The difficult thing about facial hair is maintaining a balance within your personal style -- not letting the beard take control. A beard that's out of control can make you look pretty silly, and you'd do better to shave that sucker off rather than be caught wearing it. I've seen cases wear once sharp-dressing, clean-shaven guys decided to grow a beard, and pretty soon it was flannel and torn t-shirts -- and they never came back.

For better or worse, stars set the tone in the world of men's facial hair -- it's not necessarily a bad thing. It allows us to take cues from them and their stylists, converting them into lessons about our own shaving techniques. When Russell Crowe grows a beard and it looks cool, every dude on the street quits shaving. Then again, sometimes celebrities screw it up -- then we can make fun of them and feel superior.

The grading system for celebrity beards is simple: it consists of 3 variables. First, is there a reasonably good balance between their facial hair and their hairstyle? Second, is the beard in harmony with the rest of the outfit? The third variable is the interpretive factor, i.e. what's the beard doing for them? and how effective is it?