Throughout history the beard has anointed man the attributes of wisdom, virility, masculinity and social status, while religions have adopted the cultivation of facial hair as a covenant with god, piety and identity. Equally, the beard has possessed negative connotations and from the streets of Rome to the corridors of the modern office a clean-shaven face was and has become the mark of the cultured, conformist member of civilized society.

What does your beard define you as? Radical? Philosopher? Hipster? Woodsman? Or just a member of the great unwashed? Whatever ones philosophical denotation science has proven that the beard, unique to men as a secondary sexual characteristic, makes its wearer more sexually attractive to the opposite sex.

The Grizzly Adams; the chin strap; the goatee; the mutton chops; the French cut; or the Van Dyke. How will pogonotrophy define you?

Pogonotrophy /ˌpəʊɡəˈnɒtrəfi / - The act of cultivating, or growing and grooming, a mustache, beard, sideburns or other facial hair.