I can't grow a beard. Five days in and I give up. I do buzz my own hair though. It's super easy if you just use the same guard all over.

Don't give up, it takes time. If I shave off everything, it takes around 2 weeks before it's pretty good, and a month before I'm actually happy with it. But now that I have it, maintenance is super easy, I just keep the edges under control and trim any stragglers and stray hairs.

All beards look scraggly as they grow at first, you need to give it time to properly fill in before you give up. If you can, let it grow wild for a month, resist the urge to cut or trim. Then you can start adjusting it.

The most important tips I got were to set the bottom edge right above your Adam's apple, make it mostly a straight line and feather it out, so you don't have a hard edge. Feather in the sideburns as well. For the cheeks, I prefer to keep them natural or just lightly trimmed, but it depends on how hirsute you are.

I buzz my head without the guard, to the shortest possible setting. I did shave my head for a while, but I decided it isn't really worth it.

> Don't give up, it takes time.

It also takes the right genetics. Some of us will not have a real "beard" regardless of how much time we give it.

As a fellow bearded and balding guy, it's not real hard to use different guards, but the motions are new and using two mirrors to cut your own hair are awkward at first. You have to be ready to accept a short single guard buzz cut for your first 3-4 attempts. Having good clippers helps too.