The latest vogue for beard-wearing began around the 2008 recession, and was initially dismissed as a niche pursuit, a hipster thing. The death of the beard has been announced many times since. Afghan coats traditionally came in three forms — sleeveless or short-sleeved hip-length vests known as pustinchas; knee-length, long-sleeved coats known as pustakis; and ankle-length cloaks called pustins. Our best guess is that that’s exactly how he was supposed to be. That’s right, if you take away everything society has built including: The unruliness of the 21st-century hipster beard may have been its point, but it, too, was tamed by marketing. When sales of shaving products slumped, brands looked elsewhere. “Suddenly, there were a lot of beard oils and waxes and all that kind of stuff,” says van den Broeke. “And this whole surge in barbers focused on beard management. That, for me, was the moment the beard became less a slovenly thing, and more like a Furby or a Tamagotchi, something you have to look after.” The scent is definitely very similar, but seems in the opening noticeably more synthetic than the original.

For the Wax Melts: You will receive a 50g (approx) plastic container, filled with 7-8 pieces of wax moulds blended in a fragrance of your choice, each melt will give around 1 hour burning time. This isn't a scent that I find altogether pleasant when I dig my nose into it, especially for the first half-hour or so - but the projection/sillage on this stuff is truly amazing. I have already received two compliments of the "ooh, you smell nice" variety, so I think the trail that Craze leaves more than makes up for the abrasive skin scent. That pungent, cloying metallic note seems only to exist on the skin, not in the air. Later in the wearing, I get whiffs of myself and they make me smile - it's a comforting, cozy, rich (and very sweet) scent. Probably best suited to the colder months, but I could see it working on cooler spring and summer days and nights as well. Seems versatile enough for most occasions - from home, to date, to club.Diffuser Oil: A lot of our customers use our oils with home electric diffusers, but fiddling with the roller ball top can be an inconvenience so we are happy to bring to our range 15ml dropper bottles, simply add drops as per your requirements and enjoy the fragrance, less hassle, less mess. That’s the nice thing about beards, they’re slightly prosthetic,” says Alun Withy. “I often think if you’ve made the decision to shave a full beard off, try a couple of styles on the way. Give yourself a brilliant biker’s moustache.”

You will receive a 100ml pot which holds around 70g of fragrance dust, which will give between 30-40 hours of burning time. Cavemen are the epitome of how simple life is supposed to be for a human. No grooming, no education, no politics. Just eat, sleep, shit, groan & repeat. Doesn’t that sound great? We may even see something akin to the retreat of the Victorian beard: a diversification into specialist forms – moustaches, goatees, long, wide sideboards.

I admit it – I like the grooming advice given on Men’s Health. It’s practical, straight forward, and guy friendly. Plus, they test products and offer “how to” articles for dudes. Worth visiting. Their international embrace fuelled new enthusiasm for Afghan clothing among some of Kabul’s elite who accepted that women should unveil but wanted Afghans to fight against foreign influences and keep Afghan customs alive. I first grew a beard in late 2011, after I got punched in the street by a stranger and had a rectangular wound above my top lip; the imprint, I think, of a ring. I couldn’t really shave until it healed, and after three weeks I’d passed the point of dishevelment into something that resembled intent. I’d never tried to grow a beard before – believe it or not, I don’t get punched in the face that often – and I was surprised by the success of it. Above all, it cost me nothing, not even effort. I had discovered the point where sloth meets affectation, and I was happy there. The peak of peak beard reports actually came a year later, in spring 2014, with a study from the University of New South Wales called “Negative frequency-dependent preferences and variation in male facial hair”. It appeared to show that beards were an advantage in sexual selection when their prevalence was low, but that ubiquity made them less attractive. “The bigger the trend gets, the weaker the preference for beards and the tide will go out again,” Robert Brooks, one of the authors, said at the time. “We may well be at peak beard.” If you had asked me in 1985, I’d have said the beard was extinct. Then again, I’d have said the same thing about the hat The imprint eau de parfum to 100% value. You can because of the low obtrusiveness also times 6 sprayers poke and thus one is served for 8 hours.

Wrapping all this up is a nice powdery veil of vanilla and amber. And as it dries down to a skin scent (which takes a very long time on my skin - 3 hours at least) - sandalwood joins the amber with its powdery richness. The almond note never leaves and is obviously the star of this long-lasting show. Before we consider why the beard doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, we should ask where it came from. The post-recession fashion for facial hair has certain parallels with the Victorian “beard movement”, which ended a clean-shaven era that had lasted more than a century. “Beards and moustaches are rising on every side of us,” read an 1853 newspaper article, “and we seem in a fair way of being as hairy as our ancestors”. What suddenly changed?is with me after 12 hours on the skin still perceptible and surpasses the original thus in terms of durability. Craze seems a tad more synthetic and a bit more tart than the French competitor. My layman's nose suggests to me a little more bitterness which possibly stems from a stronger emphasis on almond. With the Craze, I also detect a hint of corrugated cardboard boxes or a new book. Just additionally this herb-nutty, slightly bitter. Don't misunderstand, the two are really confusingly similar. The differences are relatively subtle but perceptible. John Lennon wore an Afghan coat and a sporran at the press launch for the Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, held at Brian Epstein’s house in May 1967. John Downing/Getty Images