Boys begin to sprout facial hair as they mature into men. Culturally and historically, the growing of facial hair has long been associated with wisdom and virility. Men can style their facial hair into beards, moustaches, goatees and sideburns or, alternately, remove it completely by shaving.

Facial hair has cycled in and out of fashion since the beginning of mankind. By the eighteenth century, urban Western European men were usually clean-shaven. Facial hair began to increase in popularity during the Napoleonic period, initially inspired by the dashing sideburns sported by hussar regiments. In fact, depending on the country, regiment or time period, facial hair has played either an integral role in military dress or been prohibited all together.

The prevalence of beaded versus clean-shaven men was often dependant of a nation’s state of war. Sideburns went out of fashion in the early twentieth century and, during both World Wars, civilian men were required to go beardless to secure a seal on a gas mask though many retained a moustache; the coming of peace was signalled by the removal of beards and moustaches as ex-servicemen enjoyed the luxury of a daily shave.

Another factor in the rise and fall of the beard was the evolution of shaving technology. The first safety razors were developed in France in the eighteenth century. Rather than shaving themselves, most men retained the use of a barber but razor blades still required sharpening. Over a century later, travelling salesman King C. Gillette latched onto the idea of replacing the blade with a new one; in 1895 he developed the first modern, double-edged safety razor and selling more than 300,000 annually by 1906. As women began exposing more skin above the ankle and wrist, Gillette launched the first razor built specifically for women in 1915.