Beard Loving: It requires more effort than you think

Your inner beard loving self is either a male with a true desire to grow one, or a female with a true desire to stroke one.

Maintenance isn’t casual though, so here’s what you’ll need to know.

Stuart Tracte

The scruffy, hardly-shaved semi-beard of yesteryear is a thing of the past. Every stylish bro you’ll meet on the streets of NYC is now rocking a full-on Paul Bunyan beard that’ll make you wonder if he’s an outdoorsman or a rabbi. Frankly, it seems the local women don’t care if this mainstream hipster man is an axe wielder or Torah scholar, they just want in.

These longish beards have caught on for a variety of reasons, but most importantly, they convey a sort of nonchalance that the cool kids thrive on. The I-care-but-seem-like-I-don’t look is their national flag, and what better way to wave it than with a semi-groomed batch of facial hair? The problem is that these chin accessories only look simple– the real deal hipsters will tell you that a lot of TLC goes into the care, maintenance, and appearance of their most noticeable accessory each and every day. It’s appearance, texture, and even smell– all translated into one unified pursuit of casual beauty. Simply put, beardship is far beyond the pursuit of eyeliner, tinted lips, or keeping a blowout in tact.

NYC photographer, Stuart Tracte, says his “started with laziness. I liked the five o’clock shadow and I just let it go. It looked good and I was getting a positive response from people so I kept growing it… When I was clean shaven, I didn’t have that ‘thing’ that gave a woman a trigger to let me know she may be interested. The beard surely does that.  I get lots of compliments from women these days and, to me, that’s a green light to pursue further conversation if I’m interested.”

But how, Stuart, do you maintain that rugged-meets-city-guy-with-hairs-upon-his-chin look?

“Never use shampoo. The ph balance of your face and the hair on your face is different from that of your scalp. Buy special soap made for beards.”Beard soap. Something you probably never thought you’d have to consider.

K.R, an Englishman in New York, offered some important intel on how to simplify the the process of trimming and cutting the face bush, “I have a trick when using a razor. I wash my face with warm water then apply normal Nivea cream warm the razor a min or two with warm water this makes the shaving easier.” It makes sense, science tells shows us that heat and moisture help open the skin’s pores and the hair’s shaft, making it that much easier to trim and groom.

 K.R. an Englishman in New York

We recently polled our readers (and their men) to see just how much facial hair is really out there these days, and according to the polled 1,014 readers, a significant 22 percent reported “facial hair long enough to twirl with fingers.” The trend seems to keep on keepin’ on, too. As the bearded segment continues to grow in mainstream appeal, the faithful hipster set is turning to extremes. It’s not shocking to see a man with a one foot beard roaming the streets of downtown NYC at this point, and it’s safe to say the comfortable scruff trend is at an important facial fork in the road: either clean shaven or downright young Santa Claus.

We’d love to get your feedback on the current state of beard affairs. Holler in the comments section if you’re rocking something big or just generally significant, or tweet your beard pics at @luxuryspot on twitter.