Are you proud of your beard? You should be; it takes time and patience to grow a beard and plenty of care to keep it looking great. You’ve probably spent hours and plenty of money finding the right beard oil and perfecting your beard trimming skills.

Beards can be wonderful, but there are also times when having a beard can be inconvenient and even disruptive.

No matter how much you love your beard, here are 9 convincing reasons to shave it off.

1. Your face will feel amazing

Have you ever shaved your head and felt relieved to run your hands over short, spiky stubble? When you rub your hands over a shaved head it feels therapeutic. That’s the same feeling you’ll get when you shave your beard.

As your beard grows, the weight of your hair increases and pulls the hair away from your face (thanks, gravity!). The longer your beard gets, the more it will tug on your face as it grows, making your face feel itchy and uncomfortable. After a while you get used to this feeling and before long you forget what it’s like to have a clean shaven face.

Shaving your beard off will reacquaint you with how good your face felt before you stopped shaving. A smooth face will feel so good you’ll probably start rubbing your chin for good luck.

2. You don’t remember what your chin looks like

When is the last time you saw your chin? If you don’t remember what your chin looks like, shaving your beard will be a refreshing reminder.

What’s so great about chins? Well, when your chin is visible it changes the shape of your face, which changes your overall appearance. Having a visible chin can make you look like a completely different person, which may or may not be what you’re going for.

If you want a new look without the fuss, get a safety razor and shave your scruffy beard. With your chin visible, people in your town might recognize you from high school. Is that a good thing?

3. Beards are dirty

Hair is designed to catch dirt, but catching dirt in your beard isn’t exactly ideal. Unfortunately, no matter how often you wash your beard, it will be full of dirt and germs.

Research published in the European Journal of Radiology proves just how dirty beards are by comparing beard hair to dog fur. Researchers took samples from 18 beards and 30 dogs and found that disease-causing bacteria was more prevalent in beards than in a dog’s fur. That’s gross.

When you have a beard, it’s going to trap every bit of bacteria you encounter. Beards easily pick up germs in the following ways:

• Using your phone. Phones are known germ catchers. People use their phones everywhere, including in the bathroom. If you’re using your phone and touch your beard, your beard will be contaminated with all the germs that exist on your phone.

  Eating. Your beard is basically in the same place you would put a bib. When you eat, crumbs and droplets will fall into your beard. No matter how carefully you try to avoid getting food in your beard, it’s unavoidable.

• Touching your beard. It’s impossible to get through the day without touching your beard.

  Whatever dirt, germs, or bacteria end up on your hands will end up in your beard. Even after washing your hands, if you haven’t washed your beard you’ll recontaminate your hands the next time you touch your beard.

• Flushing the toilet. When you flush the toilet with the lid open, water from the bowl will spray up to 6 feet. If you’re facing the toilet when you flush, that toilet water is going to get trapped in your beard. I don’t think anyone needs to explain what’s in toilet water and why you don’t want it in your beard.

  Maybe it’s a good idea to start washing your beard after you wash your hands? Nah, that’s too complicated. It’s easier to just shave your beard.

4. Beards are itchy

If you don’t feel a constant itching from having a beard consider yourself lucky. Most guys itch like crazy when they grow a beard and learn to ignore the itch. However, it’s not exactly a feeling easily ignored.

If your beard makes you itch, it’s time to shave it off.

5. The lumberjack look is no longer “in”

Remember when the lumberjack look was popular? That was an interesting time. However, if you’re not a lumberjack there’s no reason to look like you spend your days out in the forest splitting wood and hauling logs.

6. Beards aren’t always professional

When you need a job, you need to look as presentable as possible. While you can certainly keep your beard clean and presentable, there’s something more professional about a clean-shaven face. At minimum, a neatly trimmed face with a short beard is also considered professional.

If you can’t bring yourself to go clean-shaven, at least cut your beard down to a short length and trim your neck. It’s usually the scruffy, scraggly neck hair that makes beards look unprofessional.

7. Your beard is patchy

If your beard is patchy or thinning out, that’s the perfect reason to shave it off. You don’t want to look like you’re fourteen again.

8. You want to help a charitable cause

If you’re a social media influencer, you can use shaving your beard as an event to raise money for charity. All you have to do is choose a charity to raise money for and start a campaign where you promise to shave your beard when a specific monetary goal is reached.

Some people participate in No Shave November where they stop shaving and donate the money they would have spent on shaving to a cancer prevention organization. However, if you have an existing fan base you can raise more money for the charity of your choice.

9. You need to look presentable

It’s difficult to look presentable when you’ve got a scraggly beard. If your beard can’t be easily tamed, and you need to attend a wedding, a funeral, or a job interview, shave it off. It’s unfair that people judge based on appearance, but that’s the reality we all have to accept.

Don’t risk upsetting your family and friends during an already emotional time. If you put on professional clothes and your beard makes you look out of place, shave it off. You can always grow it back.

Convinced it’s time to shave your beard?

If you feel it’s time to shave your beard, grab your safety razor, some shaving soap, a bottle of your favorite aftershave, and some styptic powder and get to work!