Beards are big right now! And they have been for a few years: Back in 2013, Business Insider reported a 10% drop in Schick razor sales, and my guess is that sales have continued to decline.

A few months ago, Mr. Vega found himself mixed up with a group of guys from the Austin Facial Hair Club, and because we become who we spend time with, it wasn’t long before my husband ditched his razor, too. He joined a competition called the Six Month Sprint, wherein a bunch of guys shaved on the same day last August, took “before” photos, and pledged to meet up again at the Come and Shave It event in February to compare facial hair. Sound strange? Maybe it is a little, but they’re good people who spend a fair amount of time involved in philanthropic activities, as well. And there’s no denying they have a shared interest!

People sometimes ask me whether his beard bothers me, but I confess that every time I look at my husband’s face, I see money! All the money we aren’t spending on razors, or shaving cream, or aftershave… and because he swears that the only way to get a good shave is at the end of a long, hot shower (“to soften the whiskers!”), we’ve seen savings in our water bill, as well. He does use a lovely-smelling beard oil, but that doesn’t cost nearly as much as all the acoutrement of shaving did. And whether my husband is clean-shaven has no bearing on how much I like kissing him!

Beards may keep men (and the women who live with them) healthier, too! Just last week, BBC News reported on a study in which

The beardless group were more than three times as likely to be harbouring a species known as methicillin-resistant staph aureus on their freshly shaven cheeks. MRSA is a particularly common and troublesome source of hospital-acquired infections because it is resistant to so many of our current antibiotics.

Far from living up to the stereotype of being dirty, it appears that mens’ beards may contain a microbe that actively fights viral infections!

Giving up shaving isn’t for everyone, but if you’ve been thinking of giving it a try, you might end up saving some money… and staying healthier, too!