A Nascent Beardsman?

Following a "successful" No Shave November during which I only trimmed 2-3 times (in the interest of neatness), and cleaned up my neck once or twice, I have yet to fully shave. I've also recently begun watching Whisker Wars on IFC and been jesting with my friends and family about training to be a competitive "beardsman." I'm fairly untrained in beard grooming, so unless there is a "hobo beard" category, which according to the "Categories" page on the US Beard Team's website, there is not, I've either got learn to groom, or just go full beard natural or full beard natural with styled moustache.

My dog, my beard, and I.

As a professional, and with a wife who definitely is not that supportive of this possibility, neither is really as neat and cared for in appearance as either of the other possible options: the Garibaldi (a wide, full beard with a rounded bottom and integrated mustache) or Verdi  (a short, full beard with rounded bottom accompanied by a prominent mustache). Both the Garibaldi and the Verdi have length limitations (one's Garibaldi may not exceed V 10cm in length, while a Verdi is not to be longer than 10 cm) and, at least in the case of the Verdi, one may use "aids" such as moustache wax, for grooming. The moustache of a Garibaldi is not be integrated into the rest of the beard, so one can reasonably assume that some grooming might be necessary.

Seeking information about proper care and grooming, a quick online search on grooming led me to two resources, GC's The Modern Man's Guide to Beards and Jack Passion's book, The Facial Hair Handbook. Having previously read and reviewed (sort of) Passion's treatise, a quick review of GC's offerings only reinforced how incredibly well thought out Passion's book is, especially (for my purposes) the "Technique" chapter with a little part entitled "Shaping and Sculpting."

I would reckon that for now the goal would be to maintain my health, and the health of my beard, and let it continue to grow out a much more. In the meantime, I can continue to read up on the subject, enjoy following Passion's exploits on Whisker Wars, and resist my wife's occasional request to "shave it off."

Read It: The Facial Hair Handbook

With my days as a "competitive" road racing in the rear view mirror perhaps its time to explore a new arena of competition: competitive bearding. This thought first occurred to me when I was introduced to beard icon (and two-time World Beard Champion) Jack Passion in one segment of Morgan Spurlock's documentary Mansome (2012) on Netflix recently. It was only after it had stopped airing that I came to know about the IFC reality show Whisker Wars in whcih he is prominently featured.

In need of some light reading during my a recent flight west, I picked up Passion's slight tome entitled The Facial Hair Handbook as a means of wiling away an hour or two. While the book does indirectly walk us through he preparations necessary to "compete" at a high level, it does not place us directly in combat with Passion, something Spurlock's film does to moderately entertaining effect. Of course, this facet of Passion's competitive life is at the center of Whisker Wars, so maybe he felt it woudl be redundant.

Self-published by the author, The Facial Hair Handbook runs only 105 pages and offers some basics about simply growing facial hair as well as some finer tips for taking your "game" to the next level. Thus the book's subtitle "Every man's Guide to Growing and Grooming Great Facial Hair." What entertainment that is derived from reading is derived from Passion's anecdotes and witticisms about being a beard icon, as well as his "Laws of Facial Hair," the reason behind which are sprinkled throughout. In many ways, The Facial Hair Handbook is an excellent example of info-tainment, though the intended audience woudl appear to be somewhat limited.

In the introduction to the book, Beard Team USA Captain Phil Olsen presents Passion as the sport of bearding equivalent to Tiger Woods. Passion's bravado and confidence do little to dissuade the reader that he is "all that and a bag of chips." In fact, it would seem that it is Jack's "swagger," mentioned multiple times in reviews and blurbs, that ingratiates him to a world not quite ready to accept this new "sport" as legitimate.

While the grooming tips, product suggestion, and prompts to visit his website [Note: a quick check on 11/9/17 reveals that the site has not been updated in many moons] result in a quick and informative read, the book I really wanted to read was about Passion's travels across the country to bars for small-time contests, and around the planet bringing home the World Championship. This book, taken in concert with the segment from Manscape, hint at what could be an exciting tale I hope Passion elects to one day tell. Based on this book, all that has to happen is for enough buying customers to ask. Though Whisker Wars covers some of that desired ground, Passion is gleefully painted as the "villain" so much of his more extensive journey, I suspect, remains as yet untold.