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  • Beards. You have them, he has them, she has them -- I... sort of have them. But now that

  • everyone has a beard, EVOLUTION says, "BEARDS ARE SO OVER."

  • Howdy folks, thanks for tuning in for DNews, I'm Trace Dominguez! Studies have shown beards

  • equate to age, masculinity and dominance and they are so hot right now, or are they? A

  • new study in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters will affect men from Brooklyn to San

  • Francisco... Portland to Austin... the more beards there are, the less attractive beards

  • are.

  • A study in Biology Letters found once the number of beards peak, clean-shaven faces

  • become more attractive to the ladies! The study showed women pictures of men with and

  • without facial hair, and when a clean-shaven man was shown amongst lots of stubbly and

  • beardy peeps, their freshly shorn skin was aglow with attractiveness. Conversely, in

  • a sea of babyfaces, the bearded man was king. Are the ladies picky? Or is there something

  • else at work...

  • The researchers determined a famous bearded gent was to blame -- Darwin's theories of

  • evolutionary sexual selection says females choose those males with the most desirable

  • features -- physique, intelligence, whatever. But they're not sure HOW they decide. Obviously,

  • we want the best genes to perpetuate, and the crap ones left out, but how do people

  • know which are the good genes? Scarcity, my friends. This study FINALLY revealed, those

  • who roll outside the mainstream, who are rare or unique are thought to have a genetic edge!

  • Example: People with blonde hair in populations of brunettes, fatter people in skinny populations,

  • tall people amongst shorties, visa versa and so on. Scarcity equates to attractiveness!

  • The researchers use the example of guppies -- which is such a good hipster comparison.

  • In guppies, the fish with the most unusual color patterns have the most mating success.

  • Do they have the "BEST" genes? Maybe, the lady-fish don't know, but they know they're

  • different, and different is cool.

  • You could also think of the "closing time" effect. A study in the journal Basic and Applied

  • Social Psychology, found at the end of a night out, people take stock of their patrons and

  • assess attractiveness based on who's LEFT. We determine attractiveness by WHO'S AROUND,

  • not just by genes and uniqueness alone. Remember that week-long high school trip to Seattle

  • where you bunked in with Jessie because Jessie was the hottest on the bus? What happened

  • when you got back home? Bye, Jessie. There are other hotties around.

  • So to bring it back to beards -- we're hitting a QUOTE "beard peak" where the novelty of

  • a man with facial hair has lost it's unusual quality. However, it's important to mention,

  • there are different LEVELS of beardyness. The researchers in Biology Letters used four

  • distinct levels -- clean-shaven, light stubble *wink*, heavy stubble, and full beard. I think

  • they are missing ludicrous beard... but maybe that's just me. A lumberjack of Brooklyn would

  • be unique in the bushier Portland -- and thus, perhaps they'd be unique... scarce... hotttttttt.

  • Overall though, a lot of the news is claiming those men who shave are going to get the attention

  • -- for now. The struggle is real, y'all.

  • Are beards OVER!?

  • Tell us down below, but if you decide you're going to shave, it might be time to check

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  • to your door! Thanks for watching - don't forget to subscribe!

Beards. You have them, he has them, she has them -- I... sort of have them. But now that

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