My moustache grew through when I was about 14
and then the rest of my beard
eventually followed about five years later.
One of the puzzles of human evolution
is why men in some populations have kept their facial hair
when we've lost the hair on the rest of our bodies.
Now normally when we're trying to explain a trait
that doesn’t have any clear survival benefit
we ask whether it can help attract a mate
but actually beards don't seem to be important to women in general.
What we do find is that beards can help men look more dominant
and that suggest that it ties into male-male competition.
My beard makes me feel more masculine
and it makes me want to take on the world
and people respond to me in a very, very positive manner
when I have a beard.
I'm not sure it makes me feel more of a man, it makes me feel more like me.
It helped me feel, I would say, older or more close to my age
because I look quite young
and it helped me to look more of a mature adult.
A light beard can exaggerate and emphasise the jawline
which is a key feature of male facial masculinity.
So a baby-faced man
can make himself look older and more dominant by growing a beard
but there's evidence that a man with a highly masculinised,
dominant looking bone structure can actually soften that
and look more caring by growing a fuller beard.
The recent resurgence in Victorian aesthetics
is particularly interesting
because it's been argued the Victorians
were reacting to earlier fashions and the industrial revolution
by asserting a very strong, natural form of masculinity -
including full beards as a sign of vigour and strength.
I like my beard because it's smart, it's fashionable and it's trendy.
Of course beards can be subject to fashion.
Just like any fashion, there's scope for individual self-expression.
So keeping your beard well-groomed and glossy,
maybe styled in a particular way,
just like polishing your shoes or choosing particular clothes,
can say something about who you are and what you want others to see.
Not so much I wanted to grow my beard, it was mainly me being lazy.
I just wake up, kind wash it with a flannel and that's about it.
I've been wanting to grow a beard for a very long time
and it compliments my face.
Facial and head hair
can be used to mark out groups within a particular population.
Now different traditions had different specific rules
but what they all did was use hair as a way to mark themselves out
as distinct and different.
Now today people can still use their hair
as a way of demonstrating their piety.
Each tradition will have their own narrative
about why keeping or shaving their hair is important,
but what they all have in common
is the use of hair to make a visible statement about group identity -
about who they are and who they aren't.
I went to Hajj, and I came back,
and for spiritual reasons I decided to keep the beard.
"As the beard gets whiter you get more wiser,"
it's a saying, you get more wisdom.
I like the length and the colour and the way it waves in the wind.
People love to compliment my beard as well, so I'm really happy with it.
Costly signalling theory is the principle that anything in nature
which requires an investment of time or energy
can be used to indicate an underlying strength.
Now we can see this play out on the social level as well.
Growing a long beard takes a considerable amount of time,
maintaining a beard requires time and effort
and that time spent can be used as a visible symbol of commitment
to the group or to the ideology.
I don't do a great deal of maintenance on my beard,
I often mean to.
But because sometimes I garden
I forget and come home with a bird stuck in it.
It almost changes my character. I feel like I'm someone different.
I feel more of a man, I feel older.
It ages me. But I can at least pretend I'm wiser.