What’s common to philosophers, rock stars, heads of state, Santa Claus, cricketers, corporate czars and free spirits? The thicket under the chin. Once the go-to facial accessory of the angry, the defiant, the grubby, the misunderstood or the heartbroken, the beard is now a power statement. In India, the most important men in politics and cricket flaunt it. The neighbourhood crush has a beard and probably teams it with a tee that reads “Beards are the new six pack”. Chances are that your boss has one.

The year 2020, when a new virus took over the world, initially saw strange anti-beard fears running amok. What if the coronavirus finds a safe harbour in facial hair? Somehow, however, the tide turned. Many men stopped shaving in honour of the pandemic’s new normal – work from home.

“I got lazy during the lockdown, and grew my 5 o’ clock shadow into a full-fledged beard,” says a software engineer back from New Jersey who works from home now in Calcutta and is a first-time beard grower. “Now when I go out, I find my facial hair creates a tight seal for my mask.”

Oils and spas

As beards grow, so do grooming products. “Beard grooming products are huge today, especially among young men,” says Bobby Saha, hair expert at Ishrat’s Hair and Skin Studio in Calcutta. “Men now know about beard oils and serums, beard waxes and shampoos. This wasn’t so common even a couple of years ago.” He adds that beard spas and trims are serious business.

On an average, a man is likely to have 30,000 beard hairs on his face, but they don’t grow uniformly, leading to bare patches and wispy ends. That’s why you need beard-grooming products.

Bobby picks trimmers and a beard comb as his favourites, recommends beard spas highly and elaborates on what a beard can do.

Leading model from Calcutta, NICK RAMPAL, on his beard style: The beard has always been a favourite. It adds to my personality. Luckily, I got a good beard shape, I don’t need to do much for maintenance. My beard hair growth is thick and proportional and I can maintain a longer shape. My face is small, so the beard gives it a fuller, sharper look. For maintenance I trim my beard every 15 days and sometimes apply coconut oil on it Sourced by the correspondent

Many uses

The right beard can camouflage a weak or pointy chin, sculpt the jawline, fill a thin face, cut flab from cheeks, add character to the nose, balance the face and bring out one’s best features, he explains.

He picks some classics and some new trends. The 5 o’clock shadow or stubble — think Saif Ali Khan — is a classic that has endured, he says. “The corporate beard or the close-cropped beard of around two to three inches is also popular, but if a man’s facial hair is patchy, it needs clever trimming for a uniform look,” he says. He likes the short rounded and boxed beards too, which do not add weight to the face but accentuates the jawline. They’re popular with all age groups.

The goatee has been around for ages, but the close-cropped variant is more popular these days.

The current trend of the homegrown beard is low-maintenance, but shampoo and comb it, says Bobby.

The best concealer

• Not everyone has Shahid Kapoor’s strong jawline, he keeps his beard close cropped to flaunt it.
• Many young men like the Hollywoodian beard sported by Leonardo DiCaprio, which takes the focus away from the cheeks and towards the jaw and chin.
• Virat Kohli’s beard is a mix of styles — full-grown beard that’s pointy at the chin — to sharpen the jawline, make his square face look long and focus on his eyes.
• Vicky Kaushal’s full-grown beard balances his rectangular face.