Saint Valentine: The Legendary Bearded Lover

Fact: Did you know there are at least 12 known Saints named Valentine and a fair number of them were full bearded?

Historians generally agree that one Valentine of Rome was under house arrest by a Roman judge for practicing his faith and its effective conversion of its citizens from agnostic or pagan belief to Catholicism. This Judge decided to test Valentine’s beliefs, which records say proved to be the Saint’s greatest victory. He was noted and recorded for reported healings and other unusual miracles which led him to greater reknown, all borne by Valentine as a follower of Jesus Christ. His actions eventually led him around the year 269AD to stand before Emperor Claudius who accused him of performing banned Christian marriages and as advocate for Christians being martyred. This became Valentine’s fate. In one of the last recorded acts before execution a letter had been penned by the Saint and sent to a lady whom he touched that instantly regained sight, a daughter of his jailer. In telling her of his fate he signs ’Your Valentine’. This is considered the first hint of the holiday’s naming; in 496AD it was Pope Galisius who marked February 14th as sacred in honor of Valentine’s martyrdom.

Roll the calendar forward to the 18th century to a particular wedding which took aim at Lupercalia, the Italian pagan lover’s holiday, when a wedding of Frances Douce to Alban Butler was performed and earmarked with the venerable Saint in mind. Religious scholars tend to say this was the thrust toward the Valentine’s Day we celebrate.

For more on the topic visit here.

The Bearded side of Black History

by Bill Alley, Broadcast Host, Producer & Beard Advocate

This is the second in a year-long series devoted to the ethnicity and culture of the Beard.

As Beard Advocate, musician and longtime radio show host, recalling great male musical artists from R&B and Soul is my first musical love. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Four Tops, The Coasters, Harold Melvin & The Blue-notes, Lou Rawls, Isaac Hayes and the immensely gifted and bearded Barry White added ‘sweetness’ to the mix of men whose visage was unforgettable, with velvety voices so irresistible. It is truly an era and sound like none other. While taking on eight years of February’s best from Black musical history I was honored to have received a congratulatory contact from the NAACP office in Chicago while on the air, citing the enthusiasm and historic record these musicians contributed.

Looking at sports over the years, one also realized the great leaders who kept whiskers of prominence. Notables include basketball players Walt Frazier and James Hardin, UFC fighter Kimbo Slice, Baseball’s Pedro Alvarez and Eddie Murray, Hashim Amla from the world of Cricket, Football’s Ricky Williams and the goatee of Vince Wilfork. Many were and still are role models for youth, which we know is very formative in getting our ’little men’ confident in their manhood for their beard-growing years.

History, however, has this topic going in every direction for every reason, and it is here that this month’s podcast will open doors to the topic of the Barber’s calling for men of color. The strong tie to career post-slavery, the professionalism developed and the need for men to look their best and most appealing came directly from the cutter’s trade. It explains why so many barber shops of today carry on timeless traditions of yesterday—all from the mastery of the men of color who still in many ways ’shape the world’ for their patrons.

One such stylist was a last-minute find just 30 minutes from here, a gentleman who’s known as Sir Reginald. He caters largely to the diverse and predominantly military men at the free world’s largest Air Force base, next door to Killeen, Texas.

Here’s an introduction courtesy of his YouTube channel

Give a listen to the podcast for more on the Bearded side of Black History.

Colorants: More Hope Than Hype with Some Facial Hair Types
by Bill Alley, Broadcast Host, Producer & Beard Advocate

I have been one to color my beard since Just For Men officially hit the US markets in the fall of 1987. It was on September 27 the decision was made to grow out these treasured whiskers because at the age of 27 my pattern growth problem was easing significantly.

More important, I had a way to deal with the pesky and unwanted gray whiskers which evaded my head hair but not my facial frock. So, truth be told, Just For Men gave me my confidence to grow the beard and deal with the fault I found. Coloring a beard has advantages with evading uneven tone and gray/white whiskers. A second and rather handy trait is to be able to blend in tones of your own for unique highlighting.

Of late I've been encouraged by the Santa community to join their ranks, and as a test, I've been living with near white whiskers while the head remains ‘salt and pepper.’ At least gray and white are increasingly popular shades as older men and hipsters alike are embracing and enhancing a silver tone.

For what can be done to give a great enhance to your whiskers, there are a number of pitfalls to consider. Out of the gate the toughest decision will be what product to use that will be tolerable enough to hair and skin; even mens hair colorants have warnings attached to do a patch test so any irritation can be greatly minimized before engaging a full treatment. If a decision is made to veer from your natural tone be prepared for anything from “Wow” to “Whoa!” Hair composition is different in texture, absorption and condition with every face and head, so the results absolutely vary. Expect to color more frequently than labels may tell you; the time it takes for whiskers to comply with your desired result may require weekly treatments over time. Be prepared to condition more frequently as colorizing tends to make facial hair dry and coarse, so increased use of oils, lotions and moisturizers will be necessary.

Distributor Profile: Carter and Bond of London

Bill Alley is the moderator. Joe Cotton, of Carter And Bond of the Notting Hill District of London, England, is our expert and distributor of Beardsley and Company’s line of Beard Care products to the British Isles, Ireland and elsewhere in Europe.

Visit the Beard Gallery for images of Carter and Bond.

BA: Let’s begin with the founding of the business. What purposed Carter and Bond to create its first establishment?

JC: The business was set up in 2002 to cater to the growing demand for—and supply of—niche and quality men’ s grooming products. Online retail was still in its infancy back then but it seemed the ideal platform to enable men to explore and experiment with grooming products, from the comfort and privacy of their home or office. Ours was one of the first websites dedicated to male grooming and today we’ re proud to be the longest running independent in our sector. Opening a “Barber & Shop” in our neighbourhood (Notting Hill) just seemed to be a logical progression.

BA: From these beginnings, what trends in mens grooming and style were driving attention to your business in the past?

JC: In the early years it was all about shaving. That category far and away dominated sales, with particular interest in open and double-edged razors and traditional shaving brushes. Younger men were clearly becoming interested in the grooming tools and habits of their fathers and grandfathers. But the past several years have seen a significant shift towards sales of beard and moustache grooming products. Hair care is the other category to have grown noticeably—in particular styling products—with the emergence worldwide of cool barbershops driving interest in that category. Opening of our own Barber & Shop in Notting Hill is evidence of this phenomenon!

BA: As Carter and Bond grew, what distinguishing characteristics of your business proved to be attractive to the consumer?

JC: Our sheer range of quality grooming products has always been a big attraction. With over 1,000 products from more than 60 brands there are few retailers with a selection that comes close. Also our line-up is carefully chosen and consists of ranges we really believe in, focusing more on heritage brands and generally avoiding those that have jumped on the bandwagon in recent years. Customer service and speed of delivery are also extremely important to us and valued by our customers. A couple of years ago we moved into a sizeable warehouse which not only enables us to maintain the quality of order preparation but we also endeavour to dispatch orders the same day if humanly possible.

BA: Having a firm distribution standing in and out of the UK, what has been your success and what hurdles remain?

JC: A large part of our success has to be down to our choice of brands. We have a good nose for what our customers will appreciate and we rarely take on a range that proves unpopular—indeed our customers trust us so generally if we believe in a product so will they. Beardsley is a good example. Almost no one in the UK stocked the range when we discovered it and although it has a distinctly different vibe to most other beard ranges on the market, we knew it would be a hit. And has it been a hit!