Local beard and mustache face-off set for Aug. 14

If the Aug. 5 premiere of IFC's "Whisker Wars" whets your appetite for the competitive-facial-hair crowd, you might want to consider buying a ticket to the 1st Annual Los Angeles Beard and Mustache Competition set to take place on Aug.14 in North Hollywood.

Hosted by the Northern Los Angeles Beard and Mustache Club, assorted beardsmen and  'stache-thletes will compete in five categories: mustache, partial beard, business beard, full beard natural and freestyle (explained in detail on the competition's website), with trophies going to the top three competitors in each category.

Although barely a year old (the group was organized in June 2010), the NLABMC made an impressive showing with two silver medals at the recent World Beard and Moustache Championships in Trondheim, Norway, with its president, John Myatt, taking a second-place finish in the Verdi beard category and the appropriately named vice president, Jeffrey Moustache, taking second in the English mustache category. (The international event, held every other year, has a total of 18 categories.)

Apparently they won't be the only high-profile whiskered warriors headed to the North Hollywood event in the afterglow of that international competition. According to the event's Facebook page, beardsmen Phil Olsen (the controversial captain of Beard Team USA) and Aarne Bielefeldt -- both of whom are front-and-center in IFC's upcoming docu-comedy -- plan to attend.

Tickets are $12 (unless you're competing in the quest for grooming glory, in which case, it'll cost you $15) and available at labmcomp.bigcartel.com.

The 1st Annual Los Angeles Beard and Mustache Competition at the Federal Bar, 5303 Lankershim Blvd., Aug. 14, 2 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Spectator tickets $12, competitor tickets $15 (cash only at the door).

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Zafirro debuts a $100,000 iridium razor with sapphire blades

Results of the 2011 World Beard & Moustache Championships in Trondheim, Norway

-- Adam Tschorn

Photo: Competitors at the first nationwide beard and mustache competition in Bend, Ore., on June 5, 2010. Credit: Adam Tschorn

Zafirro debuts a $100,000 iridium razor with sapphire blades

As a novel way of increasing face value, it's hard to beat a $100,000 limited-edition iridium and sapphire razor.

According to its website, the Zafirro Iridium, which went on sale June 20, has a handle crafted from 99.95% iridium, held together with custom-made hexagonal platinum and finished off with blades of solid white sapphire honed to an edge "5,000 times thinner than a human hair." The price tag includes a decade of professional cleaning and servicing.

While it's admittedly one of the most gorgeous pieces of grooming gadgetry porn ever made, even if one had the kind of disposable income needed to afford the world's least-disposable razor, how could you justify the purchase price -- and still be able to look at yourself in the shaving mirror every morning?

Here's one way: Assume a man shaves once a day from age 15 to age 85, that's roughly 25,550 shaves at about $3.91 a piece.

By comparison, the total cost of those shaves using Gillette Mach 3 cartridges -- changed once a week -- would be about $10,447, or about one-tenth the price. The Zafirro is certainly more expensive, but a cost factor of 10 is hardly an outrageous premium to pay in the world of the ultra-wealthy.

Still, it remains to be seen whether anyone will be willing to shell out luxury car prices for a lifetime of shaves. Five weeks after the Zafirro launched, a single one of the 99 limited-edition pieces has yet to change hands.

"While we have received hundreds of orders," a company representative told us Friday afternoon,"we are still combing through them to figure out which ones are legitimate."

-- Adam Tschorn

Photo: The Zafirro Iridium razor, which was launched at retail June 20, is priced at $100,000. Credit: Zafirro

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IFC's 'Whisker Wars' starts Aug. 5: In pursuit of the hirsute

The battle of the beardsmen is chronicled in a new docu-comedy on IFC called "Whisker Wars," that begins airing on IFC on Aug. 5.

The series follows the path of several follicularly endowed fellows from last summer's first-ever national competition in Bend, Ore., through to the recent world championship in Trondheim, Norway.

The cast is heavy on Californians, including the whiskered wizard of Walnut Creek -- two-time full beard natural champion Jack Passion (whom we profiled in May 2009 in the run-up to the world championships in Anchorage, Alaska) -- Aarne Bielefeldt, who hails from Willits, Calif., and who took top honors in the full beard category in Bend, and Phil Olsen, who serves as the self-appointed captain of Beard Team USA (BTUSA). Rounding out the regulars are Myk O'Connor from New York City and the good old boys of the Austin [Texas] Facial Hair Club, a crew that includes Bryan Nelson, Allen Demling and Miletus Callahan-Barile.

Following around a pack of guys who want to grow the world's greatest whiskers could be dull as dishwater, and while the show isn't exactly adrenaline-pumping, the show manages to serve up enough behind-the-scenes drama to interest even those who couldn't care less who wins in the pursuit for hirsute bragging rights, including a budding romance (did you know there are beard groupies?), charges of favoritism, internecine intrigue (the Austin club mulls over secession from BTUSA) and everyone's love-him-or-hate-him obsession with Jack Passion who, with an ego seemingly as large as his beard, seems bent on parlaying his status as reigning champion into a full-time, well-paying profession, complete with endorsement deals. (In a way he already has; both Passion and Olsen are listed in the show credits as consulting producers.)

The three screening episodes provided by IFC managed to capture much of the quirkiness of the competitive bearded bunch, as well as answer some of those nagging practical questions like how to eat sloppy barbecue (hair clips help pin back the beard) and how to coax your facial hair into a perfectly formed circle (a beer can and hair spray does the trick). And for those reasons alone it's worth tuning in to see where the rest of the season leads.

Oh, and there's one more reason: Aarne Bielefeldt ,who starts out as almost an accidental champion who stepped out of the woods of Northern California and onto the stage in Bend, Ore., and ends up becoming a kind of lederhosen- and feathered-hat-wearing heart, soul and spirit guide of the whole bearded bunch. 

"Whisker Wars" premieres Friday, Aug. 5 at 11 p.m./ 10 p.m. Central on IFC.

-- Adam Tschorn

Photo: Two-time world champion beardsman Jack Passion, center, pictured in 2010 at a U.S. national competition in Bend, Ore., is one of the competitors at the center of  "Whisker Wars," a docu-comedy series that starts its run on IFC on Aug, 5. Credit: Karolina Wojtasik / IFC

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[Spoiler Alert] Results of the 2011 World Beard & Moustache Championships in Trondheim, Norway

Full results of the 2010 National Beard & Moustache Championships

Full results of the 2009 World Beard & Moustache Championships in Anchorage, Alaska

 

 

Results of the 2011 World Beard and Moustache Championships in Norway

The results of the 2011 World Beard and Moustache Championships, held Sunday in Trondheim, Norway, are in, and the biggest surprise is the dethroning of two-time Full Beard Natural champ Jack Passion by fellow American Craig "Rooty" Lundvall, top right.

Passion, the whiskered wizard of Walnut Creek, Calif., author of "The Facial Hair Handbook", and subject of a 2009 profile in the Los Angeles Times, took second in the Trondheim competition. According to the World Beard and Moustache Championships website, the American delegation -- which is referred to en masse as Beard Team U.S.A. -- brought home a six gold medals.

In addition to Lundvall, Americans that took top honors were: Burke Kenny (in the Full Beard Styled Moustache category), Bruce Roe (Hungarian Moustache), Keith “Gandhi Jones” Haubrich (Freestyle Moustache), Bill Mitchell, left, (Partial Beard Freestyle), and Giovanni Dominice (Imperial Moustache).

The biannual beard-off's overall winner -- with a beard elaborately shaped into a reindeer at one end -- was Germany's Elmar Weisser, 47, top left, who is no stranger to the competition, having taken the top prize at the 2005 event held in Berlin with a beard sculpted to look like the Brandenburg Gate and at the 2007 England championships in which he showed up with a beard shaped to resemble the Tower Bridge. (He didn't attend the 2009 conclave, which gave the award to American David Travers for a snowshoe-shaped beard.)

The Norwegian Moustache Club was chosen as the host group at the last World Beard and Moustache Championship held in Anchorage, Alaska, on May 23, 2009. 

-- Adam Tschorn

Full results of the 2010 National Beard & Moustache Championships

Results of the 2009 World Beard & Moustache Championships in Anchorage

Read more Bearded & Tschorn: The World Beard and Moustache Championships 

 Photos, from top: Germany's Elmar Weisser, left, was the overall winner and American Craig Lundvall took the Full Beard Natural category, unseating two-time champion Jack Passion; American Bill Mitchell won the Partial Beard Freestyle category. Altogether, Beard Team U.S.A. took home six gold medals. Credit: Jonathan Nackstrand / AFP/Getty Images

 

Beardpocalypse now: Conan O'Brien not the only one to take off a tonsorial trademark

Yes, as expected, comedian Will Ferrell made good on his threat to shave off Conan O'Brien's beard on  "Conan" Monday night (the much-hyped Beardpocalypse). But, interestingly enough, that was actually the second-most interesting beard-removal story to come out of the last two days.

On May 1, Gary Weddle, a 50-year-old middle school teacher living in East Wenatchee, Wash., shaved off an impressive faceful of fur he'd been cultivating for nearly a decade.

What made Weddle's whisker whacking so noteworthy was that the beard was the result of a vow he had made nearly 10 years ago: that he wouldn't shave until Osama bin Laden had been captured or killed.

It will be hard for anyone who hasn't grown a beard past the five-month mark to fully appreciate the intestinal fortitude Weddle's whiskers required. I know from where I speak, having grown out a skunk-striped solidarity beard in advance of covering the 2009 World Beard and Moustache Championships. At six months, when it was barely casting its own shadow, I felt felt like my chin was wearing a straitjacket.

According to Reuters, Weddle's beard had grown to some 15 inches. Once he was sure the news reports weren't a joke he began to prune his facial forest, first with a pair of scissors and then with a razor.

Weddle wasn't apparently the only one happy to see the beard go away. He told Reuters his wife Donita "is just full of smiles."

-- Adam Tschorn

More 'Bearded & Tschorn' coverage from All The Rage

With Bin Laden dead, U.S. man finally shaves

Photos: Middle school teacher Gary Weddle of East Wenatchee, Wash., before, left, and after removing the beard he vowed not to shave off until Osama bin Laden had been caught or killed. Credits: Donita Weddle; Dan Wheat / Associated Press

Conan O'Brien and the coming of the Beardpocalypse

Yes, the coming of the possible "Beardpocalypse" is a bald-faced marketing ploy -- but it's one I heartily endorse. 

What's the Beardpocalypse, you ask? It's the much-rumored -- and equally hyped -- "beard-apocalypse" the potential demise of funnyman Conan O'Brien's facial follicles at the hands Will Ferrell, who is a guest on the episode of "Conan" that airs on TBS at at 11 p.m. PDT Monday. 

"It's coming off on May 2nd," taunts Ferrell in one promo posted online. "I'm going to mount that beard in my game room like a nine-point buck!"

The run-up to the will-Will-or-won't-Will appearance has included a Photoshop contest (among the entries are riffs on the "Burlesque" and "Gone With the Wind" movie posters -- featuring O'Brien and Ferrell) and social media mentions featuring the #beardpocalypse hashtag.

As of this writing, the most recent of those was a post from O'Brien's Twitter account Monday morning, apparently a reference to yesterday's news that Osama bin Laden had been killed:

"Yesterday, we took care of one maniac with a beard. Today, Will Ferrell will take care of another. #Beardpocalypse"

 If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on O'Brien coming out of this confrontation with smooth cheeks. The only question left is how the beard banishment will go down -- will it be via the old-school straight razor Ferrell can be seen wielding in the recent promo? What about an electric razor -- or a Schick Quattro?

But if they were really hard-core, wouldn't that beard go out in a spectacular blaze of glory -- something like, say, a thrown pie pan full of Nair right in the kisser?

I guess we'll know soon enough.

-- Adam Tschorn

Photo: Will Ferrell (left, credit: Victoria Will / Associated Press) is threatening to shave off Conan O'Brien's beard (credit: Art Streiber / TBS) when he appears on the latter's show Monday night. 

 

Tonsorial trade-in: The Art of Shaving and Bloomingdale's want you to swap out that can of cream

If you've ever thought about using something other than a metal spray can full of blue goo to prepare your face for the morning shave ritual, the folks at the Art of Shaving and Bloomingdale's are teaming up for a one-day "shave swap" this Saturday that might help motivate you.

On Saturday, anyone who takes the tube, tub or cake of shaving cream they're currently using into a participating Bloomingdale's (including the five local stores listed at the end of this post) can trade it in for a 2.5-ounce travel-size tube of shaving cream -- which usually retails for around $14. (If you end up pleased with the results, be sure to try some of the scented versions -- my personal favorite is the lavender.)

For anyone looking for a total reboot of the morning shave routine, the deal gets a bit better -- the trade-in earns a $25 discount certificate toward the $100, four-piece starter kit that, in addition to the cream includes a pre-shave oil, a post-shave balm and, most importantly, a shaving brush (although it can be lathered on using just the fingers, using a brush much more effective for the task).

Participating Bloomingdale's include Beverly Center, Century City Shopping Center, Santa Monica Place, Sherman Oaks Fashion Square and Newport Beach's Fashion Island.

This weekend you'd be hard pressed to find a cheaper way to put your best face forward.

-- Adam Tschorn

Photo: On Saturday, customers who bring their shaving cream to local Bloomingdale's can trade it in for a 2.5-ounce tube from the Art of Shaving (left) or a $25 discount off a shaving kit (right). Credit: The Art of Shaving.

Bearded & Tschorn: March mustache madness

Although we let James Franco's recent flirtation with facial hair go unmentioned in the run-up to the Academy Awards, the last few days have served up a bumper crop of lip spinach we couldn't help but point out.

We're not talking awkward, uncomfortable, barely there wisps, or the so-prevalent-it's-practically-cliche mouthbeard. No, these mustaches have some serious personality of their own (Clive Owen's, above, deserves its own SAG card, if you ask us) and clearly took some effort in the grooming department.

Exhibit A appeared on the front page of the Los Angeles Times Business section Tuesday morning -- a four-column photo of News Corp. President and Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey, sporting a handlebar mustache with neatly twisted short handles about an inch past the corner of his lip (which, if you're going to allow this kind of 'stache into corporate America, is about as far as it grows).

Carey's mustache isn't just notable for its corporate provenance, but also because it's not camouflage -- he doesn't appear to be growing it to deflect attention from a receding hairline or some other self-percieved flaw.

Exhibit B is the aforementioned Clive Owen push-broom of a mustache that accompanied the actor to a recent DGA screening of "Trust" (due out in limited release April 1). (Honestly, we wouldn't have recognized him if it hadn't been pointed out by one of our co-workers who noted that he's kind of got a Kevin Kline look/vibe going on.)

As for David Schwimmer's neatly groomed beard? It's doing double duty here -- not only signifying his role (he directed and produced "Trust"), but providing a perfect buffer between his current incarnation and the boyish, smooth-faced Ross Geller character he played for a decade on "Friends."

-- Adam Tschorn

Photos: From left: News Corp. mustachioed President and COO Chase Carey (credit: Andrew Harrer/ Bloomberg); a mustache-bearing Clive Owen and a bearded David Schwimmer at a Monday screening. (credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images).

2010 Movember mustache grow raises $63 million worldwide

Although the charity mustache-growing month known as Movember wrapped up a good 10 days ago, folks were still able to donate through Dec. 9, so we couldn't get a good bead on how much money had been raised this year to fund cancer research and awareness campaigns through the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

But now the preliminary numbers are in (there are still some matching funds that need to be counted, a Movember representative tells us), and the 64,438-strong American contingent of the global effort (up from 28,206 last year) raised $6,941,189 -- more than double last year's fundraising of $3.2 million and far beyond the organization's hoped-for $5 million.

National bragging rights go to our Northern neighbors -- Canadians raised more than $20.5 million this Movember, just a whisker ahead of Australia (where the charity began in 2003) at $20.3 million.

Worldwide, approximately 455,000 participants raised close to $63 million this year, compared to the 255,000 who raised $42 million in 2009.

-- Adam Tschorn

Photo: Canadian members of Parliament and staffers who participated in this year's Movember efforts  brandish a mustache cutout in Ottawa on Nov. 30. Credit: Chris Wattie / Reuters.
 
 

Your morning fashion and beauty report: Donna Karan celebrates inspirational women. We notice Jimmy McMillan's style.

To celebrate 25 years of Donna Karan New York, Donna Karan is celebrating inspirational women and the causes that mean something to them. On the Donna Karan website, you can find mini-bios of a universe of women including the ultra well-known -- Brooke Shields, Demi Moore, Susan Sarandon, Maria Shriver -- as well as the lesser-known -- such as Francine LeFrak, founder of Same Sky, which helps AIDS-positive women who survived the Rwandan genocide. From the bios, you can link to their causes, find out more and, if the spirit moves you, donate. [People]

Karan was making political news too, with a visit on Monday from Michelle Obama, who is on a Democratic campaign tour. [WWD] (Subscription required.)

And speaking of politics (yes, it's relevant in a fashion blog sometimes, witness Obama and her influence in the design world) how about that Jimmy McMillan? Because we're writing from the left coast, we can view with amused detachment the New York gubernatorial race and admit that the guy we're most interested in watching is the fringe candidate from the Rent Is 2 Damn High Party, who appeared in Monday night's debate splendidly dressed in suit, tie and black gloves. It was, of course, the gloves that caught All the Rage's eye, though we're sure our "Bearded and Tschorn" columnist Adam Tschorn will be intrigued by McMillan's Civil War-style beard and mustache.  [New York Daily News]

Men tend to notice two or three things when they first meet a woman (as you can well imagine). But women can be assessing anything from how a man's clothes fit, to his smile, to whether he is carrying a messenger bag, to what kind of shoes he's wearing and whether he has cuff links -- the list goes on and on, though jeans seem to be a kind of universal turn-on. [WWD]

Following a lead from Nordstrom, other luxury retailers (Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's and soon Saks, among others) are inviting customer reviews online, something Target and other lower-priced merchants have been doing for a while. [Wall Street Journal]

Nike's collaboration with Japanese brand Undercover will bow in Tokyo on Wednesday. [WWD] 

Harriet Winter, designer of the Mrs. H. Winter collection, has died at age 83. [WWD]

-- Susan Denley

Photo: Donna Karan. Credit: Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images