How to lose 10 years in 10 minutes...

I guess I was about 8 months behind the trend of the "Lockdown beard" - it being December 2020 before I just gave up any attempt at keeping it short and trim.

Likewise I seem to be several months behind most for getting rid of it.

I've had some kind of hairy chin covering since I was about 20 years old, and have only shaved it off completely twice since then – both times before I met Maggie. Consequently neither my wife nor my children have ever actually seen my chin.

But Maggie's always liked a beard, so that's never been a problem.

And the simple fact is I have always hated shaving. Not only does it irritate my skin, it's a faff – I just really can't be bothered with it. But over the past decade and a half, I have at least kept the bristles fairly short in a goatee style, while periodically trimming my jowls even shorter.

I have to say, I was quite enjoying the look of the bigger, longer beard. Aware that I have quite a large forehead and unruly eyebrows, I felt it kind of balanced out my face.

However, the longer it's become, the more maintenance it's required, which in turn has begun to undermine the reason I pursued hirsuteness in the first place.

I knew the time was coming when I would take the clippers to it, but when Maggie let slip she preferred it shorter, there didn't seem any point in keeping it there.

The response on social media has been overwhelmingly supportive of it's removal.

I guess for the most part it's just people offering up polite validation, in the same way every one will tell you your hair looks great after you've been to the hairdresser (well, you, not me – I do my own and haven't been to a hairdresser or barber for decades), regardless of whether they like it or not.

However, given that I was quite OK with the look, it's felt not unlike when you split up with a girlfriend you were very fond of and then everyone tells you they never liked her anyway...

Several people have mentioned I look quite a bit younger too. There's no doubt beards age a man, and grey beards even more so.

My guess is approximately 2 years per inch.

Out of curiosity, I put the before and after image up in Instagram Stories with a poll - "Looks much better" or "OMG what have you done?"

The vast majority of those who answered decided it was a definite improvement.

However, interestingly I noticed that all but one of those who approved were female, and all but one of those who thought I'd made a mistake were male.

If you have any psychological or sociological insights then do drop them into the comments – I'd be interested to know what your thoughts are.

Meanwhile, I think it's going to be a few days before I stop getting a surprise each time I pass a mirror.