I've worn a smart, a close-cropped beard. Not enough to keep me warm, or keep the wind off my face, so I use a thin bellaclava in the cold.

And now, the gray is creeping in so I'm lightening up once again, although with the beard I'm not as "fleshy" unless viewed from above or behind.

A few winters ago I did let my face grow again to see what would happen . My whiskers are much more coarse now, not soft at all and after not shaving for a week the hair curls back on itself and itches like heck. And after letting it grow even longer, the itching subsided, but my wife wasn't diggin' it, and she's the one that has to look at it. Plus she is far more stylish than me so I tend to give her advice a fair amount of weight.