From a spattering of stubble to a bristly bush, facial hair has become the must-have fashion accessory for men.
Robert Pattison sported a thick mane at the premier of his latest film, while Ben Affleck said his stubble was his ‘good luck’ charm for the Oscars.
But some experts have warned that beards are nothing more than a ‘bacterial sponge’, riddled with thousands of bacteria – and a perfect way to pass on germs, according to a report in DailyMail.
Carol Walker, a consultant trichologist from the Birmingham Trichology Centre, said having facial hair can lead to more frequent skin infections and to germs being passed on to others.
Beards harbour more germs because facial hair is courser than other hair, so traps dirt and germs more easily, she explained.
She told MailOnline: ‘Beard hair; it’s courser. It has the shape of a bayonet, a round, convexed bottom and then comes up the side to a point.
‘It becomes curly and smooth, it tends to have more bends and kinks which trap dirt.
‘The cuticles on the hair – which are like layers of tiles on a roof – trap the germs and grease.
‘Hair around nostrils and mouth is well-placed to harbour bacteria.
She added that people have a habit of over-handling their beards, meaning they can spread bacteria to their mouths.
She said: ‘If their hands are dirty, they transfer dirt from their hands on to their face and mouths.
‘If someone eating dairy products it can get stuck in their beard and become a bit rancid.
‘There can be a lot of Stepholococci [a group of bacteria that can cause illness] if someone’s got a cold.’
She has noticed people developing skin conditions due to their facial hair.
She said: ‘Some people get skin infections, caused if they have a lot of scale build up or eczema from the bacteria in their beard.
‘If someone has a cold, a runny nose it can trickle down and be trapped in the nose, beards. Food drink can dribble down too.’
‘The beard works as an insulator. If it’s in the fold under the chin, the skin can be angry and red where they’ve sweat and the hair has trapped the dirt and bacteria.’
There is also the possibility that a bearded person will pass the bacteria living on their beard to other people.
Mrs Walker said: ‘If you’re affectionate with someone, if you kiss them, you can pass on bacteria.’
And according to one microbiologist, she is right.
Scientific evidence shows that beards can spread infections, says Dr Ron Cutler, of Queen Mary, University of London.
That’s why it’s important for fuzzy-faced men to wash and groom their facial hair regularly and ensure the area under the hair hasn’t become sore from ingrown hairs, he said.
Meanwhile research has shown that facial hair can spread bacteria.
Manuel Barbeito, a microbiologist in the U.S. Army in the 1960s, was conscious of germs spreading though his lab on coats and shoes, and wondered if beards were also a culprit.
Theorising that beards are an ideal breeding ground for bugs, he wanted to see if more bacteria and viruses were being spread by lab workers with facial hair.
He asked his employees to grow thick, burly beards and then sprayed them with non-infectious bacteria.
He found that the bacteria did in fact cling to the beards, and washing the hair did not make it bacteria-free.
Though cleaning reduced the amounts of germs on the beard, enough bugs remained ‘to produce disease if put into contact with a suitable host’, he said.
Professor Anthony Hilton, head of biological and biomedical sciences at Aston University, said other research has confirmed beards can spread bacteria.
The study, published in the journal Anaesthesia, looked at whether surgical masks caught bacteria falling from surgeons faces, and whether having a beard affected how many bacteria fell.
‘What they found was that men with beards do harbour a significant number of bacteria, more than non-bearded men and women,’ Dr Hilton told MailOnline.
‘And bearded surgeons wearing masks did shed more organisms from the beard outwards when they wiggled.’
Dr Hilton adds that the debate on whether beards are unhygienic is still raging among members of the food industry.
He said: ‘There is a big debate about how long a beard has to be before a worker wears a snood – a cover like a hair net that stops hair falling into the food that is being prepared.
‘There has been a marked demand for snoods in recent years. But companies disagree on how long a beard has to be before a snood is worn.
‘Is it two days worth of growth, three days growth, a week’s growth? There are currently no guidelines on this.’
However he added that while there is evidence beards are filled with bugs, there is no proof this leads to health problems.
‘It’s not uncommon to find 20,000 bacteria on the skin, and this isn’t harmful,’ he said
And other experts argue that beards are no less hygienic than a clean-shaven face.
Professor Hugh Pennington, an emeritus professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, said: ‘It’s the same bacteria that’s on your skin. It’s not problematic and it’s not a health risk.’