By Gretta Monahan
No-Shave November is officially upon us, and those of you who don’t know much about it yet are about to find out: It’s the unexpected intersection of men’s facial hair grooming habits and disease prevention.
Imagine an entire month without having to spend time shaving. Sounds pretty great, no? And it’s all in the name of a worthy cause. It was started by a Web-based, nonprofit organization devoted to raising funds and awareness to support cancer prevention, research and education. And the idea is for men to start conversations by embracing their hair — which many cancer patients lose — and letting it grow. In addition, the guys donate the money they usually spend in a month on shaving/grooming to cancer prevention at no-shave.org.
At the same time, overlapping with No-shave November is Movember, the annual campaign (since 2003) to raise awareness and funds for men’s health with, well, mustaches. Men shave clean at the beginning of the month, then grow a mustache over the following 30 days. The hope is that new ’stashes will start conversations about why the men did it, which will then lead to a collection of donations for the efforts. Since its first year, the Movember Foundation has raised $650,000 for more than 1,000 programs to fight prostate and testicular cancer. (This year, it’s branching out to include mental health.)
So if you see a slew of men walking around looking particularly scruffy or hairy in the next few weeks, at least now you’ll know what the heck is going on.
Here’s my two cents: I love these awareness-raising efforts. They’re brilliant. On the other hand, if men are going to eschew their regular grooming efforts, we still don’t need them walking around looking like unkempt mountain men, or worse, Sasquatch.
To that end, here are a few facial hair products and services that give guys a helping hand in their new hair growth adventures.
Undeniably cool in its retro (some might even say handsome) packaging, the local company Brothers Artisan Oil is made by two Boston brothers who indeed have impressive beards all year long. Their product comes in such masculine (but yet subtly herbal) scents as rosewood and cedarwood oil, sage and mint forest oil and orange and grapefruit oil. Shop online at brothersartisanoil.com.
A little more outrageous in its smells and branding is Simply Great Beard Oil, which comes in Whiskey, Pumpkin and Lumberjack-scented versions. The national company’s oils are vegan and cruelty-free, to boot.
So what about those guys who still want to stay trimmed and under control as they try out their new look? (Both Movember and No-shave November encourage the well-groomed as well as grooming atheists.) The folks at Roosters specialize in neatening gentlemen’s facial hair properly, but also teaching them to do it on their own.
You know, just in case at the end of November, they decide to make the statement a permanent fixture.