Brendan O'Brien might sport a magnificent bushy mane but his lush facial hair hasn't snipped the odd bout of beard envy.
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The Bonner beard aficionado impressed judges of King O'Malley's Ned Kelly Beard Competition Tuesday night with his tidy but "natural look".
"I still get beard envy. I see guys with bigger beards than me and I think, he hasn't been growing it as long as me," he said.
"It is what it is. You get what you're given."
But Mr O'Brien's bushranger-esq look might go beyond just the bristle.
"I do have a bit of family history," he said. "My great, great uncles, allegedly, were bushrangers - I'm not sure how accurate that is."
The Civic watering hole's beard competition was judged by one of the lead actors performing in theatre production, Kelly, which takes to the stage at the Canberra Theatre Centre from Wednesday night. The event also raised money for the Leukaemia Foundation.
Mr O'Brien, who is a member of Canbeards — the Canberra Beard and Moustache Club — said it had taken about 12 months to grow his facial hair to it's current length.
"I've been unshaven since January, 2013, with a few trims along the way," he said.
Mr O'Brien washes his facial hair in the shower with a shampoo designed specifically for beards, or baby shampoo.
"It comes down to personal preference. I'm sort of in the middle," he said.
"I do put beard oil in it. Balm keeps it under control and looking tidy."
Tuesday's competition wasn't just for gifted goatee-growers with Belconnen's Mark Worthington awarded best costume beard.
Steven Rooke, who plays Ned Kelly in Kelly, was a guest judge along with "local beard celebrity" Jason McCormack.
"While there were other people there with extraordinary length and styling, the guys who won were surprised … because they fit the categories the best," Mr Rooke said.
"I felt like a hack walking in there because my beard was half of what some of these guys I was judging had. I was a little bit apologetic to them."
Mr Rooke has sported his beard since the start of the year when he began touring the Kelly play. But far from looking forward to shedding the facial hair he planned to keep it when the tour wrapped up.
"I'm not going to [shave it]. Not until I have an absolute reason to because if I was to get an audition that required a beard I'd be annoyed that I got rid of it," he said.
"It happened to me last time I had a beard. Three days after I shaved it off I got a phone call saying 'I'm really hoping you've still got that beard because I have a casting for you'."
Although Mr O'Brien's natural bristles could spark the odd challenge he didn't plan on getting rid of his facial hair anytime soon either.
"It can be a bit annoying — I'll eat half my moustache when I eat lunch," he said.
"But my wife loves it."
