The struggle is real for men with beards, but now they don't have to leave their homes to find the face mask that best suits their long facial locks.

The Beard Tarp, a three-layer mask created in the fall of 2020 for men with beards, just launched an augmented reality (AR) filter. Men can  now try on products from the comfort of home before ordering online.

"We have been noticing that more and more people are going online than we've ever we've ever seen," says Sven Hansen, founder and CEO of Barrie company Always Bearded Lifestyle. They company has been selling beard grooming products since 2014.

Hansen tells blogTO that about 62 per cent of all shopping is expected to be online this year.

The Tarp up AR filter, which launched on Dec. 10, allows men to virtually try on the two different Beard Tarp sizes (regular and large) and see how the five different patterns look.

People don't want to try on masks in person for hygiene reasons anyway.

"It's very hard for you to try on right masks in general," Hansen says. "This really is kind of our first step into AR."

Hansen says wants the company to be ready for a move into the Metaverse.

"We've seen cryptocurrencies kind of take over the finance industry," he says. "I don't think people understand how soon the Metaverse is going to be here."

While the requirement for face masks will hopefully be over soon, Hansen believes people will still use them in flu season.

"There are times that people are going to feel safer wearing a mask. And, you know, if we look at other countries like Japan, I mean, they've been doing this for a while," he says.

Since his company launched the Beard Tarp, they have sold over 100,000 in Canada and the U.S. They also sell a beard bandana, which could be part of the AR filter in the future.

"The world is changing — and we want to be part of the digital transformation."