Hair Cycle

The hair cycle consists of three different stages: anagen, catagen, and telogen. Hair on the body, including facial hair, are at their own phase of growth. Topical solutions like minoxidil or peppermint essential oil are known to force hair into the anagen phase.

The ideal stage, anagen is the phase in which the hair is growing. Depending on genetics, it may last a couple of years, or many years. The hair is actively growing, adding density and length to your beard.

The hair during this phase is cut off from its supply of blood. During these two weeks after the anagen phase, the follicle is renewing itself by disallowing the need of nutrients and energy to be used to grow hair.

In this phase, the hair is dormant anywhere from one to four months, allowing energy to be used for the follicles in the anagen phase.

At some point, the hair will need to shed and be replaced with new hair. This is a normal experience and isn't the same as hair loss. This is called shedding

Those using minoxidil for beard growth may experience multiple, noticeable shedding stages, where hair from both the scalp and the beard appear to be falling more than usual. Continuing usage will allow you to get past the shedding, and the hair will regrow — generally fuller than before.

If you don't notice a “shedding phase,” it's not an indicator of the lack of shedding. It comes down to shedding less over a longer period of time, versus more over a shorter period of time.

Men losing about 10 beard hairs everyday is part of regular shedding. As everyone is different, men may shed more, but it should not be enough to make a difference in how your beard appears. New hair will come to replace the shed hair in time.

Kenogen is the phase between shedding and growth (exogen and anagen).

• Hair Follicle