It is no secret that beards are blooming upon many faces of most men as more and more decide to ditch the razor and replace it with a fuzzy face of their own.
It has been labelled a trend, a fashion statement, a phase and everything in between, but call it whatever you will as it seems facial hair popularity will not be sidelined anytime soon.
According to recent findings gathered by YouGov UK, it is believed that just shy of half of the male UK population sport some form of facial hair.
It is believed as of November 2016 around 18% of men had a full beard and moustache, 17% rocked stubble. A further 3% grew out a moustache only and another 2% chose the beard without the 'tash'. Leaving 58% of men who had no facial hair at all.
Their findings also highlighted that younger British men were some of the keenest to sport some fluff, with a whopping 61% of 18-39 year olds having some form of facial hair compared to the low 43% studied back in 2011.
And it isn't just the male species who are digging the face fluff, as British women are warming rather nicely to a man with a little (or a lot!) furry face fuzz. When asked back in 2011 a staggering 66% of women suggested that they preferred the visual appearance of a man without a beard, but when asked again in November 2016 that figure had dropped to less than half at just 46%, meaning that 54% of ladies dig a man with facial hair. Which is a jolly good standing, I say!
Not only have face forests been flourishing upon the faces of younger men over the years, it also appears that the have also grown much bigger too, as more and more 'Brits' break the seal and flourish what was once 'designer stubble' into the full on 'lumberjack' beard. Another transition I fully support!
What did surprise me about this one article in particular was the section I usually enjoy reading equally as much as the written post itself, the comments section.
It seems we have a minority view who decided to bash their disapproving comments on beards, and I must say rather harshly too, as one reader posts -
''I HATE beards, especially on young men. There is no way I could snuggle up to a man with a beard, they revolt me and most women I know. Men expect us to shave our legs so why would they think we want their hairy faces brushing against our delicate skin. Not to mention the fact that young men with beards look stupid. I can't help it but I immediately take against young men with beards on a professional level. I just can't take them seriously on a subconscious level. It's like my head tells me they are posers (which is bad enough) but they haven't even managed to look good for their efforts. I wish this trend would end. It's young men trying to look like old men and thinking that it's cool. It does NOT look good.''
A fellow beardsmen jumped into defend our corner and swiftly returned this reply - ''You should probably examine your assumptions there. Men need to stop criticising women who don't shave their legs, sounds like you need to learn to control your beard prejudice.''
Sadly 'Mr Grumpy Pants' wasn't alone in his fur-face hate ontourage, as another reader shared his views, stating - ''Is it really be necessary to grow facial fungus in order for a person to prove his masculinity? Unshaven is both scruffy and unkempt looking. True beards, providing they are correctly trimmed are fine on self-assured older men who feel that they have nothing to prove. Personally I would never leave the home unless washed, shaved and wearing clean clothing, it really is a matter of self-discipline and high standards.''
Now, whilst I would love to report these were old comments from a forgotten corner of internet, that sadly wasn't the case, with these comments in particular being just 3 months old.
Now, anybody that knows me, and knows our loyal 'TBS' Viking army, will know just how much our face fuzz means to us. To slander our face fur in a such a distasteful light doesn't sit all too well with me, and I am sure this will also apply with many of our 'TBS' blog readers too.
Could the truth be that these few cannot muster up as much as a whisker upon their chin? In which case a little 'beard envy' is perfectly natural, and hey, we might just have a product in our exclusive online store that might help you fix that ;)
So, there goes today's blog to help kick start your week this Monday morning. As always please take a moment to leave us your thoughts and feedback on today's topic at hand in the comments section you will find ever so kindly provided directly below this very post.
And until next time, Beard on Brothers, Beard on...
