Minoxidil Beard Growth Possibility

I originally wrote this post two years ago, but have updated it again. Minoxidil beard application for hair growth is becoming increasingly trendy. Be sure to also read my post on how Minoxidil (Rogaine) works.

We rarely get to see Minoxidil’s full impact upon scalp hair growth just from photos. This is due to our dense and long scalp hair making any changes difficult to gauge. Moreover, people often concurrently take other hair growth products such as Finasteride. In such cases, we do not know which of the treatments is causing the most hair growth.

However, the effect of Minoxidil (brand name Rogaine) is much more evident on sparse beard hair that turns dense upon application of Minoxidil.

Does Minoxidil work to grow beard hair? Yes, according to some studies. Moreover, many of the before and after photos in the below links are pretty amazing.

Minoxidil Beard Hair Growth

This week, a number of news articles covered the growing use of Minoxidil by young men with spare beards. The before and after Minoxidil beard hair growth photos are quite astounding in this article. More photo evidence here.

Facebook’s Minoxidil Beard group now has 55,000 members. My first time hearing about this phenomenon occurred due to the following:

On January 21, 2003, a 20 year old man with the online name “Curi0usGeorge” started a US based beard forum thread about growing his sparse beard via applying extra strength 5% Minoxidil onto his face rather onto his scalp.

In early March of that same year, he stopped his experiment. Largely because he started getting excess body hair as a side effect. While he also got more facial hair from the Minoxidil, it was not in a pattern and density that satisfied him. Also see my 2013 post on Rogaine beard experiment.

Men Wishing to Grow Thicker Beards

Little did “Curio0usGeorge” realize what he had started in 2003. His forum thread grew to 615 pages in length with 20 comments per page. Finally, towards the end of 2016, it was unfortunately closed by the moderators after 15 years of postings.

Prior to 2003, many others on the web had discussed or experimented with using Minoxidil to grow facial hair. However, it was this mega-thread that became the go to place on the internet for men trying to grow denser beards using Rogaine.

Myself and numerous other men losing hair have the opposite problem. We would prefer a much less noticeable beard and slower facial hair growth! Nevertheless, I still thoroughly enjoyed going through 100 or so pages of the above thread some years ago. I was amazed at some of the before and after photos of facial hair transformations.

I never forgot those visuals, and have posted about the above thread several times in the past. It clearly shows that Minoxidil can grow new beard hair where there was none before, and not just make existing hair stronger. Or, to be more precise, it can convert vellus invisible-to-the-eye unpigmented hair into terminal pigmented hair.

While I have never enjoyed using Minoxidil on my scalp, the numerous before and after photos in the above mentioned thread (as well as via the before and after finasteride and minoxidil testimonials in here) have convinced me to keep using Rogaine to this day. Albeit just several times a week in order to minimize side effects.

Minoxidil Beard Growth Popularity in Indonesia

This brings me to the reason that I wrote this post and remembered the above mentioned mega-thread. Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal published a very interesting article related to Minoxidil and beard growth on the front page.

Minoxidil Beard Growth Article
Minoxidil Beard Growth Article from WSJ.

If you cannot access the WSJ online edition, I have pasted an image on the left side covering part of the story. Apparently, an entrepreneur in Indonesia by the name of Fariz Gamal has started a business to help men grow beards via just using Minoxidil.

Like most Asian men, Indonesian men on average have much less facial hair in comparison to Caucasian men. It is now becoming fashionable and trendy to grow at least modestly thick beards. Especially in Muslim majority countries such as Indonesia due to cultural and religious reasons.

When I did more research on Mr. Gamal, I came across this interesting article from April from a local Indonesian magazine. He mentions that he orders the Kirkland brand of Minoxidil from the US. He claims that:

“I grew the full beard of my dreams after four months of regularly applying minoxidil to my face”.

For social media fans, here is his Instagram page and here is his Youtube channel.

Side effects of using Minoxidil on the Face

It should be noted that prolonged use of Minoxidil on Beards can cause a number of side effects, including:

  • Skin irritation, including itchiness, rashes, dryness and inflammation. Usually due to an adverse reaction to the propylene glycol and alcohol found in Minoxidil.
  • A greater quantity of new beard hair than desired, sometimes in uneven unsymmetrical patterns.
  • A decline in blood pressure due to systemic absorption of the drug.
  • Heart palpitation, dizziness and lightheadedness if overused.
  • Unwanted changes in facial skin, including acne in rare instances.
  • Facial flushing.

Moreover, if you stop using the Rogaine on your beard, the new hair will slowly fall out and not regrow.

Testimonials on Minoxidil and Denser Facial Hair

It should be noted that there are numerous very popular Youtube videos of men growing much thicker beards after using Minoxidil on their faces. However, I find some to be sketchy so did not select any favorites to embed on here for now. There are now also countless online forum testimonials with photos from men who have had success with this Rogaine beard growth experiment.

Among the more popular ones including the Minoxidil and beard growth subreddit. Some of the before and after photos on there (such as this one from December 2022) are amazing. Also see the Minoxidil Beard Discord server.

If I had the time, I would try to tally all the success and failure testimonials out there and calculate what percent of men who use Minoxidil on their face see significant new facial hair growth based on all these anecdotal reports (ideally, with photos as evidence).

85 thoughts on “Minoxidil Beard Growth Possibility”

    1. Consider yourself lucky. I tried it for 8 months, not understanding I was allergic to the PPG in the minox… it more or less destroyed my hairline and my temples were gone in months.

  1. I been contemplating to get on to Minoxidil, but worry about the sides of it, I even got it ordered from compounds chemist but didn’t use it. I feel so helpless everyday knowing eventually will go bald but don’t know what to do to reverse it, should i really jump on to Minoxidil?

    1. You might consider spot-testing it. Apply it to the same place for a while (part of one of your temples, maybe) and see if everything’s okay.

      1. This is old news like a decade old. There’s this one gigantic thread on Jefffsbeardboard that dates back to 2005 or even earlier about minox experiment for beard growth. Frankly, linked articles are so exaggerated and even sell false hope to those with sparse/patchy beards. Facial hair has more to do with androgens and sensitivity to them.

        Yes, it does partially work in stimulating vellus hairs to grow into more wispy and more pigmented but those would mostly vanish upon cessation. Many of those who thought minox grew them beards are mostly late bloomers (like myself). I remember painstakingly applying this stuff to my damn face day in and day out for over a year and it caused a myriad of issues including (but not linited to): facial bloating, low pressure, headaches, skin irritation, extreme itchiness and burning, water retention and of course thinner wallet.

        Minox does nothing if follicles aren’t there to begin with (talk genetics). I wouldn’t be surpised to learnif this is some sort of a mega scale propaganda to boost sales and it does appear to be working.

        Happy bearding

    2. I think you should upon a consultation with your Dr/specialist. A couple of years ago I stared loosing my hair rapidly. I’d been balding for a while but it suddenly started shedding like crazy. I had a HT and started taking fin and mix. 9 months after my hair had never looked so good. I obviously had less hair overall but because my hairline had been restored and with the help of a few sprinkles of concealer and thickening products I was going out again and living/loving life. I met a girl and started spending nearly every night at her place. Because of this I was still taking fin but had stopped my regular min applications. After about 4/6 weeks my hair started falling out like it was dandruff. I had to go back to wearing a cap everyday and being a recluse. I restarted min and it got better but now I’m on a strange cycle – some weeks it looks ok and sometimes it look really spaced out and my scalp is more visible areas. So if you do decide to adopt a min regime please don’t ever stop it, my pattern was approx 10 squirts in the evening. Good luck in your decision mate.

    1. Minox is the only thing I use to treat my hairloss, as I unfortunately just couldn’t tolerate the side effects of finasteride. I am a diffuse thinner and I starter when I was 22 and I’ll be 27 in a couple months. It’s obviously very hard to measure just how much it’s working in a vacuum – it definitely had a noticeable effect a while ago, but it’s losing it’s efficacy because the environment under my scalp is just too vicious.

      With regards to this post, I have used it on my face for about 18 months as well. Lots of compliments about how my beard looks now, even though it’s not full. Tiny vellus hairs are still transitioning to terminal in the ‘connector’ area. Pretty remarkable and too bad that it couldn’t work so well on the head.

  2. Not even able to maintain my crown on Rog.
    Using the foam now for almost 4 years on scalp.
    1 can a month.

    As Paul would say, deplorable MIN, and he is right.

    1. If youre not allergic to the PPG and don’t have any side-effects, the liquid would probably work a lot better.

  3. Makes sense as we know minoxidil works, the reason it doesn’t work that well on AGA scalps is because it doesn’t fix the underlying issues and causes and so can’t really help fix those miniaturized follicles, it just helps make some vellus hairs thicker and darker giving some improvement to appearance. I can’t remember exact details but there was another early study showing a big increase in body hair with taking systemic minoxidil rather than topical.

  4. Admin, can you elaborate on what kind of side effects you got when applying it more often than just a few times a week?

    1. I read that many people were having skin issues or facial bloating. So I reduced my usage frequency. Also, I did not want to lower my blood pressure daily via a medication such as Minoxidil, even if a minor quantity of topical drug application probably has a minimal impact on blood pressure reduction I would guess. There was a time when I applied topical Minoxidil (which I hated) and it caused me some fine forehead hair growth and thicker eyebrows I think due to the drug sometimes dripping down my face.

      Minox definitely helped and continues to help my hair.

  5. Admin, what side effects do you experience?

    I’m a daily user, and have been for 15 years. I think I’d have no hair left if not for minoxidil. I get occasional orthostatic hypotension (and I’ve blacked out twice, before dialing back my dose from twice-a-day to once-a-day). And yes, I’ve had regrowth, even at my temples (though none at frontal hairline; just maintenance).

    As far as I know, there is little consensus about the mechanism of minoxidil’s action on hair regrowth? I’ve read hypotheses ranging from WNT action to prostaglandin effects to simply “stimulating growth” as a byproduct of its action on potassium channels.

    Incidentally, I’ve always had a thick beard, but my body hair has thickened substantially. It’s hard to tell if that’s a side effect, or simply a result of being an aging male.

  6. Dr. Alan Bauman is very active these days on the web
    http://www.gq.com/story/how-to-know-if-you-will-go-bald

    While we all appreciate tips, I am always getting a bit pissed off when the AGA discussion turns into a chit chat about a healthy lifestyle that also may help 0,0001% against AGA, while the people on here know that it’s our DNA that causes it.

    I have enough sleep, exercise regularly, don’t eat junk, avoid stress, don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t do drugs, don’t use medicine (except for MIN for my hair) and don’t use fitness supplements like creatine. I have always lived a happy life like that, no problem at all. But guess what, still losing the shit on the scalp, and I am not an exception Dr. Bauman.

    Actually I have the same healthy lifestyle as my father, but still there is a big difference: he has a full head of hair during his 60s, and I am thinning since 25 and balding since 30. Main point: my father does not have the DNA of my maternal grandfather. And again, I know many men who have somehow a resembling situation.

  7. I feel the same way admin, I’d rather have less facial hair and more scalp hair. That said, those results are quite impressive…i don’t think I’ve seen scalp results with minox that good. All that said, I still don’t take either minox or fin.

  8. Everyone can understand this Linkedin article about FOXO4-DRI. Very well written!

    https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/anti-aging-foxo4-dri-explained-akkermans-genetic-dna-leadership

    Interesting is that:
    – FOXO4-DRI gave the same results when tested on naturally aged mice, so not only on genetically modified mice
    – men consume telomeres faster than women, and scientists don’t know why yet. At birth a telomere consists of 11.000 copies of the DNA, and by old age only 4.000 copies
    – cells in hair follicles divide much faster than cells in most other organs, and as chemotherapy targets and kills cells that divide quickly (cancer), it often targets hair follicles as well

    1. I think everyone interested in the science behind hair loss or any kind of aging and cancer science interest in general should read this article. That article was very well written and explained by someone seemingly highly knowledgeable.

      GREAT find Netshed

      1. Human Hairless Protein Roles in Skin/Hair and Emerging Connections to Brain and Other Cancers

        http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcb.26164/abstract;jsessionid=BA8E78D5A9155DBB92A662C878D3AA6F.f02t02

        “Alternatively, the demonstrated ability of HR to interact with p53 and/or the p53 DNA response element to influence p53-regulated pathways may explain, at least in part, why many cancers express mutated HR proteins. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of HR bioactions, how HR mutations may be contributing to alopecia as well as to cancer, and, finally, outline future directions in the study of this largely enigmatic nuclear protein.”

        Is P53 our friend when it comes to (brain) cancer and AGA? Peter de Keizer was researching brain tumors, and found something against alopecia as well.

        1. “In the past two decades, most HR studies have focused on haircycling and skin since these are the most obvious defects when HR is mutated or deleted in mammals. More recently, mutational profiling studies of cancer genomes using next-generation sequencing techniques have revealed a wealth of novel somatic mutations,presumably implicating many novel genes (now including HR) in tumorigenesis, tumor growth, or metastasis.

          Another indication that HR may be involved in some aspect of cancer is the observed ability of HR to bind both p53 protein and p53 DNA response elements.”

          So both FOXO4 and the HR (Gene) have the abilty to bind with p53, consequently preventing p53 from doing its job at the mitochondria where it could start apoptosis.

  9. Thank you admin, on Minoxidil for beard growth:

    I’m pretty sure results will highly depend on ones blood DHT or facial DHT responsiveness.

    Back then, while on 1 mg Fin, two years of continuous 5% Minox use on my face showed only little to decent additional beard growth (mostly thin sideburns).
    Now, older and at my hormonal peak times, even one week without 0.25 mg Fin, makes some cheek hair go thick terminal shortly after.

    It’s filthy DHT once again and IMO Testosterone by itself does nothing for beard growth. Personally I’m not going to sacrifice my hairline for a full beard as long as there is no alternative out yet.

  10. I have been on BTT and many other hairloss forums since 2007. the word was, don’t do FUE, revolutionary stuff is just around the corner – 2014 or 2015 at most and we’ll have histogen, replicel, follica and whatnot. Now it’s the same story all over, just the years have changed….
    so if you excuse me I aint take any words from any company incl Japanese firm for granted. I also dont believe 2020 will be the date.
    it’s been 10 years and such ordeal becomes unbearable.. always some hype with huge dissaopitments….
    10-20 years is really dream come true for me

    1. Donitello if you’ve given up then what’s the point in continuing to post utterly unhelpful negative comments on here? Rather stay quiet and let those of us who wish to be hopeful be happy in our own hope. You’re comments make zero contribution to the actual cause.

  11. Do you guys think it may be worth investing some of your money in PolarityTE? I mean spending all day on hairloss must be good for something haha

    1. I don’t play the stock market game, myself; but if I did, PureTech, RepliCel and PolarityTE are probably what I would choose to put money in.

      These companies I believe are absolutely the real deal when it comes to regenerative medicine. RepliCel is more attractive for its skin and tendon therapies than hair, if you’re talking from a “what will make this company worth a lot of money” standpoint.

  12. Seems some People in finance or owner of PolarityTE are quite confident in future Business. COOL share Prices have developed from 3 Dollars to 30 Dollars in just 6 Months!! Even when the chart looked not that good before, so very impressive. I guess the long development made the Investors skeptical before, but now there is something big coming.

  13. that is really huge… PolarityTe really seems to be very confident.That is what we call a breakthrough in science if it really works the way they describe it.

  14. nothing new here but thought i’d share…

    Thank you very much for reaching out to us and for your interest in our SHT technology.

    We are still in the very late preclinical development stage but plan to move to a first clinical trial in the next years.

    However, this also means that it will still take a couple of more years before SHT will be broadly available as an alternative to conventional hair transplantation methods. As you rightly pointed out this process could be accelerated by focussing on the regulatory acceptance in a specific country first. This is currently under debate and any potential sponsor of clinical trials will naturally also have a say in these things.

    I’d encourage you to check our website from time to time. We’ll make sure to update it with the latest news on the SHT development.

    If you have any additional questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

    Best regards,

    The TissUse Team

  15. I had found that one of the main effects of Rogaine and Propecia was that uniformed people, mostly ladies, were more likely to blame bald men for letting themselves go bald. After all, the TV ads show a cure! What type of loser lets themselves go bald when there’s a cure? ….sigh

  16. Hey I’m back. I could not make it a full year but it’s been 6 months. I was on the Nizoral 2% used it twice a week and It absolutely helped with the itchy scalp. The itch is completely gone. As for helping with hair loss, I don’t know, I keep my hair short about a 1 level clippers so it’s hard to tell (although my hair looks the same so maybe it’s slowing the hair loss down?) I’ve missed a lot in the last 6 months. Has it been the same old bullcrap of promises of a release next year and blah blah. Or is something actually on the horizon, if so can someone post proof?

  17. How is it possible that we have not had any kind of improvement in the field of hair restoration? ARTAS is insufficient … the implanter pen is not enough either … Here really is a problem. What will be next? There must be a significant improvement already. Acceptable cosmetic results…We need to improve urgently…

    1. At first I thought this was fake news – an article about curing mouse’s hair loss reported on micetimes. Still not sure, tbh. But if it’s real, it’s interesting scientists found yet another possible factor that may cause hair loss, although we’ve always known stress is the cause of all diseases.

  18. @dave: sorry man not that much to report. Just waiting on some news from replicel and follica. Histogen is delayed again another couple years lol. Sorry

    1. lol so same old stuff ….. I don’t get how people are so optimistic. I was reading some of the other comments and people still think something will come out in like 2018. Delusional

      1. @dave. Couldn’t agree more. It’s still the same — a scientist in timbuktu tried onion juice on a rat and got 7% more hair so he published his article on universityofwhatever.edu with the headlines of ‘a possible cure for baldness in 2050 with minor side effects of your penis falling off’.

    2. Histogen does not have the money for us trials so it probably will not be available even in 2019 in the US. Maybe in mexico but that depends on their partner there.

    1. In a recent interview with ‘belli capelli’ Brotzu said that his lotion should be on the market within a few months now.

        1. Where did you get the information that it should be close to release? He just says that the product should have a shelf life of several months?

  19. Just went over this new interesting study on lllt:

    Low-level laser treatment stimulates hair growth via upregulating Wnt10b and β-catenin expression in C3H/HeJ mice.
    Zhang T, et al. Lasers Med Sci. 2017.

  20. Good news it looks like Follica might have entered phase 3 trials. A link was posted over at HLT. Pure Tech updated their site with phase 3 for follica. I hope this comes out by Xmas :)

    1. I cannot find it… They are still in phase 2 according to their website. Where did you find the Link?

    2. There are 4 possible bars for every treatment as I can see. What is the forth for?

      Gelesis100 and Akiko treatment have it. Are they already out?

      1. Follica RAIN is in phase 3!!!! Look at the pipeline!!! FDA approval will be very SOON!!! Great times royaume lol.

    1. omg… stop spreading false information. They DID NOT update their pipleline. Who the fkck says that they are in phase 3.
      Nothing new!

    1. @Fonz I wore one for a year before I shaved my head and had smp. I’ve posted my experience here before. In summary I did not have a good experience. If you are totally bald and have minimal hair growth, then it could be good for you though there is still a lot of maintenance involved. If you still have some hair, I would advise not to get a system because as your hair growths under the system it’s really itchy and uncomfortable. The system will also damage your existing hair. I have permanent damage in two patches on my head from the tape and glue. You can’t swim with it, or go to hot countries as the glue melts. Most websites lie about this. Any questions just ask.

    1. Mma preclinics lol…where are you all this time? Follica is in phase 3.

      The device…the app for smartphones…
      All is ready.

  21. @mjones: why on earth would you think RAIN would be available by christmas? Cmon man your smarter then that and you are going to get a bunch of newbies hopes up like many guys did before us..”and pivotal trials expected to read out over the next 12 to 18 months.”…it takes that long just to get a read out bro.

  22. This is 99% reason why anyone traffics sites and blogs like these is two get hard reliable time release to pipeline treatments. The real big 3 price pictures and release date. Instead we get affiliate ads and irrelevant subjects. Hopefully rain will be out next year I would believe fall 2018 would be the earliest admin said they annoinced a delay a few months ago if I’m not certain

  23. Sorry if I am confusing things, but is Follica pursuing phase 3 trials at this point? I thought they were going the 510(k) route (with already approved compounds) to get a product on the market, while also continuing to explore various chemical formulations that would be required to go through FDA’s 3 trial phases. I don’t have a clear understanding of FDA requirements, so it’s possible I’ve got this all wrong. Does Follica need to do 3 trials for the chemicals AND 510(k) for the device?

  24. Quite honestly, I am so sick and tired of constantly checking here and other blogs/forums for scraps of info which do nothing to quell the hunger for a cure. It’s happening, but not fast enough. There is enough research being done, but my god how slowly it progresses. Are we, as a group, confident that a cure (or extremely effective regrowth treatment) will be available in the next few years?

    If the answer to that is yes…I’m doing a big HT…frontal half only, 4-5k grafts FUE under the assumption that by the time that is looking good, other treatments will be there for the crown area to deal with regrowth there. Bollocks to what Spex and the other HT experts say about grafts in the bank etc, the paradigm is shifting and I think it’s a gamble that will pay off. Anyone any thoughts?

    1. Had a HT in 2014, got 2500 grafts front and crown and have to problem of thinning hair at the crown after 3 years. The problem is that if you will constantly lose hair at one point you don’t have enough donor hairs left to stabilize the whole head. Because of that treatment like replicel or something that maintains your hair and stabilizes your thinning or minituarized hair would be perfect. You can still get a HT for the bald spots and maintain the good areas until cloning comes out and you get your full donor back.

      1. Yeah but that’s my thoughts exactly…Like sacrifice the rest of my 20s balding and miserable waiting for the FDA to stop being such tossers, or take the gamble, get a big HT fully understanding that yes, I likely will bald further and have used all my reserve grafts. But by that stage, surely, we will have a cure or treatment which makes it irrelevant what kind of state the donor is in

    1. omg please what? If you’re happy with the rate things progress at then you obviously haven’t spent the time or effort I or many others here have researching where the next cure is coming from.

      It will happen very soon? Uninformed conjecture, if you haven’t anything constructive or tangible to offer then discerning comments to other points of view. W@nker.

    1. Because most people do not realize how much hair it can grow back. The beard photos are amazing. If you do not like a post, the best thing is to wait for the one you like and not waste your valuable time lurking here reading stuff you do not like or believe in. Words of wisdom from Donald J Trump.

      1. It’s always going to work much better for beards. Hair anywhere on the body, once there, is almost impossible to remove – suggests that it is then well supplied with blood & nutrients and as such, Minox will speed up growth.

        1. What this does, of course, show is that should we find a treatment to correct the mechanism which causes scalp hair loss, Minoxidil will be extremely effective in hair regrowth, assuming that the follicle can be revived.

        2. It seems like the Rogaine converts vellus beard hair into terminal for many people.

          Scalp hair once lost is often still there, but vellus in nature. Maybe Rogaine can bring some back (i.e., convert vellus to terminal like with beard)? Some debatable issues in that train of thought (perhaps vellus scalp not same as vellus beard), but interesting for sure.

          1. It’s because vellus hair on scalp is being attacked by dht, inflammation, androgen etc and Rogaine alone isn’t strong enough to grow them terminal without Propecia. However for some it works due to a certain enzyme that is elevated in some people’s body. Either way Rogaine works but not as good for some as others just like fin. Better than nothing though.

  25. I didn’t think about applying Rogain on my hairline until I stumbled upon a hair loss forum thread from years ago that some people were using it to get thicker hair on their hair line. On the packaging it tells you to only apply on the top of your head but apparently it works just as well on other areas. Combined with Propecia, hopefully this will slow down my mpb until something better comes out.

  26. My brother had some bald spots on face near jaw line and the doctor prescribed him 5% minoxidil. The beard grown back and his face is full of hair. On a side note, he has no hair loss problem. His hairline is like in highschool and he is 33 now, unlike me, loosing hair since my mid twenties.

Leave a Reply to matt Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *