Keith Burkett | CC BY-SA 2.0
Philadelphia was recently ranked the number one "facial hair friendly" city across the nation, according to research done by the marketing firm ORC International and men’s grooming company Wahl.
Philadelphia moved up 27 spots from last year's ranking, earning top spots in the list of 50 cities.
The yearlong study analyzed online searches related to facial hair, positive conversations about beards and mustaches on various social platforms, and overall interest in the topic of facial hair. Wahl also took into account “facial hair enthusiasm from the women of Philadelphia," Philly Magazine reported.
The study also showed that 58 percent of U.S. women prefer a man with a clean-shaven face, while 42 percent prefer men with facial hair. It also found that more than 70 percent of those in the millennial age group preferred facial hair.
On April 29, the Philadelphia Beard Festival will be held at The Schmidt’s Commons Piazza. The festival hosts a beard competition that rates participants according to 12 categories, which include longest beard, groomed beard, freestyle, and fake lady beard.
“I personally started growing a beard a few years ago, and I began noticing more and more people joining the trend and new products popping up everywhere, and so I went to my partner, and I said, ‘I really think there’s something here’,” cofounder of the festival Michael Wink told The Inquirer. “The culture behind it is becoming more mainstream.”
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