The 2010s and 2020s have had a lot of interesting fashion trends, like vintage aesthetics that have come back into vogue (the rise of the hipster comes to mind).
To be honest, trends come and go so quickly that it’s hard to pin down what has and hasn’t been a trend – but one of my favorite revivals of this era has to be facial hair.
From burly beards to curled mustaches, facial hair has been an objectively good thing for modern fashion – and that is a hill that I’m willing to die on.
And if you don’t believe me, or if you’re a facial hair hater, let me show you the wonders of facial hair through the medium of Minecraft.
If you’ve been around the Minecraft block for as long as I have, then this skin should be recognizable to you.
Way back in the day when Minecraft was first blowing up, with its fame came a slew of YouTube channels that blew up alongside the game. Those were the days of the Let’s Play channels and Parody music videos.
The Yogscast were one of those groups that capitalized on early Minecraft. Simon from the Yogscast popularized this skin by creator kyn, originally released way back in 2010, and immortalized it through the song “Diggy, Diggy Hole.”
While this is almost certainly not the first skin that featured a beard, it was the first bearded skin I saw, and for this reason, it shall forever hold a special place in my heart.
Well, that’s really more of something for you to find out. The skin is a goofy, kind of scary hippie fellow who I presume is Jim, a man who likes to hug trees.
But really, this is a hilarious skin through which you can show off your belligerent and undying love for beards.
The biggest, burliest dudes tend to have the biggest, burliest beards, don’t they?
For the internet historians or younger millennials out there, you might remember Epic Meal Time from the earlier days of YouTube. I can’t say for certain that’s who creator DoggChamp made this skin to emulate, but…
It definitely looks like Epic Meal Time, doesn’t it?
I am prepared to give creator Tamsu all the credit in the world for this skin.
I’ve been having a bit of trouble pointing out exactly what it is about this skin that works so well, but from the hat down to the shoes, everything about this skin is perfect.
This unique farmer and his attire are so down to earth, much like the color palette and style of this design. The mustache on top of how precisely made the skin is – that’s an immediate download from me.
I’m not even exaggerating; this might be my favorite skin that I’ll use on the regular.
From creating the game to being a skin for players in it, Notch has certainly taken an interesting turn in life.
I wonder what Notch has been up to since he sold the game to Microsoft for 2.5 billion dollars cash? I’d like to think that he made this skin and plays on servers as himself.
That’s probably not true, but also let me believe what I want to.
While the first skin on this list was vaguely dwarven in design, this skin by creator Boscawinks hits all the Dwarven notes perfectly.
Sometimes, you don’t want to wear a skin that’s evocative of a dwarf. Sometimes, you want a skin that’s so Tolkien, so Dwarven, just looking at it has you speaking in a Scottish accent and looking to fight some orcs (or creepers).
While I’m sure we’ve all been seeing these funny looking nutcrackers around Christmas time for most of our lives, it only just connected with me that these guys have kind of impressive mustaches.
Sure, I don’t exactly know what the ballet-inspired design of these things actually is.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate some quality facial hair when I see it.
Honestly, I’ve been looking for some quality RPG-inspired guardsmen skins, and creator Rakqoi has exactly what I want.
I love the way the chainmail, medieval colors, and goatee create the fantastical guard aesthetic, and I can’t think of one I’ve seen better executed than this.
Speaking of pop culture icons, I really can’t think of any character more iconic than Mario.
I mean, he’s so famous he goes by one name, like Beyonce or Zendaya. Plus, that mustache can be seen from miles away; and it’s instantly recognizable to boot.
Super Santa is an incredible concept for an action figure skin: a superhero character that’s blown up during the Christmas toy season, except it’s Santa Claus himself.
I almost can’t believe it took me this long to put Santa on a skin list of beards.
This beard has to be one of the most definitive character traits of any character ever.
As far as historically important beards go, I’ve got to give the award to President Abraham Lincoln. I don’t care what anyone says, this guy was a pretty good president.
In the same vein, this skin by creator halucid is – to put it lightly – pretty darn good.
That’s no surprise coming from a veteran creator like halucid, but even so, this skin holds up over 10 years after it was initially published.
