From hipsters to Hollywood stars, facial hair is all the rage right now. Whether it’s Bradley Cooper’s distinguished five o’clock shadow, Johnny Depp’s signature mustache/goatee combo, or the shaggy, unkempt beard that Leo DiCaprio has been wearing recently, scruff is in and it’s not going anywhere.

No month during the year gives more love to beards and mustaches than November. The Movember movement aims to raise awareness for men’s health issues like prostate and testicular cancer by encouraging participants to grow a mustache for the month of November and use it to create conversations about men’s health issues. Similarly, No-Shave November is another movement that asks participants to forego shaving for the entire month and donate the money that would have been spent on shaving products to the American Cancer Society.

Yet even outside of these campaigns, it seems more and more men are growing beards and mustaches, just because they can. Maybe some just don’t feel like shaving, but those who are gifted with the ability to sprout a burly beard or manly mustache are doing so with gusto. But this trend is also hurting companies that make shaving products. The Washington Post says the amount of money spent on razors and blades fell last year, for the first time since the recession, to $2.3 billion. This could be due in part to the rise in popularity of beards and mustaches as well as the growing acceptability of whiskers in the workplace.

So what is it that makes facial hair so trendy? Why has this image of a rugged, independent, hairy-faced man become so pervasive in society today?

Guest:

Adam Causgrove, Chief Executive Officer, American Mustache Institute