Growing a Moustache? Do it Right

Growing a moustache is a great way to accentuate your personal style. It is also an excellent way to stand out from the crowd if you have the confidence to rock a flavour saver. It’s about getting creative and having fun with your facial hair. However, during the process of growing a moustache, there is a right way, and a wrong way of doing it. Here are some tips on what to do so you avoid a ‘fail-stache,’ and successfully grow a full and thick mo.

Grow everything early

During the early stages in a mo-grow, the hair on the upper lip will be thin and light. Balance this out by growing most of your hair around your chin to form some sort of goatee. If you shave your beard and goatee while leaving a thin moustache, you’ll probably look like a schoolboy. In other words, it will seem like you have no idea about grooming. By growing facial hair to support the mo in these early stages, you’ll give yourself a little bit more confidence going into the next stages.

Gather supplies

Like most things, failing to plan is planning to fail. This also goes for growing out a moustache. If you don’t prepare the right tools, a fail-stache will become a reality and people won’t want to be seen in public with you. You need to acquire:

Face wash 

The moustache is nicknamed the flavour saver for a reason. Everything you eat and drink will leave residue on your mo and over time you’ll be getting whiffs of something smelling a bit off. Use face wash to get rid of the smell.

Razor 

Use a razor to shave off the goatee and beard once you are confident that the moustache is taking shape, and has a certain thickness to it. However, before you shave, always go through the proper steps of washing and hydrating the hair to ensure a smooth shave. Go slow so you don’t cut off some of that beautiful moustache. Leaving the stache a couple of centimetres long from the side your mouth.

Mini-comb or brush 

A mini comb or moustache brush is an essential styling tool to brush and straighten the hairs.

Moustache wax 

Just as essential is moustache wax. Especially when your mo is nice and thick. Moustache wax will aid in combing because it will give the stache hold so you don’t eat mo hair all day.

Beard scissors 

Keep beard scissors for future use when you’ll need to start trimming back hairs that have started to reach over your lip and into your mouth, when combing and wax aren’t keeping the hairs out.

Keep it growing

It’s best to avoid using a beard trimmer, and contrary to popular belief, trimming a moustache won’t make it grow quicker or thicker. Just let it grow out naturally while combing it, washing it and shaving the rest of your face. The moustache is one of the fastest growth spots on the face, so be patient and your mo will be full and thick in no time.

Styling

It’s important to choose a style that suits your face. The beauty about styling a moustache is that it’s fun and easy, and if you have the right length, you can style it however you want with ease. Moustache wax will be the saviour here because it’s like pomade for your mo. It’s the styling capabilities of your stache that will set it apart from a boring pedo-stache, which just looks like an extra eyebrow on top of your lip. If you style it, people will realise that a lot of time an effort has gone into the mo and they will thoroughly be impressed.

However, styling is not just about using mo-wax. You have to make sure you are trimming the hairs at the right length and in the right direction. If you are going for an advanced style, you may want to avoid trimming the hairs short and straight. Instead have a bit of a lip over-hang so you can comb the hairs sideways and create some length in the mo. This will also create a thickness. All great moustaches have over-hang, and you can train the hair to grow a certain way with constant styling. If you cut the hair short above the lip and curl the sides, it may look a bit odd.

Some styles include:

1. The Standard/Chevron (for the mature man)
2. The Handlebar (for the indie man)
3. Fu Manchu (for the alternative man)
4.  The English (for the sophisticated man)
5. The Horseshoe (for the rugged man)

Choosing a style might depend on the shape of your head. A square face will suit a heavy and long moustache while an oval face will match a stache with a medium length and a triangle shape. Choosing the right style to match your head shape is vital in pulling off a moustache which looks good and characterises your face.

Try combos

Experimenting with combos is an extra creative step that will add even more flair to your facial hair. For example, try growing a ‘Van Dyke’ style beard which includes a mo, soul patch and a chin beard like Johnny Depp. Or even a simple goatee may accentuate your look. It is the right combo that will give you character in your appearance and help you express yourself.

 Other articles that might interest you:

1.  Top Reasons to Grow a Moustache

2.  All About the Moustache

3.  Swallowing Beard Hairs

4.  Myth Busted: Shaving Doesn't Make Your Beard Grow Thicker

5.  Do Beards Have Health Benefits

6.  10 Beard Mistakes You Should Avoid