Christmas beards - hipsters are getting festive (+pics)

Beard baubles - the ultimate hipster accessory this Christmas.

Just when you think you've seen it all, the hipsters manage to surprise again.

The news this week that an advertising company in east London had launched a range of beard baubles spread fast and the company sold out of the hipster accessory in days.

Now, a group of men from London have gone one better - turning their facial fuzz into festive works of art.

The four males have paid as much attention to decorating their chin bristles as they would their Christmas tree, attaching anything from robin's nests, to fake icicles and candy canes.

A group of men from east London have turned their facial fuzz into festive works of art, decorating their beards with anything from robin's nests to candy canes.

Visual artist Katya Wildman spent six hours creating the four designs and photographed the end result using a Samsung Galaxy Note Edge handset.

2014 has been the year of the beard - everywhere you look these days, men aged 18 to 40 are wearing their facial hair like a badge of honour.

There are Tumblr pages galore dedicated to men with a strong whisker presence and a Mancunian has even launched a dating site specifically for pogonophiles.

The gentleman all hail from fashionable Shoreditch, where beards are very much in fashion.

So, with Christmas around the corner, it was only right that companies are now inventing seasonal accessories for bearded men.

2014 has been the year of the beard - everywhere you look these days, men aged 18-40 are wearing their facial hair like a badge of honour. With Christmas around the corner, it was only right that companies are now inventing seasonal accessories for bearded men.

The beard bauble company claims that the Yuletide facial hair accessory - which retails for £5.00 (NZ$10.00) a packet - has been flying off shelves, with customers from as far as Australia and New Zealand placing orders.

Ollie Dearn, who works at the agency behind the accessory, Grey London, said: "The product has been particularly popular with Brits.

"We've sold more than we ever expected.

"But Aussie, American, Kiwis, German and French customers have been purchasing Beard Baubles too."

Visual artist Katya Wildman spent six hours creating the designs.

Each pack contains 14 multicoloured baubles to attach to the bristles - ten large balls and four small ones.

The success of the product is a happy accident - the business makes a Christmas card every year to send to clients and friends and this year decided to add a present to their message of seasonal cheer.

Ollie said: "Each year, Grey London make a Christmas card to send out to clients and other agencies.

"This year, the two designers Mike Kennedy and Pauline Ashford went one step further and came up with a festive gift idea to feature on our cards - Beard Baubles. It was a striking image."

The craze isn't just a hit with humans either.

"We've heard about hairy dogs wearing Beard Baubles too," Ollie says.

All proceeds from the baubles go to Beardseason, an initiative to raise awareness for the fight against Melanoma that is encouraging men to grow their beard during the month of December.

- Daily Mail