Cool hair and beard styles. As beard as it gets: Meet Isaiah Webb, who styles his 17-inch-long beard into unique designs

Beardbrella, Pac-Beardman and Beardosaurus; Avril-Ann Braganza asks Isaiah Webb the story of his many beard styles

Ever eaten noodles from a fine bowl of... beard? No? Ask 31-year-old, San Francisco-based Isaiah Webb what that tastes like! Webb, the owner and creator of Incredibeard, has not shaved his facial fuzz, for over 10 years. "My beard is now over 17 inches long from my chin," says Isaiah, who styles it into unique designs such as an octopus attacking his face, the Bane look from the Dark Knight Rises, a bearducopia filled with goodies, a snowman, and a burger, coke and fries holder, among others. "I used to have people telling me to shave, but the notoriety that I have now keeps people quiet. My friends and family know that it is a big part of my life; they encourage me and love seeing me continue to grow in my business and art." Unique beard designs.

The story goes back to 2012, when his wife started playing with his beard, "Unwittingly, we created a funny style that looked like a children's book character. We signed up on Instagram (@incredibeard) and made that image our first post". Originally, the inspirations for his designs were his wife's and his. But now his fans also contribute ideas — the weirdest requests being for "body parts. Parts unique to the male or female anatomy". He has also sported many occasion-related styles based on holidays including Christmas, Thanksgiving, Mother's Day and Easter. At his wedding, however, he had a much shorter beard.

Married for five years, his 28-year-old wife is the artist, who creates the designs.Creations take anywhere between 1 to 4 hours, using only hairspray to hold his designs in shape. Armed with a blow dryer or curling or flat iron, one can create interesting designs, explains Isaiah, whose favourite creations are the B-E-A-R-D, Octopus and Bane beard designs.

How to trim a beard

Creating such unusual art comes with its share of problems. They've started off styles they could not complete, because they were too difficult to finish. They've also run out of hairspray halfway through and had to wash everything out, buy more hairspray and start over. "We have also run into heat problems; you must be very careful not to burn your beard."

But these beard creations, which (as we go to press) have attracted more than 81,000 followers on Instagram; 4,73,329 Facebook likes; 7,306 YouTube subscribers and 6,901 followers on Twitter support a greater cause. Incredibeard has teamed up with World Vision, a humanitarian organisation dedicated to working with children, families and impoverished communities worldwide. A portion of the profits from the sale of Incredibeard products through its online store is donated to World Vision, which helps provide access to clean water, basic sanitation facilities and hygiene education, thus preventing child disease and death.

Different beard styles and how to trim them

What are his beard-crafting plans for the future? "The greatest part about Incredibeard is that you never know what to expect!" he signs off with a wink. Until then, you can look forward to his new beard posts every other Monday using #Monbeardday