Men all over the country are embracing the trend of a full and luxurious beard. If one of the guys in your life hopped aboard the beard bandwagon you may have noticed something interesting: He has a red beard.
Even brunette and blond guys seems to have more red than you would expect when it comes to their whiskers. Red is the rarest color of hair, but it turns out you don't need to be a redhead to have a red beard!
It's a funny quirk of science that lots of men with perfectly average brown or blond hair have totally different hues in their beard. When they grow out their chin hair, it's not at all unusual for men to discover that their beards have strawberry tints.
For some guys that might mean a few reddish highlights, and for others it might be a full-on mane of reddish beard!
Not every man likes to wear his facial hair long, but lately it's become a bit of a trend.
More and more guys are growing out their stubble into full-length beards.
And once their previously clean-shaven chins fill out, many quickly discover that growing a beard comes with some surprises.
When a guy grows out his facial hair, he often discovers that the hair on his face is a whole separate texture from the hair on his head.
He might also come to discover his beard hair is a whole different color than the hair on his head.
Even a brunette or blond might find his beard hair is an unexpected color.
In fact, it's pretty common for guys with plain brown or blond hair to discover their beards come in with lots of red.
The reddish beard is a result of a funny genetic quirk.
If a man has ancestors from Ireland or other areas where red hair is common, he's very likely to have ordinary hair and a red beard.
To have red hair, you need two copies of the gene that produces red hair. One comes from your mom and one comes from your dad.
However, to have a red beard, you just need one copy of the same gene.
So if a guy's mom or dad gives him one copy of the gene, he'll end up with red hair in his beard.
In other words, if you notice reddish highlights in a guy's beard, don't be surprised if the rest of his hair is a different color.
Just look around his family and see whether he has a parent or a grandparent with red hair.
The gene can pass along without being expressed on both sides, but it might resurface just in time for a beard to grow out!
So take a good look at the guys in your life. Next time they grow out their beards, you might just notice a few strands of red!
If you know a guy who is just half a redhead, let us know in the comments and don't forget to SHARE with friends and family!
