I was recently looking at images famous and powerful men from the 19th century and many of the big name men all had pretty well constructed facial hair. Was there a cultural reason for facial hair ? Or was it just easier to have it so they didn't have to worry about cutting themselves shaving ?
I was looking at the facial hair of people like
Lincolns beard, Lenins and Trotsky' mustache soul patch combo, Jospeh stalins mustache, teddy Roosevelts mustache , Nietzsche mustache, Otto Von Bismarks walrus stache, Haile Selassies wild beard , Charles de Gaulle's Pencil mustache, Custard iconic mustache , Alexander III Russian beard
Simply put, fashion. Facial hair goes in and out of style. In the late 18th early 19th c, it was out. As the 19th progressed, facial hair became fashionable.
Look at recent history. Over the last decade, beards have become all the rage. In a few years, they'll fall out of favor again.