Five Benefits of Rocking a Beard

 

Used to wear one only in winter-- helped prevent wind chap while skiing. Now it's on full time and no more razor burn.
But there are other reasons. And so I give you...

Will this be the only ridiculous beard pic? No it will not.

This my take on an article by  K. Aleisha Fetters Published June 20, 2013.
She writes, "five doctor approved reasons to let your beard grow".
OK. Let's have a look.

1. Sun Block
Don't want to be the red-faced guy everybody points and laughs at? Well, why slather goop on your mug to avoid an embarrassing burn when you can sport a knit sunshade like Smirky up there.
Beards block 50-95% of UV rays. At 4/10" thick you get UPF 2. But grow a Billie Gibbons 3.5" thick face jungle and you get UPF 21.

Even their guitars are sunproof.

Basal cell carcinoma is the most common cancer. 1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer. Most lesions occur above the shoulders.  UV rays take the blame.
Beard pro-tip:  Grow a neck-beard for maximum coverage.

Nose ring optional.

2.  No-blemish skin
A top reason of mine.
When you ditch the razor you skip the rash and cut down on acne and folliculitis. Shaving is a great way to spread bacteria around and infect follicles.

See? No blemishes.

3. Beards are Butch
I only know one man named Butch. While he has a pretty tough history, he wears no beard.
Nonetheless, apparently both sexes perceive the bearded as more masculine than the shorn.
 "..an intermediate level of beardedness is most attractive..." (Sorry, no blemish dude. You're doing it wrong.) and "Masculinity ratings increased linearly as facial hair increased, and this effect was more pronounced in women in the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle..."

Seems to've worked for this guy.

4. Moisturized
This one plays to me again. I used to hate wind chap when skiing.
This is all about sebaceous glands. These glands are at the base of the hair follicle. They secrete fatty sebum which keeps the skin moist and so protects. A beard keeps sebum in place like kudzu keeps dirt on a bare slope.

Bare slope.

Kudzu.

Beard.

5. Pollen trap
You blow your nose after a manly day tossing hay bales and what comes out is enough to start a garden. Nose hairs (with an assist from mucous) works that well.
And so does your beard.
How do bees collect pollen? They wallow in the stuff and collect it on the tiny hairs of their tiny bee appendages. Your beard is like that, catching and keeping pollen and dust out of your face-holes.

Works for the ladies, too.

For the most erudite and exciting musings on pollen/allergies ever written on this blog, page down a couple posts.

SUPER EXTRA BONUS BEARD LINK
And one man's solution to the high costs associated with shaving.