i have the shave mines every week, but i dont grow a thick beard, i also get cheek hairs. asians do grow straight hair and its faster growing, because of how the follicles are orientated.
this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2026
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Anecdata: i am Eastern European, and can't grow a beard. Like, I am trimming it once in couple of weeks
They also have funky other differences like dry ear wax, non-stinky sweat, they turn bright red when drinking alcohol and a lot of them have blue-ish birthmarks.
It's fascinating what genes can do! Just like sneezing when looking at a bright light or having the coriander=soap gene.
its deficiency alcohol dehydrogenase2 in asian, that gives the red flushing, not all asians apparently have this though. also lactose intolerance is more common too.
non-stinky sweat
Not exactly. Those with the mutation have fewer apocrine sweat glands which bacteria that make smells tend to like. The other sweat still smells like sweat.
Thank you for the clarification! That's one of the few desirable mutations 😓
I got ‘lucky’ and the tiny bit of my DNA attributed to my Neanderthal ancestors is responsible for my awful skin. I have, apparently, incurable dandruff that’s spread to my ears and face. It’s a real pain. Unless I am constantly (and I mean that) washing my face and scalp, it never goes away. Dealt with it all my life.
some tibetians have denisovan genes too.
My friend, in all likelihood that is not dandruff, it is probably psoriasis provoked/worsened by something environmental or dietary.
Dandruff arises from a fungal infection.
Tell that to the antifungal shampoo and face wash I was prescribed that did nothing to help.
That supports my point, it's not dandruff.
If it were dandruff the antifungal would have an effect.
In all likelihood you have psoriasis (which I also have so I'm not stupid, I know it's an incurable autoimmune disorder) provoked to bloom by something in your diet.
If there’s any kind of medication, I’ve tried it. Ask my GP and my ENT doctors.
Otezla pills? Tremfya injection?
I feel like you haven't listened to a word I've said.
I feel like you haven't READ a single one of mine.
You can tell I'm reading yours because I'm responding appropriately, and you're just continuing to say the same thing over and over again to me which means I can tell you're not listening. It's fine, enjoy your psoriasis bud
Me too! A couple of drops of lavender oil in a very neutral ungreasy moisturiser works wonders for me for my face, and tea tree oil shampoo is the best thing I’ve found for my scalp.
tea tree oil shampoo
I tried some a few months ago and it’s the only thing that’s ever worked for my scalp, but it does nothing for my face or ears. I’ll have to try your solution.
Don't use shampoo. Shampoo is designed to strip away all natural oils and moisture and sell you more products to deal with it.
Genes.
Far Eastern Asians generally have less body hair. Not just men, not just facial.
Other people do too - the reason I gave up growing a beard. Can't get beyond the scraggly phase.
More reading:
many of the distinguishing features of East-Asian people have recently been linked to a single gene mutation.
edit: Far Eastern, not all Asians.
Hell, I can grow a decently thick beard, but it never grows past maybe three inches, which means it’s very unevenly long looking. Also my goatee area never grows past an inch and a half long.
I read this and immediately thought "well, that's completely wrong".
I'm British, so to me "Asian" usually means from the Indian Subcontinent. Some of those guys can be very beardy!
Anyway, the answer to your question is a phenomenon called Neoteny.
Basically, it's the retention of juvenile characteristics into adulthood. It occurs almost exclusively through sexual selection.
In East Asia populations, there is a mutation in the EDAR gene which is associated with the specific differences you've mentioned (along with thicker head hair, less prominent chins, smaller boobs, etc).
i’m British, so to me “Asian” usually means from the Indian Subcontinent. Some of those guys can be very beardy!
Also british here. I don't get why people don't just say Southern Asian, West Asian, Central Asian, East Asian.
We do that for europe and Africa, so it isn't offensive or anything, right?
It really neatly divides people into generally similar groups (admittedly Afghanis can be profoundly distinct from Indian-subcontinent-als, and i consider both to be south asians)
I grew up in the US and I always used "Asia" on its own to mean East Asia and think everyone else I knew did as well. Anywhere else just was called something else (India, the Middle East, South-East Asia, and so on). I don't think it hit me until I moved to Japan in my 30s, but I definitely see it a lot still in USAmerican-heavy online groups.
Any idea how that functions in Scandinavia , with less hair, but big sturdy women (big breasts, strong ect) and men too?
Scandinavians can often have thick beards, or am I wrong? Maybe their body hair looks like it's less because it's lighter?
Most of us aren't growing beards in our teens 😅 It's more like the old japanese man who have let it grow for 50 years to get one.
Don't need thick hair for the climate; make it chunky with a layer of fat and some fluffy hair and it probably isolates just as well in nature.