National No Beard Day: Interesting Facts, Health Benefits Of Shaving Facial Hair

Like all things related to grooming, shaving a beard has gone in and out of style for many years, depending not only on fashion trends but also geographic, religious and cultural factors. But did you know that there's an occasion that encourages men to sport a clean-shaven look? It's called National No Beard Day, and it is celebrated on Oct. 18 every year.

The most obvious way to celebrate National No Beard Day is to shave one's beard. People can then take pictures of their clean-shaven look and post them online to encourage friends to follow the trend.

In time for the occasion, you might want to look at the health benefits of shaving facial hair. (Courtesy: Yahoo Finance)

1- Shaving scrubs away dead skin- Whether using foam or cream, shaving involves scraping away the facial hair with a razor. This helps remove the daily skin debris that accumulates on the outermost layer of the skin.

2- Shaving increases skin protection- Anti-bacterial agents in the shaving cream, along with the anti-septic effect of aftershave, helps keep the skin free from fungal or bacterial infections.

3- Shaving makes you look young- Besides being preferred in many professional environments, shaving also makes people look younger than their actual age.

4- Shaving regularly reduces ingrown hair- Shaving daily reduces the chances of the hair entering a neighboring hair follicle as it gets trimmed off before growing too long. This helps reduce the chances of getting ingrown hair or razor bumps significantly.

Now here are some interesting facts you might want to know about shaving and facial hair on National No Beard Day. (Courtesy: Real Men Real Style)

1- Shaving began in the stone age. Stone Age men started shaving 100,000 years ago by using clamshells and sharpened obsidian as tweezers to pull out beard hair.

2- An average of 150 strokes are made when a person shaves their beard.

3- The term "clean-shaven" entered the English dictionary in 1860.

4- Shaving daily does not cause the hair to grow back thicker.

5- Beard tax existed in Russia as a governmental policy that required men to pay tax for the privilege of wearing a beard. The policy was introduced at the end of the 17th century by Russian Emperor Peter the Great.

6- Most of the militaries in the world require all the soldiers to be clean-shaven. It began in 330 B.C. after Alexander the Great made it mandatory for his troops to shave.