DOES YOUR FACIAL HAIR REALLY HAVE A SHELF LIFE?

Good day my brothers and beard admiring sisters, and welcome bacK to the Monday TBS beard blog.

With the internet being globally available to most of us, we really don't have to google search for very long, or flick through our social media timelines before being greeted with the latest trend setting fad to arise before our very eyes.

Today I need to ask, can our beards ever become outdated? Be is in the media or our day to day lives, has facial hair simply become all too common upon the many faces of most men? Without further delay let us begin today's blog topic post, smartly titled - Does Your Facial Hair Really Have A Shelf Life?

Because many men either try out or own some form of facial gruff one time or another in their life beards have increasingly become outstandingly popular in recent years. Members of The Royal Family themselves now choose to grow out the fuzzy face appearance, and so do celebrities such as rap mogul Marshall Mathers, better known by his stage name 'Eminem' who has also started sporting a new roughed furry faced appearance.

Beards quickly became big business, and very much remain that way. And with any trend setting ''fad'' or ''phase'' they usually have a timeline before they slowly decline on being as relevant as they once were as things settle down once again. But here's where I have to disagree with the assumption that 'beards are nothing more than a trend'.

For me, I never first set out to grow a beard in order to fit in, or because they were suddenly considered 'cool' or 'rad' by the press. I grew a chin strap biker beard, if you will, to start with and this was simply because it shocked many folks who did not expect me to grow facial hair. At first my wife really hated it, my family were also quick to disapprove, and I loved the fact that it seemed to piss so many people off without me purposely meaning to do so.

I'm rather fortunate as my facial hair grows rather fast and within a matter of weeks I had grown out some pretty impressive facial whiskers to call my very own. Bright ginger/red in colour my face fluff sat loudly upon my cheeks for the entire world and his uncle to see. And I didnt care what people thought. If it annoyed them, good, at least I'm giving the a topic to talk about. I would laugh in the many faces of people who said I looked older, scruffier and unkempt. It was my choice to make, not theirs, but mine.

It was a short time after this that I began to quickly notice that facial hair was beginning to make a comeback, and in a strangely big way, as more male models donned stubbly cheeks and big hairdos, people soon began to instantly place my beard in the 'trendsetting' box which laid in their minds, assuming it was a silly phase I was going through which would pass given time.

I was so puzzled to start with. Being a guy who wears baggy sweats or dark jeans and a sharp (usually printed with a witty print or offensive quote) tee to chill in from one day to the next, I most certainly would not consider myself your average 'trendy' kinda guy, in fact the very thought of being one of those 'cool kids' sends unwanted shivers right down the back of my spine.

Let's be honest, facial hair is not an item of clothing or a sharp pair of fresh kicks that we can wear one day then not the next. It takes lots of time and dedication, and a whole lot of patience to grow out ones beard.

Not only do I find these false labels rather offensive for those who have sported facial hair for many years before it was said to be considered 'cool' to do so, but will continue to grow long after it is considered not.

Facial hair growth should be admired for the beholder, and not disrespectfully labelled. And if stats and figures are more your thing then the numbers certainly speak volumes in favour of a man who decides to grow in comparison to those who do not.

Recent figures show that most prefer a guy with some form of face gruff. Whilst the 'stubble look' remains the biggest hit amongst the opposite sex for preference, larger, more fuller beards are also becoming more desirable as well.

So, to beard or not to beard should never be the debatable question. But simply put this choice should remain for the individuals preference and for the individual alone, not based on the grounds of if something is suddenly considered popular or cool.

Well, that's my two pennies added into the thought bucket for today my folks, but what do you guys think? As always we fully encourage you to leave us your thoughts and feedback in our blog. You can do so simply by leaving a comment or two below, or maybe you might prefer to get in touch with us through the power of our social media pages? Be it on Facebook, Twitter or over on our Instagram page, be sure to get in touch, as we would love to hear from our readers.

And until next time, Beard on Brothers...