Artists use all kinds of materials to make their creations. For Isaiah Webb, his beard is his medium. Dubbed “Mr. Incredibeard,” Webb, from San Francisco, California, has molded his beard into almost 100 different styles. For Thanksgiving, he once turned his beard into a traditional symbol of the holiday: a cornucopia, filled with fruits and veggies.
To make the hair sculpture, Webb ironed his beard flat and sprayed it with hair spray. Then, with the help of his wife, he rolled it up into a cone. “Once it was rolled up, we could stuff it,” says Webb. They loaded the basket with plants from the backyard and plastic toy food.
For Webb to make this and other hair designs, he’s had to spend years growing out his beard. On average, human hair grows just 1.3 centimeters (0.5 inches) each month. How long hair can get is determined by its location on the body. “Hair’s length depends on how long of a growth phase it has,” says Dr. Jessica Krant. She’s a dermatologist, or doctor who treats skin disorders, in New York City. The growth phase for scalp and facial hair lasts about two to six years. Then the hairs are shed and replaced. Eyebrow hair, on the other hand, grows for about a month before it falls out.
Webb seems to have been blessed with long-hair genes. These units of hereditary material determine each person’s individual hair-growth cycle. At one point, Webb’s beard reached nearly 1 meter (3 feet) long!