The weather that mid-day was well, arctic, listed below 0 F. “That was the most comfortable, because the beard flowed freely down without obstruction.Soaring up to 9,000 feet in just a couple of secs. “It also looked kinda funny - all that hair squishing out of the bottom of a mask,” he says, adding that the 6-year-old son of a friend astutely asked him, “Did you kill a wolf and make a scarf? Because that’s what your beard looks like with a mask on.” For a while, Johnson wore a “bank-robber-style bandana,” tied behind his head with its knot tucked into a hat. But these were designed to fit over the mouth and chin, which lead to the dreaded mask beard. “As a man with 21-inch sideburns, this posed a problem.” Johnson experimented with cloth masks that looped behind his ears or had filter pockets. “When all this started back in late February, early March, I knew we’d all eventually be required to wear a mask,” he says. Nate “Chops” Johnson, founder and president of the Gentlemen’s Social Club of Los Angeles, has been in the competitive bearding scene for nearly a decade. A day after that study was released, Slate made a compelling case for why it should not be blindly accepted. Buff issued its own statement as well. The best pleated face masks for voluminous beardsĮditors’ note: Earlier this month, a study out of Duke University claimed that bandannas blocked very few particles and that wearing “fleece neck gaiters,” such as Buffs, might actually be worse than wearing no mask at all. But, as many experts have said, any mask is better than no mask. Sten Vermund, infectious-disease epidemiologist and dean of the Yale School of Public Health, he told us he trimmed his own facial hair down “so that the mask could completely cover my beard.” The key, he added, is to make sure there are no gaps and that the mask is hugging your skin, not your facial hair. One last thing to keep in mind if you’re bearded: The CDC has cautioned that some facial hair can render masks useless, and when we spoke to Dr. His wife has been sewing him custom masks for everyone else, we asked 15 hirsute gentlemen, including many who’ve won national and international competitions for their prizewinning facial hair, which masks are the most comfortable, protective, and best suit their personal style. It also leaves your beard wet from breath and sweat.” That said, Schoenwolf would never leave home without one. “A mask smashes and dents your beard, and trains mustache hairs to go up your nose and tickle your cheeks. “Let’s be honest - wearing a mask of any kind doesn’t make your beard look better,” says Greg Schoenwolf, the heavily bewhiskered president of Salt Lake City’s Salty Saints Social Club and Facial Hair Society. And the most common gripe we hear from our bearded pals: Masks cause divots (the beard equivalent of hat hair). Masks ride up, masks fall down, masks pull on your ears and give you a headache.
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The list of potential complications is a long one: Some masks are too loose, others too scrunched or smothering. The mask that works for a guy with a Wyatt Earp mustache won’t necessarily work for the guitarist in ZZ Top.
![vintage gay men with beards vintage gay men with beards](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/d1/c8/d7/d1c8d7ce7be5f04bc83d24baaa8dc6e5.jpg)
But what if one’s face happens to be sprouting a beard the size of a Persian cat?ĭepending on the shape and girthiness of your facial hair, finding an appropriate face covering can be tricky. More than 30 states now mandate wearing face masks in public. So whether you’re looking for a comfortable N95 you can wear on a plane, a child-size KF94, KN95 masks your teenager can wear to school, or advice on double masking, we can help. Of course, any mask is better than no mask, but since this article was last updated in January 2021, we’ve talked to doctors, scientists, and public-health experts to help you find the best and most protective of the bunch. The agency’s new standards stress that fabric masks are the least protective against COVID-19, whereas well-fitting N95, KN95, and KF94 masks - which use special nonwoven materials with an electric charge to block tiny aerosol particles - do a much better job of stopping the virus’s spread.
![vintage gay men with beards vintage gay men with beards](https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/perfect-beard-haircuts-men-stylish-hairstyle-hair-salon-barber-vintage-barber-shop-barber-black-background-134110650.jpg)
In light of the Omicron variant and at the urging of public-health experts, the CDC has updated its mask guidelines. Photo-Illustration: Courtesy of Marcus Harvey, MJ Johnson, and Brian Delaurenti