Is that facial hair a cool beard or bacterial sponge?

If the thought of making out with a bushel of microscopic bugs terrifies you then back away from the bearded babe. Tested bymicrobiologists, trichologists, and every -ist ending profession in between (not really), science has shown that, even if you’re washing your beard on the reg, you’re probably housing thousands of bacteria in your chin hairs. GROSS!

Tests have shown bacteria clings to hair follicles particularly well, with many remaining after washing. The bearded environment then allows the bacteria to continue to produce and grow, which means you’re carrying bacterial viruses and infections on your face to be transferred to the next human being you exchange PDAs with. This obviously is also a risk to the beard-grower, as they’re far more susceptible to getting ill.

It doesn’t help that beards have the novelty of being a body of hair people tend to stroke, which transfers even MORE germs to the whiskers that surround your mouth, along with the food crumbs, bits of saliva, and everyday debris in the air that catches in your facial hair. Beards are pretty much hot beds for germs to fester and culminate into fully fledged diseases!

There have been a variety of responses from the medical industry to this information. Professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, Hugh Pennington, says beards don’t carry any more bacteria than the skin on your face. But Dick Zoutman, professor of microbiology and infectious disease at Queen’s University, says beards can harbour bacterial fungi that can cause skin fungal infections. *shudders*

This has also led to discussions about whether or not men working in hospitality should be asked to wear beardsnoods a halrnet for your chinny chin chin hairs, with some snoods even containing antibacterial agents to prevent your face from becoming a cesspool of germs.

The beard trend just became far less appealing.

Words by Nu Tran