September in Texas, Y’all: World Beard and Moustache Competitions

by Bill Alley, Broadcast Host, Wordsmith and Beard Advocate

It’s akin to the Olympics. An vent that got its roots back in 1990 when the first International gathering of Bearded men met in Germany to hold a facial hair contest. A humble start that evolved into the organization recognized internationally as the authority on beard competing. The WBMA (World Beard & Moustache Association) is the grand authority sanctioning the World Beard & Moustache Competitions since 2004. They are the go-to site for clubs to become members and for clubs to host events.

September 1st, 2007: The first official WBMA Competition launches in Brighton, UK, to a solid showing of contestants and good interest. The Clubs compete from this point in biennial (every 2 years) cycles for judging in general categories of styled and natural beard, moustache, or goatee. Brighton’s Handlebar Club was host.

May 19th, 2009: Alaska gets the nod as the next World Competition host. South Central Alaska Beard & Moustache Club attract worldwide attention and curiosity as whiskered men enjoy the competition, fellowship and the location – often depicted with bearded, burly, hardy Alaskans living life in a rugged manner that the landscape offers. Here SCABMC becomes the first club to engage in charity, raising over $16,000 in donations distributed to the International Lions Club Foundation and the Miners and Trappers Ball, Inc. It is said that the Alaska Comps were the highest attended event of its kind to date.

May 15th, 2011: The Norwegian Moustache Club of 91 hosted the next World Competition in the city of Trondheim.

November 2nd, 2013: Stuttgart, Germany’s Belle Moustache Beard and Culture Club were the hosts that gave attendees the grand and honored feel of Deutschland – right down to the beer gardens.

October 3rd, 2015: The village of Leogang, Austria, makes an important whiskered legend for itself when they hosted the World Beard & Moustache Competition. They made history as well when the WBMA announced the winners were not Germans, but ‘upstart Americans’ dominated the top honors.

September 1st, 2017: Austin, Texas hosts the World Beard and Moustache event under the banner of The 2017 Remington Beard Boss World Beard & Moustache Championships. The three day event will take place at the Long Center for the Performing Arts. The Austin Facial Hair Club, famous for its television episodes in the popular TV series “Whisker Wars” have run with an event where sponsors join in the festivity and charity abounds. Three chosen organizations (the Livestrong Foundation, OutYouth and F.A.R.M., or Farmers Assisting Returning Military) will split the proceeds raised during the three days of competing. They’re anticipating about 1000 entrants for this round and a wide assortment of categories being judged include platforms with 6 moustache entries, 8 partial beard and 8 full beard categories, and four entries for ‘the greatest supporters on earth’ as Whiskerinas will be competing.

We have mates in Australia joining us while on location to make this a grand celebration. Our reports will be available during the event online at our local Internet radio station in Temple, Texas ( kngyradio.com ) and station social media; a special edition of the October Beardsley Gazette will offer top highlights.

Keeping Your  Beard Cool When It Gets Hot

by Bill Alley, Broadcast Host, Wordsmith and Beard Advocate

Summer in the Northern Hemisphere has been making some early appearances in 2017. Often when the thermometer wants to reach the heights before the actual calendar start of sizzling days, it’s got some of us thinking what we should do, or not do, to the whiskers. From previous writings of my own and others, we know the Beard has key, even life-saving, advantages. Body hair in general is a filter against harmful ultraviolet rays and has been proven to help deter skin cancers. Natural sweat is the cooling mechanism the body uses to hydrate at the moment.

Beyond what your body provides, it's what you provide your body that can make the difference between keeping ‘beard cool’ or going for drastic measures. Clues from what the body supplies are the easiest to maintain: hydration requires hydrating, a.k.a. Water. If you're the active kind, you'll need to get at a minimum 50% more hydration than if you were working sedentary, and that's just for starters: once the activity ends, you'll be good to go if you can take in 50% more water to ensure your active internal organs have what they need to keep processing functions optimum.

Externally, men will fuss over two irritating things: rash or itch. The first—rashes—are skin anomalies which may have many causes. Some guys blame the whisker for being too bristling; that might be a cause if your whiskers are dirty, waxy sebum build-up at the hair roots are causing clogging of the pores so sweat is restricted, or if the beard is dry and brittle. Best to give your facial hair a good moisturizing shampoo and conditioner, especially one that has an emollient which is soothing to rashes. Regular grooming also helps natural body oils condition the facial hair, reducing brittle and dry condition.

The itch has two typical culprits: in-grown hair or ‘nervous discomfort.' The first can be easy to fix by finding the source, removing the in-grown hair if it is above the skin, and treating the area topically with a good cleaning plus a healing ointment (up to and including antibacterial treatments). Be certain the product you use won't sting or cause a worse reaction. For the most stubborn in-grown situation it might be best to visit with a dermatologist. As for the ‘nervous discomfort’ scenario, stress can create habits which mar your facial hair without realizing what is happening. I tend to give into ‘moustache munch,' especially if mentally stressed. It's a situation where you'll find your upper lip whiskers subjected to an unplanned trim with your teeth. Might sound like a solution to an overgrowth problem, but teeth have no clue in shaping style; uneven whisker lines around the lips are often the result and there is no other recourse but to trim back a bit more. Others may rub areas like sideburns, chin or jawline to a point the whiskers create irritation of skin surfaces below. Training your brain to ‘stroke’ or ‘pet’ your beard like you were giving yourself a quick touch-up styling helps retrain a better and safer quick groom habit.

From Russia, With Borodá: Russian Beard (борода) Power and Politics

Fifth in a year-long series devoted to the ethnicity and culture of the Beard. by Bill Alley, Broadcast Host, Wordsmith and Beard Advocate

Consider for a moment the larger than life attributes of Russia. It is the largest nation in Asia, easily occupying a third of the continent’s entire North regions. As a nation, it has been ruled by kingdoms, overtaken at times by marauders, overtaken itself from a monarchy to a Soviet dictatorship, and emerged somewhat free market, somewhat black market, somewhat cartel.

By sheer size, Russia doesn’t do ‘small’. When it comes to facial hair, it is often donned with impressive shape, girth, density and detail. To explain it all in condensed form the best method is revealed in the regions and peoples that comprise the landscape.

Early accounts make a 9th century Varangian chieftain of Slavic influences who migrated with other Northern and Northwestern Europeans (as far as the present-day British Isles) to form the premier cities of Novgorod and Kiev, both brought under Rus authority by Rurik.

Rurik established rule from Kiev with his Rus Dynasty lasting eight centuries. In its era the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Tsars were intertwined in the dynastic order until Vasily IV, who was believed to be the last Rusikid to rule. His death was noted in 1612.

With Tsars already established, the kingdom grew far beyond Kiev’s reach, expanding by late 18th century from Poland on the west to the Pacific Ocean well east—approximately the size and shape of modern day Russia. In the late 17th century it was Peter The Great which forcibly transformed, under much objection by many of the societies which made up the empire, those who were officials to shave and adapt to western lifestyles, including dress. The Boyars, greatest opponents to what they believed was a deliberate obliteration of proper Russian male assimilation in full bearded view, agreed to submit to the decree from September 5th, 1698 to pay a Beard Tax of 100 Rubles without further harm or distress. The levy was similarly paid by nobles, businessmen, officials and serfs at various levels whenever they entered important Russian cities. The tax was abolished in 1772, but by the 19th Century and the reign of Tsar Nicholas the Beard Tax levied double fines and taxes toward the Russian Orthodox clergy and leaders. To escape the persecution from the Tsars and later the Soviet Communists the Bearded Believers emigrated to far Russian outposts and all over the world – staunchly holding onto their full beards as right and proper appearance just as Jesus Christ was bearded.

Bringing the matter to a head was religion’s greatest asset for the beard. Over many centuries bearded men were perceived as heterosexual, thereby beards were always protected within church realms and society. However one event—the Eurovision Song Contest of 2014—brought such outrage to Russian men that there was a rush on razors and shaving cream. Conchita Wurst, drag queen from Austria, captured top prize in the annual event. With Russian men believing the crowning of Conchita was a travesty, they also felt the disconnect to their beards as the world took full view of a bearded man in drag making references personally to female sexual identity. He has consistently described himself as a gay man. The Pravda Report based in Moscow making claims that facial hair was disappearing at an unusually high rate creates the strongest of terms by Russian men against all that Conchita displayed.

The Russian Old Believer Orthodox Church steps in again to save the whisker. As recently as June 20th, 2017, one leading cleric who reportedly has strong backing of Vladimir Putin emphatically stated that one’s beard wards off homosexual tendencies, and pleads with the shaven to let Russian manhood and machismo return by rightfully restored whiskers.

Despite the outright war on facial hair there’s endless evidence of eras where free flowing beards find themselves on segments of the entire Russian male population. Whether a Bolshevik, a noble, a Communist, a scientist or woodsman, and from whatever familial background, the roots of Russia run deep, hairy and strong.