Sorry Guys, Studies Show Beards May Be Going Out Of Style

For the longest time now beards have not only been considered “en vogue,” but were also considered, by ladies, hot, sexy, manly, and all the rest of those adjectives one uses to describe truly desirable things. YourTango even gave you some very valid reasons as to why dating men with beards is pretty much one of the greatest things ever—not just for looks but for health reasons, too.

It was like beard mania! Women and gay men just couldn’t get enough of furry faces, so much so that some guys who couldn’t grow facial hair were actually getting beard transplants That’s how serious everyone’s beard addiction had become!

But now it is with a heavy heart that I have to tell you that it looks like all of this is about to come crumbling down. Things are looking bleak for the beard trend. It seems, and it saddens me to report this, that the beard overload is creating a backlash against the beloved facial hair.

According to a study done by an Australian university, the more “fashionable” beards become, the more indifferent ladies are to them.

This is how the researchers at the University of South Wales came to their conclusion: They showed female participants picture after picture of bearded men, only to discover that after being inundated by all the furry-faced dudes, the women began to find photos of clean-shaven men more attractive.

The same thing happened when they showed these pictures in the opposite order, with clean-shaven first, then followed by bearded ones. It was found that women were naturally drawn to what was more rare.

For example, beards were luring in women left and right before we reached “peak beard,” as Professor Robert Brooks calls it, but now the beard advantage of a few years ago has been lost as “they became too fashionable.”

However, Keith Flett, the founder of Beard Liberation Front (yes, apparently this is a thing), feels that Professor Brooks’ findings make “too many improbable assumptions [that we shouldn’t take] seriously.” Flett also added, “Many men have beards for reasons entirely unrelated to sexual attraction, sometimes even the most basic one of not being bothered to shave.

There is no actual evidence that beards have peaked or are in decline as a fashion statement or anything else.”

Sounds like Flett is a little defensive about this particular topic. You’d think the man behind the Beard Liberation Front wouldn’t be very concerned about what’s “hip” and what’s not.

No matter what the deal is, the fact that there is greater intrigue and interest for what is rare is a human facet that can’t be denied. What also can’t be denied is that beard transplants are still a hot commodity, so if beards are truly on their way out with the ladies, someone better tell those dudes stat.

What do you think? Do you still love bearded men?

This post originally appeared at YourTango.