The secret's in the 'stache

"Even I think Tom Selleck is hot." — My mustache-wearing heterosexual coworker

One of my coworkers recently has started growing a mustache for a party he's going to this weekend. Besides being extra hairy, the 'stache has had some unintended, but welcome, side effects.

It seems that since my coworker started growing this mustache, women have been hitting on him. An old acquaintance approached him in a restaurant and gave him her card, which had her personal phone number written on the back. Two women started chatting him up in K-Mart, and again, one of them gave him her card.

My coworker has admitted that he has just been "on" his game recently, but it seems that the mustache is contributing in some way.

I have combed the Internet looking for scientific research on how facial hair relates to sexual attraction, but for the most part I've come up empty handed.

Here's what an oblique reference in the United Kingdom's Daily Mail said about the issue:

Male facial hair - hot or not? Studies in the 1970s and 1980s often came to opposite conclusions. Bearded men are usually regarded as looking older and more masculine, dominant, courageous and confident, but that doesn't mean that women want to go to bed with them. Some find beards a turn-off and associate them with being dirty. Beards have no basis in evolutionary history, so whether you like them depends on fashion and individual taste. Here's a handy guide: Johnny Depp, hot; Alan Sugar, not.

That was the only instance I found referring to a real study. But even that focuses more on the beard than the mustache.

Various other Web sites explored facial hair as a means of attraction but not in any scientific way.

From KissMeGoodnight.com:

Facial Hair: Women all have differing opinions when it comes to guys and facial hair. For some, any facial hair at all is a turn off and for others, the more facial hair the better. Before you decide to shave off that moustache or grow a goatee, check with your special someone and find out what she prefers. If you do have a beard or moustache, keep it neat and clean. Trim it on a regular basis, too.

This Web site helps you calculate how your facial hair fits into your level of attraction. Note that facial hair by itself gives you more points than facial hair and heavy body hair.

All things considered, do you think there's magic in the mustache? Ladies: Do you find facial hair attractive? Why or why not? Guys: Do you think your facial hair helps you attract women? Why or why not?