Kerikeri's Gingerbeard Man will have to find a new nickname after sacrificing his facial hair for charity.
Andrew Taylor had been growing his dreadlocked ginger beard for the past eight years and had hit a length of 500mm when he decided to shave it off to raise money for theLeukaemia and Blood Foundation last month.
Barber Stephen Timings made short work of the dread-beard on Monday morning as friends and supporters crowded into his Kerikeri shop and Mr Taylor saw his own face for the first time since he was 17.
The kiwifruit orchard manager raised $5400 via donations and a raffle offering donated prizes ranging from a skydive to a meal cooked by a blindfolded Italian chef.
Mr Taylor's target had been $50,000 but he wasn't disappointed.
"I'm thrilled. Not many people have a beard worth this much money," he said.
As for his new beard-free look, Mr Taylor thought he looked like a 12-year-old boy.
While sacrificing something that had become part of his identity wasn't easy, the upside was that he would no longer suffer beard-related accidents. These included getting his beard caught in a zip, slamming it in a car door and setting fire to it while welding.
Mr Taylor said he had had a great response, with online donations even coming from overseas, and was grateful to his friends, donors and sponsors for their support.
The top raffle winners were Kevin Letica (a 12,000ft skydive with Skydive Zone Bay of Islands), Ashlee Bickers (a ride in a Team Dilusi rally car) and Tim Oakley (a Swanair trial flight).
