The Moment Your Beard Becomes You

by Bill Alley, Broadcast Host, Producer & Beard Advocate

At least once in your life you should allow yourself the discovery of who you really are. What are your passions, your dreams needing to be followed, and what did they do to create the man you see in the mirror? We may remember the man we envisioned ourselves being way back when; I know my mental vision became what you find before you...a broadcaster, writer, and bearded. It is born from childhood. The transistor radio was my constant companion; history and current affairs consumed countless hours of reading, and the beard I found most inspiring was found across the street at the home of the Burnhams. Bennett—seven years my elder—was my first trumpet teacher. He’s had a beard since high school, to my understanding, continuously

Youth who have good bearded men about them can find something considerable in figuring out why some have facial hair and others do not. Given a choice, young men—those found in the throws of puberty—will have a better understanding when given a few lessons on helping them understand their DNA and the men comprising their family tree. One such gent—a friend and fellow Beard Advocate from Los Angeles—took to heart the lack of education for male teens on whiskers. In 2013 actor Kai Cofer put forth the notion that a “young male rite of passage” could introduce the prestige, heritage and individual character of facial hair as a way to fully embrace their manhood. The Beard-Mitzvah was born.

Much the same as in Bar-Mitzvah, the passing from boyhood to young manhood in Jewish faith and tradition, the celebrant is honored with a challenge: as a growing man, he must be true to himself and his faith taught from forefathers. Kai had the opportunity to develop the first Beard-Mitzvah for a father and son who wanted a special way to dedicate the child’s passage to manhood, both agreeing that he would not be found with a razor in hand. It was the first of its kind of rite, which included a dedication, an affirmation from family and friends attending with the Mother purposed to bake a cake of a face with a long beard. This symbolized a blessing to a happy and bearded manhood. A razor was handed to the son symbolically, and true to the oath, that son tossed it into the trash.

A Beard-Mitzvah makes the perfect rite and honor in that the more conservative, Messianic and Orthodox communities tend to keep facial hair, and those who do shave will only use an electric shaver as razors often are prone to blood letting—not a desired thing!

What of the older man, past his teen years, struggling with the “beard or no beard” battle? Many men have the question nag until growing is tried, whether on holiday or as a challenge.  We who have had facial hair in the double digits of years will observe their attempts as a contest or dare from friends or colleagues. One that caught my attention back in 2006 was “The Winter Of The Beard”, a gathering of nine men in the early stages of mid-life (30s) who decided for six months not to shave or trim. Each would film their progress and thoughts throughout the journey, meeting together from time to time.

They who endured discovered themselves as men, independent of the norm, with a very different outlook. Several shaved and discontinued after 3 months. Of the remaining members all but two shaved; one in particular came from excellent whisker pedigree and often spoke of his father's long, dense, amazing beard—but he could not endure such a quest, vowing not to grow again though his own whiskers were truly amazing. Lucky Treehouse Productions of San Francisco produced and two of its members participated in the making of the film.

The endeavor has seen expansion since, raising awareness and funds for Veterans-related causes. More about their charity is available here

Beards today have earned and nurtured the respect of yesteryear. I wonder if our ancestors ever saw facial hair being so celebrated by contests, or so influential in raising funds for charity, health and causes to benefit for self and others.

Bearded Dads, Uncles and Brothers, this would be a good moment to have the Beard Talk with the boys in your life. Their manhood is fast approaching; let them understand who they are by ancestry and the DNA-inspired whiskers that grace us.

Meet the Artist Who Draws the Beardsley Faces

Fiona King has been creating artwork for Beardsley bottles since 1995 from her Rocky Mountain studio in McElmo Canyon, Colorado. A graduate of Kootenay School of Art in British Columbia, Canada, She has worked as an illustrator for over 30 years. She uses an elaborate technique known as scratch board which perfectly replicates the effect of traditional wood and copper engraving as practiced by Albrecht Dürer, Thomas Bewick, John Audubon, and others.

Her artwork has appeared an many award-winning books including The Wild Muir—Twenty-two of John Muir’s Greatest Adventures, and the International Bible Society's People of the Book Series. You can find other examples of her illustration at the Old faithful Visitors Education Center at Yellowstone National Park. Fiona has enjoyed working on all the faces  for Beardsley, and is especially fond of Lincoln because he has such a wonderfully chiselled visage.

How to Fight the Shaving Nightmare, Part Two

by Bill Alley, Broadcast Host, Producer & Beard Advocate

Advocating for the Bearded Man gives folks the ability to take on the beard growth challenge due to the years of stories and results from countless men who challenged the norm. Shaving is a conditioned behavior, brought on by over a century of advertising designed to redefine culture. Since the Industrial Revolution of the late 1800s, man has found himself in confrontation with bosses and other employers—even clients—who have given the decree of “shave or leave” their particular business culture. We the Bearded confronted this bias staring in the late 80s, and countless victories have been achieved from the boardroom to the catwalk to customer service where men with beards enjoy equal stature and acceptance.

Fast forward: in this new century a man has a physical and virtual support system of facial hair in storied history, present-day activity and—believe it or not—the boardroom. Virgin Airways CEO Richard Branson has not altered his facial hair style. Rick Rubin (the “big man” in the music business) keeps a Rip Van Winkle-esque long beard and hair. I could write volumes on other beards in business leadership these days, but what does that do for the average guy—especially in professions or companies which frown on whiskers?

Michael, a bearded flight attendant at a major USAir Hub was going through a shake-up thanks to the American Airlines merger a few years ago...nightmare scenario playing strong as the worry loomed about his well-kept whiskers. I happened to mention an article of mine in a leading Mens Beard Blogger group—a portion of a leading Human Resources guidance site which contained two gems of wisdom, quoted directly:

4. Apply the dress code policy uniformly to all employees. This can prevent claims that the policy adversely affects women or minorities. However, you may have to make exceptions if required by law. (See next suggestion.)

5. Make reasonable accommodation when the situation requires an exception. Be prepared to accommodate requests for religious practices and disabilities, such as head coverings and facial hair.

I have maintained a full beard for nearly 29 years in media, the Postal Service, the Nuclear Power industry as an NRC-hired documentation specialist, and various offices where my whiskered joined forces with CEOs and various high-ranking officials in Insurance and Project Construction Management. Of the few professions that protested the beard, one in particular—Advertising, in the 90s, and 2000s in New England—was told directly of their biased and discriminatory actions. That particular business, of which Providence RI and Hartford CT was at one time dominant, hardly exists; their own anti-beard behavior was a part of their downfall.

Our next visit on this topic will take a look into how Advertising continues to have a love/hate relationship to the natural man, and of how we in Beard Advocacy expose every dirty trick.

The Hipster Emperor?

The Emperor Hadrian (AD 117–138)—the one who built the famous wall between England and Scotland—was the first Roman emperor to sport a neatly trimmed beard.

He lived over 1800 years ago, yet Hadrian’s look is oddly contemporary. If he were suddenly to show up in an espresso bar in the East Village, he would hardly be noticed.

The Truth About Why Your Beard Hair Is Wildly Different from
Your Head Hair, According to Science

by Erin Brodwin Business Insider

If you’ve ever wondered why the hair on one part of your body looks so different from the hair on another part, you’re probably not alone.

This phenomenon is a perfectly natural one, and it can be explained pretty easily with science.

As it turns out, you have different types of hair that grow during different phases of your life, and they can come in different colors and textures.

Deep inside the hair follicles—tiny pockets in your skin that house each strand of your hair—there are two different types of pigment that give your lovely locks their hue.

These two types of pigment are eumelanin, which colors hair black or brown, and pheomelanin, which colors hair blonde or red. Despite what you may have heard, all humans have a little bit of pheomelanin in our hair. It's just that in people with dark brown or black hair, the pheomelanin is effectively masked by the darker eumelanin. If your brown hair has a few golden or auburn tones, that's the eumelanin peeking through!

But different parts of the body are home to different colors—and textures—of hair. A variety of factors contribute to this phenomenon, including the fact that some follicles simply produce more pigment than others. Usually, eyebrow hair is the darkest; the follicles there tend to produce a lot of pigment.

So what about texture? The hair on your beard—or on your genitals or on your tummy—can be wiry and curly, even while the stuff on your head is smooth and straight. There's another reason for this. As opposed to the hair on your head (“head hair”), the stuff coming out of your beard belongs to a type of hair called androgenic hair, which sprouts during and after puberty thanks to changes in the levels of a certain type of hormone called androgens.

Androgenic hair also differs slightly from head hair in terms of how it grows. Like head hair, it goes through three different growth phases in which the hair grows at different speeds, but these phases happen at slightly different times, which influences how long or short your hair gets.

So there you have it! If you have curly hair in one place and straight hair in another, embrace it. It’s perfectly natural.