What is National No Beard Day?
For those men who are part of the “no beard resistance” in a bearded world; there’s National No Beard Day on October 18. Shaving off your facial hair is a fast way to change your look. Going clean shaven could give you a totally new outlook on life, land you that job or completely change your dating pool!
National No Beard Day Related Holidays
National Hair Day
Every October 1 lets you work that weave, that ponytail, those cornrows and braids or whatever else you do to express your personality through your hairstyle. Today is a day to celebrate your personality as personified by your hair and to explore ways to keep it lustrous and healthy. It’s okay to be hair-crazed today!
National Emo Day
On each December 19, rock skinny jeans, tight T-shirts and studded belts. Dye your hair jet-black hair and don’t forget the long bangs! For some, the word “emo” describes a sad teenager who dresses in a very deliberate way. But the emo subculture has a history that reaches back to the 1980s and continues to resonate today.
National Dental Hygiene Month
National Dental Hygiene Month lets you congratulate yourself on having beautiful teeth throughout the month of October. This month is dedicated to promoting healthy mouths all across the country, and celebrating the hard work your favorite dental hygienist does to keep your pearly whites squeaky clean.
>> Full List of Holidays in October
History of National No Beard Day
It appears that National No Beard Day is one of those internet-generated holidays which we have all come to love (or in the case of bearded men, really really hate!) But this day, which is an annual event every October 18, does open up the discussion on the history of hair removal in general and beards, specifically.
In the 1800s, barbers used straight razors to remove beards from patrons. Though that was a standard practice, most men wore beards as the fashion of the day. But according to the National Museum of American History, beard removal came into vogue in the United States around the early 1900s.
There were numerous reasons for cutting those beards. It sounds gross today, but those large, lush beards that were commonplace in paintings and photographs, were also “breeding grounds” for parasites like lice. Beards also trapped bad odors from perspiration, especially for those men who worked together in close quarters without an opportunity to regularly take a bath. So, when a man sported a clean look sans beard; women took that as a sign that this person practiced good hygiene and could be marriage material.
Enter the Gillette Company in 1904 with its “safety razor” which encouraged men to take their beards in their own shaky hands to remove excess facial hair. (No need to find a barber, when you could do the job yourself!) Eventually, men were looking for ways to keep the hair off for longer periods of time. By 1930, Jacob Schick introduces the electric razor as the “Schick Dry Shaver” and another milestone in the hairy history of men’s hygiene was surpassed!