Listen up, Philly dudes. If you’re having trouble finding a date lately, we have a suggestion for you: Stop shaving. We have study results to back that up. Read on…

Men’s grooming-tools purveyor Wahl Trimmers just conducted its fifth annual and all-important “Most Facial Hair Friendly Cities in America” study, and Philadelphia landed itself in the No. 1 slot as the most facial-hair-friendly city in the country. That’s 27 points higher than Philly was last year, and it’s the first time the City of Brotherly (Beardly?) Love has landed in the Top 20.

Who’s to say what factors influenced the rise in 2018, particularly. Facial hair has been en vogue in Philly for several years now. Maybe it’s the colder weather and the thought of snuggling up to a lumberjack next to a warm, crackling fire. One thing in the study is for sure, though: Local women won this thing for Philadelphia.

“While general facial hair popularity among social media chatter helped dictate the results of the study, a notable influx of women expressing their appreciation for whiskered men helped tip the results for Philadelphia,“ reads the press release that came out this morning.

Philly aside, women are crazy about beards across the country. An online survey revealed that 58 percent of ladies prefer a man with facial hair over 42 percent who say they like a clean-shaven mug. Millennial women scored even higher, with 71 percent saying they like their men with whiskers.

The survey goes on to say that the reason women find facial hair attractive is because it makes them look more masculine and handsome. We also find out that you shouldn’t let those whiskers get too out of control, Mr. Rip Van Winkle. Stubble scored highest as the style of facial hair women prefer, with a well-groomed beard coming in at a close second.

To celebrate Philly’s top spot in the survey, Wahl is kicking off its annual mobile grooming tour in this city on Sunday, April 29 at Schmidt’s Commons in NoLibs. The Philadelphia Beard Festival features a 30-foot mobile barbershop, where guys can pop in for a free trim up. There will also be a special speed-dating round for single ladies who want to get paired up with a bearded bro. The event, happening from noon to 6pm that day, costs $15 to $20 to get in, or you can fork over $30 to get a spirit sampling and cigar package.

Photograph: Courtesy Wahl

The tour will move on to the top 10 most facial-hair-friendly cities in America, which includes, in order, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Austin, Portland and Denver (see the full top 50 here). One guy will be chosen from each of those cities to compete in the Wahl Man of the Year contest, which grants him a $1,500 cash prize, $500 in grooming gear and lots of other cool prizes from the company. Online voting will determine the winner, so look out for that when voting opens.

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