- I feel like all I've been doing all day
has been itching my beard.
(bouncy, happy music)
- So as we're all familiar with by now.
We are all of scene situation at the minute
where we pretty much can't leave the house.
- So a bunch of us from the office have decided
we're gonna try growing some isolation beards.
Not going anywhere, not seeing anybody,
not going on any dates, not going to any bars or clubs.
I don't need to look good for anyone else right now.
- It's just going to be a mess of like weird colors,
and you know, I guess I'm going to be like a ginger,
badger beard.
It's probably the best way to describe it.
- I have a very long face.
It's almost like a barde boat with face.
I've never had a beard.
The closest I've ever had to a beard,
or being beardy, is probably this.
That was when I was in San Francisco.
And I stopped shaving for some days.
But I mean, I think that was probably
like 3 or 4 weeks of growth.
I think some people have like a full
Hagrid fantasy by that point.
- Once I'm clean shaven, I am going to be
like a human Chia Pet.
My hair will just grow back from every direction,
just spiky out all the time.
And I don't know what's gonna happen.
What what's gonna look like.
It's gonna be weird.
I just feel like I'm gonna look like
a cartoon character or something.
But I don't know, maybe not.
We'll push through.
Well just push through. We'll see what happens.
The way the challenge works is
we will be clean shaven, or near clean shaven.
And then we will be growing our hair every day.
And when it's all said and done,
we'll see what our progress looks like
day, by day, by day.
So (blows air out of lips), here we go.
Here goes nothing.
- Alright, so you are about to get
some close-up shots of the weirdest faces
guys ever make while shaving,
because I sometimes look in the mirror
and wonder why my face looks the way it does.
- I never know where to shave up here, you know?
Like where do you do it?
Like this part on your ear, up here?
I don't know.
- Like a lot of guys, I've been shaving
since I was I don't know, like 15 or so?
I have never tried to grow a beard.
It's not really my style.
And also, I'm not massively confident
I'll be able to grow a very good one.
- Here is also the kicker.
I am at my boyfriend's house.
I have quarantined at my boyfriend's.
He has no shaving foam, so I'm gonna have to go in
and just do this dry.
I really like my mustache.
I really like it as a separation of my face.
Like separates my face
and makes it less long.
And it's gone (whimpers).
(water drips from faucet)
- Oh my god.
Feels weird. Feels so smooth.
I haven't seen this in so so long.
- My god, I actually look like a different person.
Oh, I hate it!
Oh god! I hate it! (laughs)
Oh my god, I don't have an upper lip.
(laughs)
- Okay, I've got a confession.
I'm going to be that guy who doesn't go clean shaven.
I did not shave my wedding day,
and I just can't bring myself to clean shave now.
One, I don't have any shaving foam or gel.
And, I don't think that's an essential trip
to go outside to buy.
This is what you're starting with.
I'm starting with short stubble.
And, yeah.
This is day one.
- All gone, and ready to start this challenge fresh,
and see if I get beardy or not.
- This is day one, clean shaven me.
I look like a thumb.
I don't know.
- I really like how it looks when I've got no beard at all.
Like when I've just clean shaven.
I think I look my best.
I think I look smooth and clean, and just nice.
So, enjoy this while you can,
because it's about to get a lot scruffier from here.
(air whooshing)
- Today you can see the stubble is back,
and so I have a really scratchy face.
This is like bad stubble, like sandpaper.
Can you hear that?
(hand makes harsh noise against face)
- I hate how it feels.
I shave every morning, so this to me just feels like
I feel scruffy and unfinished.
- Hair is already growing back.
It's already stubbly.
My face kind of feels like sandpaper.
I definitely was not expecting that at all.
I thought after a clean shave yesterday,
it would take a few days for any hair to grow back.
But, here we are!
Scratchy.
- I've got more stubble, but again
it's pretty faint, though it is quite prickly.
It's also down here on my neck,
and it has occurred to me that
I won't be able to shave my neck.
Which I usually do, because we're not shaving at all.
So (squeals).
But you know, okay lets see how it goes.
- Day four of this follicular nightmare.
This bit is the bit that's the most weird to me.
It's like there's no hair there.
It's like I've got a razor and gone (mimics razor noise).
But no, that's just the way my hair grows.
- Can see its starting to grow a little bit more.
Still nothing to like right here about.
- Day four, and I'm doing well.
I really really like this level of stubble.
So I'm feeling this day four look.
- It's day five and you can start to see
the gray coming through.
This is where badger beard really
starts to take full effect.
- It's not too much to report, like I've said before.
Just some kind of interesting growth around here.
It is coming in thick and fast.
(air whooshing)
- It's getting pretty intense now.
I feel a bit like I've been on
a long fishing trip or something,
and I haven't been able to shave.
Like, I look like I'm on the "Deadliest Catch" or something.
Other people are telling me that they like it.
Either they are supportive and lying,
or maybe this is the look.
I don't know.
(blows air out of lips)
- So basically, just getting more mustache,
more hair here.
I'm not so sure of the beard is gonna happen.
But you know, day seven all to play for.
- I don't know, I'm interested.
I feel like this hair kind of came out of nowhere overnight.
I feel like yesterday I was just saying
it was moving really slowly.
Now all of a sudden, there's a lot.
The one really nice thing has been not shaving.
I actually hate shaving my face.
I just really hate, especially with clippers,
the (imitates clipper noise), over and over again
to make it look good and have everything line up.
So, not doing that for a week has been nice.
- Again, this strip still does nothing.
I'm preempting that's never going to appear.
The mustache area at this point is happening.
- Another day of quarantine, another day of not shaving.
Today has been pretty itchy.
I have been scratching my face all day.
And, I just kinda feel messy for some reason.
I don't know, it just kinda feels like scraggly,
and just kind of not, I don't know.
I just don't love it.
- So here I am on day 9 and it's looking quite beardy now.
It's almost getting to that itchy stage.
I think that the next few days,
are gonna be that real intense itch stage.
I think if you look a bit closer as well,
it's still definitely not like a full beard,
but like from a far it covers the beard area of my face.
So that's a good thing.
- So you can see here that my beard
is becoming so thick that it's almost obscuring my face.
Is my stubble a beard?
I think almost definitely yes.
- I feel like all I've been doing all day
has been itching my beard.
It's pretty annoying.
I don't really love how it looks.
I just had to get a haircut
because the top of my head was getting too long.
And now that that's clean,
I hate how messy the rest of me looks.
I don't want to say I'm over it.
I am a little bit curious to see what keeps happening.
But not overly over it,
or really in love with how it feels to be honest.
- I just start with doing a face mask.
Yes, I apply face mask with a tint brush.
Don't at me.
And I've just thought that when I put a face mask on
this is all fine.
But what happens when I get down to the beard?
Do I put it in the beard?
I don't know.
(saucy Latin music)
I'm thinking no, but do I do a different thing?
Like, this is just so much less of my face
than I would normally cover.
What if I just do it?
I'm gonna just go it.
This doesn't feel right.
Oh well, I've started it now.
(bleep) it.
Bit on the neck? Sure.
This bit of the neck, definitely,
because as we know now, is a massive bald patch
of my beard there.
Don't know why.
That's the reality of being given.
(saucy Latin music)
I could just sit and do this for hours.
Okay, so this is like really up in there.
Oh my god, look at that.
(saucy Latin music)
Alright, well whether or not this is correct
I'm gonna feel rejuvenated in the next 20 minutes
- It's coming along, it's kinda weird how it stops here.
It's kinds weird how it's like
I have hair here, but not here.
I'm fairly confident that the amount of beard I have
after 12 days, is pretty much what everyone else,
James, Niall, Jeff had after two days.
But you know, we're not here to compare and contrast,
except we are.
- No real beard updates today
other than the fact that I'm still very scratchy.
So much so that like (beard makes scratching noise)
you can even hear it, which is like annoying.
I don't know I'm kinda like
a little annoyed that my beard isn't more at this point.
But at the same time, since I don't like it that much,
I kinda am glad it doesn't grow really fast
otherwise that means I'd be shaving all the time.
It's not like offensive, it just kinda is what it is
at this point.
- So answer me this.
Is this gross?
(light drum music)
It's almost like you can see every individual hair.
I swear on other peoples beards
you don't just see every individual hair like this.
(light drum music)
I feel scruffy as (bleep).
- So it is day 15 of the isolation beard challenge.
I think it looks so much nicer
now that I've shaved my neck and cheeks.
So I feel lot better about that,
and I'm now excited to see.
You know, this is a two week beard,
now I know. Observe.
I'm excited to see what happens
when this turns into a three week beard.
And maybe a four week beard.
And maybe a 6 month beard.
Maybe a 2 year beard.
Anything could happen, guys.
- Beard update.
The day is finally come.
Now that I have like shaped it a bit here
and cut off the neck,
I quite like it.
Yeah, now that I've like, you know,
I think this kinda faded like angled bit
I know it's not perfect.
But its better.
I actually think this looks kinda good.
It's so cringey if it doesn't,
and you all are just watching like
"Uh, Tom no."
But who cares?
I like it.
- For me, it's probably more than I've had before,
or more than I care to have at least.
I don't know.
Do I like it?
- I have no idea what day it is today.
I'm completely losing it.
But my beard is looking full and strong.
Nothing else to say.
No itching.
I think were past the itching phase.
We pushed through it, it seems okay.
The beard is scratchy, but it's not scratching me.
So that's good.
- So after days of complaining
about the beard, I think I'm kinda into it.
I think this is the first time I'm like
seeing it become actually more of beard,
as opposed to just weird facial hair,
that I'm kind of not against it.
- Here we are on day 19 and I have a full beard, I think.
In fact, last night I saw this add on TV
which was actually for like beard dye,
like if you have gray hairs in your beard.
Would that be weird if I dyed my gray hairs in my beard?
Would it look more defined?
- Another day another beard update.
My hair has also reached new levels
of Chia Pet weirdness.
You see up here?
It's not good looking.
I really need this to grow back in.
- I swear my face has not changed since day 14.
I can't wait to honestly shave this off.
I really can't.
So yeah, that's day 20.
Only, oh I can't do maths.
Only one more day to go.
Oh my god!
It's 3 weeks, so yeah only one more day.
- So its the final day.
Do I like it?
I don't know.
I think I do like it.
I think it depends on the outfit.
The best thing about it is that
it makes me look a bit more mature, I think.
I think I look,
I've definitely got a better idea
of what I'm gonna look like when I'm older,
now that I've got a beard.
(lighthearted music)
- I'm so excited this is over.
I'm so excited to shave.
Have I enjoyed having it?
Not really.
You know, I learned a lot about myself.
I didn't, I already knew I couldn't grow a beard.
I already knew it was going to happen this way.
(happy orchestral music)
- It's not exactly what I was expecting.
I kinda thought it would be longer by now.
In my head you think
"Oh I'm not gonna shave for almost month"
and you think you're going to come out looking like
Grizzly Adams or something, but instead
I just almost look like I just have long stubble,
and it's not even a thing.
- So that's kinda surprising (happy orchestral music)
- So yeah, I mean it just doesn't like,
I feel like beards look better on other people.
From straight on it's fine.
From around I just don't think it looks that great.
And close up I just think it looks pretty gross.
I'm not like totally against it.
I'm not totally in love with it.
Pretty over it.
I do kinda want my face back,
but I also have enjoyed not even thinking about it,
and not dealing with shaving once a week.
(happy orchestral music)
- If it wasn't for the lockdown,
I don't think I would have ever actually done this.
It's been three weeks to the day,
and there's been significant growth.
I even cut my own hair yesterday,
so I had to blend in my hair to the beard.
Which to be honest, I think I did okay.
(happy orchestral music)
- Just do it.
Now's the time.
You'll never have a better time.
- I mean to be honest, my recommendation would be
for all the people out there
who are able to grow beards, give it a go!
We're in isolation, why not!
- If you've been curious about
what you would look like with a beard,
I think quarantine is the perfect time to do it!
Glad we had this little experiment,
but also glad it's over.
(happy, bouncy orchestral music)