Contrary to popular belief, trimming your beard regularly does not cause it to “grow back thicker. " It’s not always bad advice though: This is often a way to convince guys with bad-looking facial hair to shave off that peach fuzz and wait until it starts coming in a little thicker. You can use some basic good-health techniques to promote facial hair growth to speed up the process. Maintaining a diet high in protein, saturated fat, and Vitamins A, E, and C, getting enough exercise and rest, and–above all–keeping your face clean and well-groomed, can help promote facial hair growth in men.
Trim and maintain your beard while you nurture your soon-to-be mustache. [2] X Research source
Usually, you can get a decent rechargeable beard trimmer for $15-20, available at most retail stores. They’ll come with a variety of guard shapes and sizing options, making it easy to keep your mustache in shape.
After trimming the basic shape you want, leave your mustache alone. Shave or continue trimming the other areas of your facial hair growth regularly to keep your mustache standing out above the rest of the hair in your beard. It’s sometimes common for some kinds of hair, to let some of the beard grow back and have a mustache that’s a little longer than the rest. It’s half-beard, half-mustache. Best of both worlds.
To see how a mustache might look, try editing a picture of you in Photoshop, adding a fake mustache. You can also ask friends and family how they think you would look. If you can do neither, simply look in the mirror and imagine yourself with the mustache of your choice.
The pencil: Famously sprouted by John Waters, R. Kelly, and innumerable silent film villains, a pencil mustache looks as if it were drawn thinly on top of the lip with a make-up pencil. To trim one, follow your upper lip line with a trimmer, carefully removing the hair between your nose and your lip, until a thin line is left. The mustache should end at the corner of your upper lip, or just beyond. [6] X Research source The fu manchu: This classic features a slim pencil-like mustache that starts at the upper lip, but continues down the sides of your face until reaching the bottom of your jaw, and sometimes beyond just like a stereotypical Chinese philosopher. Grown slightly bushier and wider, this same basic mustache shape is known as the “horseshoe”,[7] X Research source which is worn by retired wrestler Hulk Hogan. The boxcar: A boxcar is a fairly simple mustache, but one that ends just a bit before you reach the corner of your lip. To trim it, leave your mustache alone, but trim a straight line perpendicular to the corner of your lip, so the hair ends just before it. It should look like a perfect rectangle. Don’t go to short or you’ll end up with a toothbrush moustache, worn by Adolf Hitler and Robert Mugabe. [8] X Research source
The English, Imperial or Handlebar: An English-style mustache is your ticket to looking like you stepped out of a Victorian novel. To style this mustache, you need to stop trimming your mustache just above the corner of your mouth and let it grow out some, to a point. Then, using mustache wax, twirl the longer hairs at the corner up, into a curl. [9] X Research source The Walrus: A walrus is a mustache for outdoorsmen, rhinoceros hunters, and men who know how to throw tomahawks. Think Theodore Roosevelt. To grow a walrus, do absolutely nothing but shave your cheeks, leaving your mustache alone. No trimming until it drives you absolutely nuts (which might not take long). Not for beginners. [10] X Research source The Selleck: Named for the famous TV personality Tom Selleck, this mustache is also known in some quarters as the “pornstar. " Shaped essentially like a walrus, pointing down at the corners, gently, the Selleck is full from lip to nose, but trimmed to avoid hanging over your lip. [11] X Research source
Goatees or circle beards, are basically fu manchus or handlebar mustaches that connect on the chin. Just shave your cheeks and under your neck. [12] X Research source Mutton chops connected directly to the mustache give you a vaudevillian or Civil War vibe, like you just waltzed out of a photograph, or Brooklyn. [13] X Research source Try a straight mustache, with some deep-set five o’clock shadow and a soul patch if you want to look like an out of work actor.
Depending on your mustache, trim it with mustache scissors every day to once a week. After a month of trimming the mustache weekly, you should have a pretty good idea of how much facial hair to chop off each time you trim.
Having facial hair of any sort can keep your natural body oils and dirt trapped against your skin, which can lead to breakouts in some men. It’s important to keep your facial hair clean and well-groomed to keep your skin healthy.
After you wash your face or get out of the shower, apply a bit of mustache wax to the middle of your mustache with a finger. Next, lightly work the wax outwards, covering your entire mustache. Then use a comb to get the ‘stache fully saturated. To comb a mustache, use a beard comb, which should be smaller and with finer teeth. Add a small dab of natural beard oil to wet the tiny teeth of the comb, which will help lubricate the hairs and train them into place. Start combing at your philtrum (the cleft under your nose), combing outward toward the corner of your lip, and down.
