To beard or not to beard? That is the question.
Ok, so Shakespeare wasn’t actually talking about beards when he wrote his famous lines. Still, the question of whether to rock a face full of hair or to shave it all off has long been a serious fashion question for grown men and hormonally-advanced teens.
Still, there are some major points to consider.
Am I even allowed to rock a beard at my job? If you’re a freelance writer (hello, ladies), the answer is probably yes. If you work for an old-fashioned business where you have to get dressed in the morning, the answer may be no. Do you look like a baby without hair on your face? If you’re a man, the answer is probably yes.
Regardless, we’ll let you be the judge: here are 30 beard vs. no beard pictures for your consideration.
1. Drake
Drake is rarely seen without a beard these days—that’s probably because as the above picture shows, the clean face reminds too much of Degrassi-era Drake. We vote pro-beard on this one.
2. Viggo Mortensen
Viggo Mortensen often plays fantasy stars, rugged dudes and action heroes. He’s a little on the older side and the beard actually makes him younger here—so again, pro-beard.
3. Jeff Bridges
This one is not even close. Look how dignified he looks with that beard! It’s beard all the way.
4. Chris Hemsworth
This is a prime example—Chris Hemsworth is a handsome dude, but even he can’t totally pull off the beardless look. More often than not, men can typically use some face camouflage. We vote beard.
5. Zac Efron
We’re going to go against trend here. Zac Efron looks like a boy, no matter how you cut it—and not all of us can yet grow a full beard. In the future, Zac may grow into his beard the same way he grew into his comedic chops—until then, we vote no beard.
6. Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt has a history of questionable facial hair choices, all of which make him an ideal test case. It’s pretty clear the beardless Brad feels a little stifled, a little out of place. In the second picture, Brad is back with a truly dirty goatee that few could pull off (a goatee he would later parlay into a pencil ‘stache, for God’s sake). That’s right: we’re voting beard.
7. Ryan Gosling
We have to say, it’s pretty rare when someone can pull off the slightly patchy beard look as successfully as Ryan Gosling does here. Again, it’s gotta be beard.
8. Ryan Reynolds
Look, Ryan Reynolds is a handsome guy. Can he pull off the no-beard look? Sure. But does the man truly rock the beard? Yes he does and for that reason, our cards are coming up beard.
9. Ewan McGregor
The tighter look isn’t too bad for Ewan, but again: with the age comes the beard. The beards are in, and we’re voting yes.
10. Hugh Jackman
If you’re like us, you don’t even recognize the guy in the top picture. Now, the second picture? That’s the Hugh Jackman we all know and love. Beards all the way, baby.
11. Johnny Depp
This one’s interesting because it’s not a huge difference in hair amount but it’s a huge difference in personality. The second beard is slight but it’s cheeky—not literally, obviously, since it’s confined to the chin and upper lip, but cheeky all the same. Once again, beards win.
12. Chris Pine
Though it’s not the thickest, this is another example that just goes to show you can’t keep a good beard down. Go for beards.
13. Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio was once a teenage heartthrob but let’s face it, he’s getting older. This is a beard that reflects that. It’s a beard that says “I work with Martin Scorsese a lot.” We see it, and we support it.
14. George Clooney
Look, we wouldn’t be mad at you if you said Clooney with no beard for the win here—he does the no-beard well. Still though, the beard just adds a little something extra. So again, chalk this one up to a beard win.
15. Ashton Kutcher
Shaved Ashton is a pretty common sight, but how can you pass up the bearded Ashton? The more hair he’s got, the more charming he is in our humble opinion.
16. Michael Fassbender
Just another example of the patchy beard coming through in the clutch for the win. Sorry, clean-shaven Michael Fassbender.
17. Ben Affleck
This is a similar case to the DiCaprio one—Ben Affleck is getting older now and with age comes the inevitable salt and pepper beard. Thumbs up for this beard.
18. Will Smith
We’re going to go out on a limb and say Will Smith is an unappreciated innovator in the goatee game. It’s a bold choice but he wears it well—another point for the beards.
19. Tom Hardy
Nothing scary about Tom Hardy without a beard. Add the beard and I’m suddenly terrified. Beards are power people, beards are power.
20. Matthew McConaughey
This is another classic example of rich old man beard. The execution of the actual beard hardly matters at this point, it’s what the beard implies.
21. Chris Evans
Though the top picture is fine, the smile in the second picture says it all. That’s a smile that’s happy to be attached to a truly righteous beard.
22. Jon Hamm
Let’s face facts: Jon Hamm’s beard is the gold standard by which all other beards are judged. So you already know which photo wins in this case.
23. Jake Gyllenhaal
There aren’t too many pictures out there of Jake Gyllenhaal without a beard. And the second picture is the reason why.
24. Robert Pattinson
Let’s be honest, Robert Pattinson is a bit of a goofy looking dude, no? You know what’s good for that? A beard.
25. Christian Bale
Non-bearded Christian Bale reminds you of some of his more famous roles in American Psycho or the Batman movies. But bearded Christian Bale is a guy you can’t really pin down—you might try to box him in, but you can’t. That’s just one of the many benefits of a good beard.
26. Denzel Washington
It takes a special kind of man to pull off the goatee and Denzel Washington is one of those chosen few.
27. Shia LaBeouf
Though we all remember the boyish Shia from Even Stevens and Holes, he hasn’t really gone backwards in terms of beard growth. Honestly, when you can grow as mighty a beard as this one, why would you?
28. Jared Leto
Jared Leto has a very striking look without a beard—it might be something about the eyes. With the beard, everything just makes a little more sense.
29. Paul Rudd
Paul Rudd is another handsome guy who can pull off a no-beard look pretty well. But when the beard is this good, why would you want to?
30. Henry Cavill
Henry Cavill played Superman—anybody that plays Superman has to pull off the clean shaven look reasonably well. Still, you add a light sprinkling of beard hair to that equation and the results speak for themselves.
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