So how do you like your men? We all like em buff and tough (with a warm squooshy inside) and we’ve talked about body hair (on which we are split between slightly fuzzy and smooth as a baby’s bottom) but what about between the shoulders and the forehead?
I started thinking about the this, lord only knows why, but I thought I’d go through some of the basic facial hair styles and which m/m heroes I’ve read about who sport said style.
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Clean Shaven – Well, most m/m heroes, probably m/f, m/m/f, and any variation with an m in it are clean shaven these days. Lets admit it, the smooth look is popular and most models/actors adopt it.
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Scruff – This is one step up from clean shaven, or perhaps the correct term is 2 days after clean shaven. I’ve heard this is a fair bit of work to maintain on a permanent basis, but most men manage to pull it off easily from time to time, it’s called being lazy and not shaving. Personally the scruffy look is my preference but mostly when combined with clean shaven, the weekend scruffy look. I can’t think of any heroes off hand that sport the scruffy look as part of their persona, but most get there every now and then.
Mustache – This used to be very common. Who can forget Magnum PI and the magical “stache”? The mustache was more popular in the 70’s and 80’s and seems to have fallen from popularity in recent years. The only book I can think of that had any m/m characters who sport a mustache was Memories Erased by ME Reid. However the main character sported the Fu Manchu (as did a secondary heroic-type character). That look does sooooo not work for me but whatever floats your boat.
Soul Patch – That little bitty patch of hair right below the lower lip. Personally I just want to grab the guy and shave it off and I can’t think of any heroes who have one. Which is probably good.
Goatee – There are variations on the goatee, too numerous to mention, those with a connected mustache, no mustache (not a personal favourite of mine at all), thin ones like Orlando’s or full ones. There is even something called the “goatee strip” as sported by Adam Lambert which is really a soul patch run amok. As for heroes, I can think of Jacob Marks from Jordan Castillo Price’s Psycop series, Caesar from James Buchanan’s The Good Thief and Phil Sorrells in Ally Blue’s The Happy Onion.
Full Beard – There seem to be a few more characters with full beards. It really doesn’t do it for me as a rule but on the right guy it can look good. Naturally I’m talking well trimmed and cared for, not the Grizzly Adams mountain man look or god forbid, the ZZ Top special. *shudder* As for m/m heroes, KZ Snow’s Jackson Spey of Obsessed, InDescent and To Be Where You Are has a beard, as does Nate Hawkins of JL Langley’s My Fair Captain and ML Rhodes’ Jesse McIntyre of Passion and Satisfaction. Or maybe it just seems like more men with beards because they are all in series. 🙂
Historical Facial Hair – I am not a big reader of historicals and I can’t think of any off hand that I have read that included facial hair. And really? That may be a good thing. Look at that picture people. I defy even the best author out there to make mutton chops sound sexy. But perhaps some of the authors and fans of historicals can let us know of some characters with some extra fuzzy sideburns.
So share with us your favourite mustachioed or bearded heroes and how do you like your own men?
I like a bit of scruffiness, but you left out my personal fave (when worn by the right man). Emailing a pic! Or maybe it is covered and I just want to share the hottie pic.
Hmmm. I’ll look for the pic. I’m curious now. Scruff is nice.
Hi Tam,
clean shaven,scruffy and a short full-beard.-Well-groomed !-Yes!
Goatee-Yes/No-Depends on the man.
Mustache-Huge NO!
Looks like a brush.
ZZTop?-Greetings from Neandertal.
You’re pretty easy Simsala. 🙂 A couple of my friends have full beards (trimmed) and I’m so used to seeing them it just looks normal for them but no mustaches for me either.
I luff the scruff.
Me too Sean, me too. 🙂
I prefer scruff, although one of my boys (Matt) generally has it.
I think scruff really is popular these days.
It depends on the guy. My perfect dream man is the character Richard from Friends (that’s Magnum PI a few years on – Tom Selleck, I mean) and he has a ‘stache. Not many men can pull it off, but he can. I also find Rowan Atkinson’s well-groomed black goatee a huge turn-on in the Elizabethan Black Adder (and let’s be honest, he’s hardly sexy without it). But scruff and clean-shaven both do it for me as well, on the right man. The only look that I can’t say presses my buttons is the full beard. Possibly because my father has one. Nuff said.
I’m sorry, I lost my train of thought at the Rowan Atkinson looks sexy idea. LOL I have to confess I’ve only seen Black Adder a couple of time but that just seems wrong. 🙂
Something in the combination of sneer, goatee and codpiece really does it for me. Google him! Seriously, the man is working that Elizabethan face-fur.
ROFL A codpiece. OMG!! Okay, I’ll google him.
I couldn’t believe it…but you’re right. Rowan Atkinson CAN look sexy with this beard and his liquid brown eyes. Amazing.
Bwaa-haaaa-haaaa! Welcome to the Dark Side.
Haha… interesting topic. I like both. Silky smooth or hairy, body shape is more important to me than hair amount. 😛
What I don’t like is “pornstache”… I like a good full beard or shadow beard, but just a village-people like moustache is a turn-off for me.
The poor mustache is not getting any love these days.
So, I was looking for something else on Fictionwise and came across this cover with a ‘stache. Not that it means the characters in the book are described thus, but…
Whoa, yeah, I read this! The mustache guy on the cover is the sheriff of Lincoln county NM, but I don’t think he had a mustache in the book. However, the cover artist may have been going for a slightly Wild West look, though the book is a contemporary.
Cowboys and State Police, the only men who seem to pull off the mustache. LOL I still prefer my cowboys scruffy though.
Tam
I love clean shaven or scruff. I also want you to email me a big picture of the guy with the scruff because I want to steal him for next week’s Friday Guys. 🙂
You know, because I read so many M/M books I can never remember details of who has what (except for Nate in MFC).
Great job Tam – obviously you have an eye for detail.
Of course I could probably tell you who is cut or uncut. LOL
Well, we’re not all as pervy as you Wave. Some of us look above the neck (reading-wise). 😉
I will send you Ferran Calderon’s pic. He’s a European model. He’s yummy.
I like clean shaven and love the scruffy look. Full beards or goatees, very well maintained are nice as well. No soul patches or ZZ top looks for me.
I’d like to find one person who finds the ZZ Top look attractive. LOL
I like the look of either clean shaven or scruff. My only problem with scruff is that I don’t like the texture/feel of it when it rubs against my cheek or lip. The huge mustache is a no-no (for me), especially if you hardly have an upper lip.O.o A goatee is a winner on the right guy. The only man I’ve seen pull off the soul patch is Apolo Anton Ohno. He can patch my soul any day. lol 🙂
He can patch my soul any day.
LOL Good one. That is the problem with scruff, it’s kind of irritating up close, but from a distance it looks great.
Oooh, great post, Tam. For me, probably clean-shaven or scruff or the stage in between those two (5 o’clock shadow?). The soul patch strikes me as unbelievably silly, in fact, I’m snickering right now at the visualization 🙂 and the goatee is about as bad. Mustaches I associate with cops, especially state cops, or older men who came of age during the mustache-friendly 1970s. I guess that’s neither good nor bad …
Yeah, cops and mustaches. Must be the movies that put that image in our head.
No, really, most cops I see actually have that mustache. Maybe it was the movies that put that image into their heads! 😀
Clean shaved or scruff. Goatee can do too, but it’s not for everyone. Beard, mustache – nope. In m/m, they can totally pull me out of the story. Seriously, I’ve read some Sarah Black’s books (great, BTW) lately and the mustache was look du jour. It took me a while to get back to the stories.
I really had trouble coming up with books where the guys had mustaches. Only the one I could think of that I’d read. I suppose for books set in the 70’s and 80’s there would be more.
Tam, I needed your brand of funny today… A great post..
I am a scruff girl all the way – No clean shave or stache for me…
That soul patch just make me want to break out the cleaning products…
Have a good day..
E.H>
We all seem desperate to shave off that little tiny patch of hair EH. LOL It just looks like the missed a spot.
I like clean shaven, goatee on the right person, or some scruff. I really, really dislike soul patches and am always tempted to walk up and rip it off the guy’s face. Beards aren’t a favorite, particularly the long ZZ Top/E type and the weird shaved down to only a thin strip along the jawline type.
I hate that weird little shaved down strip along the jaw. I had trouble describing it or finding a picture. Seems to be big on hip hop artists and Arab guys in my daughter’s high school. LOL
Fun post indeed. 😀
Clean shaven for me, beard is usually a no and they look scary but it depends.
Moustache is definitely not my thing, again scary, I have to agree Tom Selleck must be the only one who pulls it off.
Alright, scruff can be be hot too and there is something about a goatee I find alluring. ^^
Lol, I can’t believe Alexi Silversmith mentioned Rowan Atkinson’s goatee in Black Adder, love that series, he just looked so great with the black and the goatee. I wish he could look like that all the time because he looks so hot in it, without it not so much. 😀
It’s true! Rowan Atkinson is frankly repulsive in everything else I’ve ever seen him in, but Elizabethan Blackadder can (as Wave says) polish my halo anyday. It just goes to show that facial hair really can make the man. That and a codpiece. Mmmm…codpiece…
He was made to live in the Elizabethan era. The outfit he wore was so him, the earring, the codpiece and the goatee. Rawr.
I know he is Mr Bean to many but he will always be Black Adder to me. ^-^
Okay, I really have to check this out. I’ll have to see if we have that show on any of the channels here. Rowan Atkinson seems to be the unanimous choice for rocking a goatee.
It’s probably on YouTube, or at least some clips that’ll give you a flavour. But only Elizabethan Blackadder, mind! Trying to find any other variety of Rowan Atkinson sexy may result in nausea, cold sweats and severe stomach cramps.
Ta daa, I found a clip on Youtube.
Black Adder 2 in all his glory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z73qdgOn96s
Gods, those black boots are just too hot. 😀
Definately clean shaven, but scruff can be a nice change of pace on some men. Beyond that, facial hair doesn’t do much for me…although there are some hot exceptions. A real turn-off for me are fair skinned men with black hair, IMO their 5 o’clock shadow is just icky.
Recently read Passion & Satisfaction by M.L. Rhodes, and one of the heroes wore a full beard…had a difficult time convincing myself he was handsome as the author described. Pulls me out of the story somewhat when the author is all ga-ga over a certain look that I don’t find attractive. Fortunately, it can be overlooked in a well written story (like Rhodes) lol!
Generally I don’t like a beard either Denni but I did think the guy on the cover of Passion and Satisfaction was pretty hot. I had trouble with the Fu Manchu mustache in that other book. Obviously the author thinks it’s attractive because you don’t write books about sexy heroes you find unattractive, but it just kept me thinking “ewww”.
Hmmm. Just thought of another one. Paxton’s Winter by TD McKinney had a guy with a beard. Ah, I checked, goatee.
To look at I like the scruffy look but for personal use I rather have clean shaven.
I remember as a kid Ingrid my uncle’s giving me “whisker rubs” basically rubbing their scruff on your cheek until it was red. Ouch. (Lordy, I had a cruel family. LOL) But it does look great.
David the detective in P.A. Brown’s L.A….series has a mustache. And whenever I’ve read one of those books, I picture Tom Selleck. When I was younger (much) I loved Burt Reynolds in his mustache.
Times have changed as have I, and I like the clean-cut style the best. Although, if a man has a heavy beard, I think scruffy is the wiser choice.
Thanks for more food for thought, Tam
Thanks for adding another guy to the list Wren. I remember liking Burt Reynolds too.
It’s hard for guys with lots of hair to look like our smooth model up top, I think you’re right, in those cases scruff might be the best option.
I’m the oddball again. I hate scruff. It says unkempt, uncaring and possibly just crawled through the brush for six weeks, in which case you need a shower. Unless your name is Indiana Jones, let it grow or shave it off.
I like a nice goatee, fuller please. That’s very hot. Clean shaven is good.
Full beards are fine, my husband wears one. When he had to shave for his job, he went down to a mustache. A little blonde cookie duster and it is very cute. (the Old Testament Prophet look, a precursor to ZZ Top, was less cute)
All the guys I’ve been reading lately are clean-shaven. On the other hand, I’ve written full beards and goatees, van dykes (on both sexes) and mentioned dundrearies. Several characters wear only mustaches of varying thicknesses and our one scruff-boy got compelled to shave.
van dykes (on both sexes)
O_o LOL
I hate those thin scraggly mustaches or beards. If you don’t have enough hair to do it properly just shave it off. I know I have friends who complain they can’t grow a proper beard, luckily they’ve given up trying. 🙂
@Tam, bearded lady with the carnival. She and her husband have matching beards.
Scraggly is nasty. That’s why dundrearies/picadillies are not my favorites. I had a cover given me with scragglies and I sent it back with the words, “He is not Shaggy from Scooby Doo, please fix this.”
But a neat, thin mustache looks good on the right man.
LOL Yeah, Shaggy is the ultimate example of how not to rock a goatee/beard.
Remember when Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) showed up with a mustache in Brokeback Mountain and every single fan called it a porn stache? LOL. Of course, it did look glued on which didn’t help.
David Laine (L.A. Heat et al.) (already mentioned) does have a mustache. I just read No Bull by B.A. Tortuga and Mac in that has a mustache–he’s a cowboy, it fits.
Jacob Marks (also mentioned) has a goatee. Didn’t Jake Riordan (the Adrien books) have some sort of facial hair? A goatee? Shoot me if I am remembering wrong.
I just read Sympathy by Jordan C. Price and the main character in that (Tony?) didn’t shave because the guy who is wooing him mentioned he liked the scruffy look. Of course, then Tony’s brothers teased him that he was “going gay.”
L
I remember Sympathy now Leslie. Thanks for mentioning the others, can’t say about Jake, maybe one of his fans will speak up. 🙂
Nick, a character on CSI had a pornstache for a while too. Not my thing. LOL
A 5 o’clock-shadow and some scruff do it for me. The weekend warrior I-couldn’t-be-bothered-to-shave-today look, especially if worn on a weekday 🙂
Nadja
I-couldn’t-be-bothered-to-shave-today look
Great description. LOL It’s a look I like too, maybe because it says “I’m not all caught up in looking perfect”.
When I went to college back in ’83, I hated the way my upper lip felt after I shaved, so I grew a stache. I tried a couple of times to grow a beard, but my skin itched. After I graduated and returned to the farm, I tried the beard again and made it through the itchy stage, I’ve never shaved since. I trim it differently sometimes. At the moment, I trim the cheeks and neck area under the cheeks as close as I can get it. I trim my mustache almost as close. And then trim my chin and neck under my chin at the next setting on my beard trimmer. So, I guess I have a scruffy beard, gottee, and stache look all in one. grin
Early on when I grew the beard, I tried it longer, but my hair is curly at longer lengths and is the same for my facial hair. It didn’t trim evenly so I’ve kept it short.
I have a buzz cut as well. Quite easy to dry off after a shower.
On other men, I like scruff, trimmed beards and staches and gottees. Yeah, sometimes it can get prickly when kissing and rubbing body parts with the hairy chin. But that’s the adventure.
I don’t like shaved pubes, balls, or ass either. Shaved chests? sacreligious!!
Thanks for the youtube clip. That was funny.
On other men, I like scruff, trimmed beards and staches and gottees.
So basically you’re saying you’re easy John. 😀 My male friends bitch all the time about having to shave everyday so I can understand the appeal of letting it all go.
Tam, hon, Jackson’s in the goatee category. He doesn’t have a full beard.
The only types of contemporary facial hair I really dislike are at the extreme ends of the spectrum: mountain-man beards, and skinny moustaches and jawline beards. Well, I guess I’m not too crazy about the Amish look, either. Everything else can be very complimentary on the right guy — like Apolo Ohno’s soul patch. (You remember that, don’t you? *g*)
Ooops. Goatee. Oh well, close.
Yes, you and your Ohno. 😉 *sigh*
I’m not sure anyone except Amish women are big on the Amish look and even then I have to wonder.
Actually, I’ve seen Amish women with some interesting facial hair. 🙂 (Hey, I’m just the messenger.)
Hahaha! Brilliant! Ewww for the full facial or full beard. Definitely not my thing *shivers*
The scruffy look definitely works 😀 On some people though a beard actually works better, but not all. Definitely not all
I think scruffy is definitely the popular look these days. I’m not big on the full beard either but on the right person it looks okay.
Actually, I just remembered Declan had a dreaded soul patch at the beginning of Tigers and Devils, because Simon threatened to shave it off.
And although it never happened in the book, I think in the end Simon would have.
Maybe that’s a “missing chapter” that needs to be written.
Most definitely Sean. That would be a good scene where he holds him down and shaves that sucker off. 🙂
Sean – yes please. We need that chapter. Right now.
Well, crap, KZ. My forthcoming piece, Master Bear, has a character with a Amish style beard. Very short and neat, but no mustache. It suits him.
He makes up for all the mustaches we’ve been writing. 8)
Hahaha! Brilliant! Ewww for the full facial or full beard. Definitely not my thing *shivers*
The scruffy look definitely works 😀 On some people though a beard actually works better, but not all. Definitely not all
Scruffy is winning. Seems being lazy is paying off for men these days. 🙂