It will come as no surprise that we think beards are dope af. If you have one, you already know they can make you feel like a rugged, sizzlin’ hot legend.
But did you know a beard will not make you hotter in temperature – only in appearance?
Yeah, you read that right. Sporting a beard during the sweaty, stifling summer months can actually make you feel cooler, not warmer.
Don’t believe it? Let’s put the smackdown on some myths about beards and heat.
The ability to grow a beard isn’t solely for the purpose of looking good (although it’s a major plus). Evolution is way smarter than that. Men evolved to grow beards as temperature regulators.
Your beard is not just a scarf or sweater for your face that’s warm in winter and stifling hot in summer, like a ski mask. Nature designed your facial hair to act like insulation that regulates temperature. In the cold it holds warm air close to your face, while in the heat it keeps moisture and sweat close to the skin to cool you down.
With a beard, you get to both look and feel fantastic. It’s win-win! So let it grow all year long, bro!
In cold weather, our relatively hairless human bodies feel cold easily. We wear clothes to hold a layer of air warmed by our bodies close to the skin. A beard does exactly the same, preventing that warm air layer near the face from escaping. On top of that, it shields facial skin from the elements – extreme cold, freezing winds, snow, harsh and dry air, frost, etc.
When the dog days of summer roll around, a beard changes up its role. It’s a myth that it continues to trap heat against the face during a heatwave. The human body’s natural way to cool itself is through sweating. A thin layer of moisture on the skin combined with a breeze provides relief and a lower internal temperature.
But, if you have no hair on your head or face, where plenty of sweat action happens, the moisture runs off quickly or gets evaporated in the heat before it can provide any benefits. Sweat droplets cling to hairs and therefore stay close to the skin longer. That’s why a beard will deflect away much of the heat and help you feel cooler on sweltering days. Plus if you have a long beard, it will help to cool the blood flowing through big veins and arteries in your neck.
On top of all that, a beard works as a little personal umbrella to shield away ultraviolet (UV) rays that cause sunburn and skin cancer. A university study from the Land Down Under found that a full beard and mustache can block out up to 95% of ultra-violet (UV) rays. So instead of shaving your beard this summer, let your face forest flourish! The thicker, the better!
This little experiment will prove that your beard can make you feel cooler in summer and not hotter. Remember what we just said about sweat cooling the body? Then try this…
On a stinkin’ hot day, rinse or soak your beard in cool water. Run it under the faucet, stick it under the shower, immerse it in the pool, spray it, whatever. Now you suddenly feel refreshed and cooler – more so than splashing water on a bare face. That’s because the beard hairs hold more moisture close to the skin and let it evaporate much more slowly, which prolongs the cooling effect.
In fact, there is no feeling quite like a freshly wet beard on a scorching day. Chalk up another win for the summer beard!
Of course, if you’re gonna get the most out of a cool summer beard, you have to care for it to keep that natural A/C in tip-top condition. Summer means your beard can get inundated with sweat, grime, bacteria, sunscreen, food, sauce, sand, salt, chlorine, you name it. It also cops a pounding from the sun’s rays. A dirty, clogged, damaged beard won’t keep you cool effectively. If you don’t groom regularly and properly, it can become filthy, damaged and brittle, which will itch and irritate your skin. Some bros even find their beards thin out under such conditions.
You simply must groom in order to maintain both comfort and sexiness. Here's how:
Whether it be a 10-day stubble or a lengthy yeard beard, a beard is hot to look at and commands respect, no matter what season it is. A man with a beard looks more mature, more masculine, more attractive, more virile, even more mysterious. Heck, beards can also help even out and compliment facial features that some dudes are self-conscious about.
So as summer takes hold, stick the clippers in the back of the bathroom cabinet. Instead, beard up and look after it. If you do, you’ll be both cooler and hotter than anything summer can dish up.
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