These Are The Beard Styles Women Love Most on Men

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Women think beards are sexy. Seriously. It’s science. Believe it or not, there is actually a scientific reason behind the fact that women find facial hair so attractive on the opposite sex. If you think about it, the presence of facial hair is a subconscious representation of masculinity. From a young age, women are taught that men are to be masculine, strong, and able. The presence of facial hair has been in movies and books, often correlated with the rugged, manly character who emanates brute force and capability to do just about anything. Subconsciously, women find beards to represent appealing characteristics, such as fertility and survival. A masculine man, according to this theory, will be more able to provide her with a child than a man that isn’t quite so masculine. Because men with beards are perceived to have more masculinity than those without, this entire thought process does make a bit of sense, even if it isn’t completely accurate. 

This all started with a study, which was published by the Journal of Evolutionary Biology, that sought to figure out just what beard style is most attractive to the majority of women. The results, after researchers asked 8,520 women to rate the physical attractiveness of men with all sorts of (and lack of) facial hair, were unsurprising. As a matter of fact, the women seemed to come to resounding agreement that a man’s beard, or lack thereof, had a major influence on not only his perceived masculinity, but his sex appeal as well. Clean shaven men were not only viewed to be less masculine than their facial haired counterparts, but they were also viewed as wholly less attractive. 

The researchers took this phenomena a step further by digitally enhancing some men to look more feminine with their facial features. These clean shaven, feminine women were overwhelmingly seen as the least attractive, while clean shaven men with masculine features were next. In other words, the majority of women surveyed all agreed that the absence of facial hair made men, regardless of their look, less sexually attractive to the opposite sex, both as one night stand partners and future potential husbands.

The presence of stubble actually came in first place as the most attractive look, and was deemed to be the #1 choice for women looking for short term relationships and flings. Although the majority of women surveyed did not view these men as long term partners or husband material, they overwhelmingly agreed that men with stubble were both most physically attractive and the best choice to fool around with casually, either as short term boyfriends or one night stand partners. Full beards, meanwhile, were the #1 choice for women seeking long term relationships to settle into. Researchers assume that this is because bearded men look more traditionally masculine and ready to both protect their partner and start and raise a family.