Facial hair

Facial hair is hair grown on the face, usually on the chin, cheeks, and upper lip region. It is typically a secondary sex characteristic of human males. Men typically start developing facial hair in the later stages of puberty or adolescence, around fifteen years of age, and most do not finish developing a full adult beard until around eighteen or later. However, large variations can occur; boys as young as eleven have also been known to develop facial hair, and some men do not produce much facial hair at all. Men may style their facial hair into beards, moustaches, goatees or sideburns; many others completely shave their facial hair and this is referred to as being "clean-shaven". The term whiskers, when used to refer to human facial hair, indicates the hair on the chin and cheeks. Women are also capable of developing facial hair, especially after menopause, though typically significantly less than men. Women with lots of facial hair, the extreme being bearded ladies, have been considered as freaks by society and sometimes been part of circuses. In the West in the nineteenth century, most men maintained some facial hair. According to a 1976 study by University of Washington economist Dwight Robinson, who reviewed illustrations in the Illustrated London News, facial hair peaked in the 1880s (90%). The wearing of beards dropped significantly, although mustaches remained popular until the 1940s. The moustache forms its own stage in the development of facial hair in adolescent males. Facial hair in males does not always appear in a specific order during puberty and varies but may follow this process: During puberty, the first facial hair to appear tends to grow at the corners of the upper lip (age 11–15). It then spreads to form a moustache over the entire upper lip (age 16–17). This is followed by the appearance of hair on the upper part of the cheeks and the area under the lower lip (age 16–18). It eventually spreads to the sides and lower border of the chin and the rest of the lower face to form a full beard (age 17–21).