Aiken couple makes big impact on the world of bearding

Jun. 20—When Aaron and Natali Johnston started their bearding journey a decade ago, neither could have guessed the places it would take them.

"It's been a heck of an adventure," Aaron said. "Would've never imagined just growing a beard would've led us to all of this."

In 2017, Aaron won the World Beard and Moustache Championship in the goatee category. This year, his wife won her category.

Natali is the World Beard Champion in the Realist Freestyle category. She also won the Women's Best in Show at the competition in Burghausen, Germany at the beginning of June.

She is known as a Whiskerina, meaning she styles beards and mustaches that she doesn't grow herself. Whiskerinas can also be men who cannot grow their own beards.

"It can either look really real or super creative, as long as it resembles facial hair," Natali said.

Women's involvement in the world of bearding has grown consistently since the Johnstons started competing in 2014, the couple said.

This year was the first time the World Beard and Moustache Championship had a Women's Best in Show. The tournament also highlighted the women's competition on the main Saturday for the first time.

"The Germans just absolutely loving the women this year and embracing us — it's a huge deal," Natali said.

Natali started the beard she competed with in April after learning that there would be a women's freestyle category at worlds.

"When I found out that Germany was going to have a freestyle category for the women, I was super excited because every time I make a beard, I tried to style it and do something different," she said. "Most women, they just leave it down like it would be a beard."

The beard is a wig that is styled with hairspray and pins. Natali said she left the finished beard in the corner of her room two months before the competition.

"Because if you touch it too much, I feel like I would overly style it and do it too much," she said. "So, I had to back up and just leave it there."

Although, the road to this point has not always been the easiest for the Johnstons. Natali suffers from Polycystic Kidney Disease, which can make traveling and competing difficult at times.

"I'm currently on a waiting list to get a kidney transplant," she said. "I'm stage four, almost stage five kidney failure. I already only have one. So, for me to be able to go and travel and do stuff is like a bonus."

The day of the competition, Natali paired the beard she styled with an emerald green dress and a crown, unintentionally matching the Duke and Duchess theme of the competition.

When it came time for the judging of the Realist Freestyle category, she received five 10s and two 9.5s. She said this was as perfect of a score as she had ever seen.

"I literally almost passed out on stage," Natali said. "The other women on stage literally were holding me up."

Later that night, Natali couldn't believe it when she won the Women's Best in Show.

"It was just a shock," she said. "And I cried when I won first place, I did not cry when I won Best in Show because it didn't communicate to me. I was just in shock."

Natali's husband, Aaron, said it was the most emotional he's ever been at a bearding competition.

"I know everything that she's been through, she's had some health issues, and I know a lot of these competitions have been really tough," he said. "She puts everything she has into making these beards."

The camaraderie between all the women that competed was another indication of how much the bearding community had grown, Natalie said.

"We all helped each other that whole day," she said. "We helped get each other's beards on. We helped pump each other up. Yes, it's a competition. Yes, it's a world competition. It's a big deal. But it was also like a family."

The couple live in Aiken but spend most of their time traveling and promoting the growth of bearding full-time.

"The past two years we've traveled all over the world, and we put over a 100,000 miles on our cars just last year," Aaron said.

Aaron was recently voted in as the vice president of the World Bearding and Moustache Association while also working as the marketing director of the brand Honest Amish.

"I just got elected a week ago, or not even a week ago, so I'm already doing stuff," he said. "We'll see where that goes. I mean, the sky's the limit."