Topical Finasteride 0.025% and beard development

i have been on oral finasteride 0.5 EOD for a year and a half since age 19. I have had great results which I am grateful for (changed my life). I have also been using minoxidil on my face since then to promote beard growth which lead to a negligible increase in coverage of vellus hairs but no terminal hairs. I really want to have a beard or somewhat a goatee as I am babyfaced right now.

Will switching to topical finasteride 0.025% 1ml ED help overcome this barrier due to serum dht not being decreased as much compared to oral. I was previously on this dose a couple months ago for 2 months in which i saw a noticable increase in vellus hairs on my beard while using minoxidil which tells me that my serum dht had increased.

I plan to be on this topical finasteride dose for 6-9 months while continue using topical minoxidil on beard with addition to tret and microneedling. I am also on 5mg oral minoxidil since march so that should dampen the effect of a rebound in serum dht on the hair. Once i have the desired amount of terminal hairs I will switch back to oral. Does this sound like a solid plan? I am aware that i might lose ground but hopefully not.

I dont want to hear that oral finasteride doesnt affect beard development as I have the genetics for a beard but since i hopped on fin at 19 when my facial hair was non-existent it prevented them from turning into terminal. I also have no intentions of stopping finasteride as i want to keep my hair :)

Does anybody have experiences with this dose???