Whose Facial Hair Is Inspiring Us More Than Ted Lasso’s?

New research from men’s grooming experts Humanery has revealed which male celebrities have us hooked on their facial hair.

Humanery studied Google data for over 100 different famous men, including actors, musicians, sports personalities and politicians, to decipher whose beards, moustaches and general facial hair habits we are most interested in.

The study showed that Johnny Depp, both as himself and as Jack Sparrow, are massively popular when it comes to facial hair. Jack Sparrow’s twin braid beard may be being Googled for fancy dress inspiration, as that particular unique look has yet to go main stream! But Johnny Depp caused a media frenzy when he stepped out last year looking totally unrecognisable with a clean shave. There were over 145,000 Google searches last year just for Depp’s beard; that combined with Google searches for his moustache, or general facial hair, make Johnny Depp the celebrity with the most popular facial hair.

Chris Evans also comes out super high in the facial hair rankings, being able to grow an incredible moustache that Ned Flanders would be proud of in his roles in both The Gray Man and Lobby Hero. Whilst his moustache had over 126,000 Google searches last year, Chris Evan’s beard also was Googled nearly 97,000 times. Evans is a facial hair chameleon, going from clean shaven to moustache or full face beard with apparent ease, a true facial hair icon.

A number of retro mustachios feature in the most Googled facial hair rankings, including Freddie Mercury’s famous chevron moustache (coming in third), Charlie Chaplin’s toothbrush moustache (ranking seventh) and 1980’s heart throb Tom Selleck coming in tenth, who at 78 is still sporting his incredibly thick trademark moustache.

Perhaps the unlikely facial hair inspirers are the likes of Prince William, Harry Styles and Eminem. Google searches around these gentlemen’s facial hair are usually beard-inspired, proving the dramatic difference a hairy chin can make to the appearance of those who generally go clean shaven.

The data also revealed that Wolverine is the fictional character with the most popular facial hair by far. Searches around Wolverine’s beard (totalling over 133,000 last year) came in higher than Freddie Mercury, Drake and David Beckham. Other fictional characters that have iconic facial hair, included Jack Sparrow with 39,000 facial hair Google searches last year, and Bryan Cranston’s Breaking Bad anti-hero Walter White (over 46,000 searches). Accumulatively, Google searches for Ted Lasso’s facial hair came in at around 23,000 searches for the last 12 months – a pretty impressive number considering the last season of Ted Lasso was released well over a year ago.

An honourable mention goes to Henry Cavill, who’s moustache was the most Googled facial hair of the last 12 months. However, the interest in Cavill’s moustache is partly down to the fact that Hollwood studios had to CGI out the moustache, with an editing price tag rumoured to be in the millions. With this news story contributing to Henry Cavill’s moustache Google searches, he has been omitted from the study this time.

Thomas Watson, a skincare expert at Humanery commented on the study: “People pay attention to your facial hair when you make a radical change. Whether it’s Johnny Depp without a beard, seeing stubble on Prince William or trying to keep up with the next facial hair look served by Chris Pine, we’re obsessed with seeing how different faces can appear with or without a beard or moustache. But changing your facial hair can feel intimidating; shaving off an established beard can leave you unrecognisable, but growing one can feel quite daunting and time consuming. Whether you’re styling, growing or removing – there are steps to take to ensure you do it in a way that keeps your skin and face looking great.”

Expert Tips for Growing a Beard or Moustache

Growing facial hair – getting past the itchy phase:

The number one cause of itchiness and scratchiness when you first start to grow facial hair is that you are not moisturising the skin underneath your new facial hair enough. The new hair on your face is not very soft during this stage, and the hard, short pokey hairs can feel supremely uncomfortable. To improve things, start with a beard moisturizer that is suitable to you. We love Murdock London’s Beard Moisturiser and we’ve also got Aaron Wallace’s beard moisturiser especially developed for Afro skin and hair types. Once you start moisturising your skin underneath the facial hair, you’ll be rid of the ‘itch’ and can let the course of time help you grow a nice softer, kinder-to-your-skin beard or moustache.

Supplement the growth of your new facial hair with an important supplement: Biotin. You can get this in a variety of supplements – it’s also known as vitamin B-7 – and it’s brilliant at promoting healthy hair, nails and skin cell renewal.

Growing facial hair – maintaining handsome growth:

Remember to wash your facial hair regularly with a proper beard shampoo such as the one by The Brighton Beard Company. Our survey revealed 45% of men don’t use any products when washing their facial hair, which is bad news for your skin and hair. Nasty stuff like oil, bacteria and pollution can damage your skin and make your beard look less-than-dapper if you don’t clean it properly.

Condition your beard or mostache with an oil or balm. This will make it soft and shiny – not only making it more attractive to touch, but also causing you less irritation as softer hairs won’t aggravate your skin as much.
Regularly trim and shape your facial hair so that you get a stylish textured look and can help even out the hair growth. Use a high-quality trimmer with various length settings and finish your look with a moustache styling wax. We really like the wax by Captain Fawcett.