TAMING THE BEAST!
IT’S TRUE THAT THE BEARD HAS ENJOYED NEW HEIGHTS OF POPULARITY IN RECENT YEARS: TAKE A BOW HIPSTERS AND BEARS, AND SAY BYE-BYE CLEAN-CUT OFFICE CULTURE. BUT NOT EVERYONE LOVES THE HIRSUTE LOOK AND SINCE THE DAWN OF TIME, MAN HAS BEEN FINDING INVENTIVE WAYS TO REMOVE THE FUZZ. WAX ON, WAX OFF…
WORDS: ADAM DUXBURY
A LITTLE BIT OF ANCIENT HAIRSTORY
STUBBBLE TROUBLE: The Egyptian pharaohs viewed facial hair as a sign of neglect
While our early ancestors are routinely depicted as scraggly vagabonds, during the Ice Age wet facial hair was more of a liability than an asset. So to combat any frostbite problems, early humans began pulling out their hairs using seashells as tweezers. Yep, seashells. Mind you, iling down teeth was also a popular pastime, so it’s all relative. The Ancient Romans might have seen a lack of major body hair as some kind of terrible deformity, but the Egyptians were all about the “pretty boy” look.
They bathed several times a day and maintained a strict regimen of shaving their bodies completely smooth (pubic hair included), using circular razors and pumice stones, before massaging perfumed oils and lotions into their skin. Just like twinks now, really. Some would even pluck out all of their eyebrow hair and their eyelashes. OK, we don’t know many twinks who go that far.