For me, No Shave November started off as an excuse to just avoid shaving in high school and who exactly could pull of the rugged lumberjack look the best. All it was to us was a humorous little contest and nothing much else. But according to the official website, the Chicagoland Hill family used this celebration as a means to raise cancer awareness, as to reflect the fact that many cancer patients end up losing their hair during chemotherapy. And it's not just men, either; ladies can show their support by avoiding shaving their legs and letting them go hairy.

And I have to say, I really do appreciate the effort these people are going through in order to turn something as meaningless as a body hair show off contest into a movement that has a lot more strength behind it. Some of us may go the whole month without shaving because, hey, that's just what they consider a yearly tradition for them. Or perhaps they're so fond of their facial features that they aren't willing to part with them so easily. But now, thanks to the efforts of the Chicagoland Hill family, No-Shave November can be a month long event that means something much more significant and special. There are so many cancer movements now that are so easy to support and get in to why not have one for an occasion a lot of people partake in as part of the norm?

I'm personally not a fan of going long periods of time without shaving, due to the itching that plagues my scruff once it grows out, but I don't mind others doing it themselves. Grooming and trimming are even perfectly acceptable according to the site, because not all work places will let you have a huge hunk of hair on your chin and allow you to handle someone's food or go to a board meeting. Even if they don't realize what they're doing, spread the word and let people know they can donate the money they usually use to maintain their hair to a good cause.

One last thing to take note of is that beards can be pretty disgusting.

And I don't mean the ones that look like grease traps or the ones that look like bramble patches either.

What I'm talking about is the sheer amount of bacteria found inside a lot of men's beards, which at first, some might not pay much mind to. Bacteria is everywhere and not all of it is harmful, so what's the trouble? The unsettling part is that many microbiologists in Albuquerque have done tests and studies and have found that some beards not only have an abhorrent amount of bad germs living in them but also contained ones usually seen in feces.

So yes, beards, no matter how good looking, more often than not contain poop. Micro-poop to be exact.

So while you're in the shower growing out all that fuzz this November, be sure to use some shampoo and conditioner not only on your hair, but also on your beard as well, especially if you happen to be a bit filthier than usual when entering. The bigger and furrier your beard gets the more likely it is to attract bacteria, so take caution for all no shave participants. And as a final tip put the toilet seat down before flushing to ensure none of those germs you just deposited get dispersed throughout your bathroom.

And be sure to visit no-shave.org to donate to support the cause as well as share your facial features for them on social media.