We’ve all seen them around – handlebar mustaches on men of varying ages (usually in their mid-to-late 20s), the sides of their prodigious facial hair sticking up to a curly point on either end. Whether you’re a hipster or just someone super interested in growing awesome facial hair, you might want to know how to grow a handlebar mustache. I don’t see why not; it’s easy to grow and even easier to shape once you’ve got it going.
Learning how to grow a handlebar mustache couldn’t be simpler, so we decided to make a little guide for you to help you along in your brave journey. Keep reading and we’ll show you the way!
Step 1: Grow That Mustache!
First off, you can’t obviously shape a handlebar mustache without actually growing out the hair first – it’s like painting without a canvas. Luckily, Father Time will do most of the work for you. Most places say a good 90 days might be enough, others claim six week will be necessary to get you to the right place in your facial hair growth to start getting things going. It all depends on a number of factors, most notably your own hair growth – if it takes you longer or shorter to grow that face out, just take your time.
One thing to keep in mind is that you can move on to the other steps right away as long as you’ve gotten to about 90 days at least of growth; your mustache will continue to grow, but you want to get it trained with wax early.
Step 2: (Carefully) Trim That Mustache!
Once your facial hair has gotten to a good starting point, just be sure to keep it trimmed. WAIT TO DO THIS for a couple weeks, though, since you want to make sure which hairs will work for the mustache and which ones won’t. Some people might want to grow a handlebar along with their beard, or they may want to go solo with their mustache. Either way is totally fine; just be sure to be careful when shaving your beard if you decide to do so, since you don’t want to cut off any of that upper lip hair unless you really want to.
During the growing process, you may want to keep track of the hairs directly under your upper lip, near the center; it’s entirely possible that those won’t really grow out enough to make enough of a difference on the ends, and so you’ll want to clear the pathway of your mouth through trimming.
Remember, you just want the sides of your mustache to be long, not the rest of it. Whatever method you deem necessary for your shaving needs is fine, whether it be just shears, wet shaving or electric shaving. We leave the choice to you!
The key to growing a handlebar is never trim it, especially above the lip. The other reason wax is used is to keep those pesky hairs out of your mouth while it grows!
Step 3: Wax That Mustache!
When it comes time to trim, you may also want to start waxing your mustache. Wax is the essential ingredient for how to grow a handlebar mustache, since it will start training your hair to go up in the shape you want. What’s more, it will keep the hair there once you’ve got it to the size you want. You’re always going to want to keep some good mustache wax handy, so be sure to do your research and look around for something that fits you.
Finding a good mustache wax is really no problem – all you have to do is shop around for price, consistency, ingredients and prestige. If a wax has good reviews and is fairly cheap, it will probably work. A lot of mustache waxes focus on organic ingredients and essential oils – those will be the healthiest for your skin and hair, so if you can find a product made of only natural ingredients, get that. Some waxes come in puck-like tins, and others come in little bars the size of sticks of gum. The latter are really nice for being on the go, so you can adjust your handlebar as you need to.
Step 4: Shape That Mustache!
Once you find the right mustache wax, it’s easy to actually apply to your mustache. All you have to do is put a bit of wax on your fingers, take the ends of your mustache in your thumb and forefinger, and roll it up towards your face (counter-clockwise on the right side, clockwise on the left). Hold the hair until it sets, and gradually let go. The hair should stay, and you’re set to go!
Once you have your mustache set, there are some maintenance tips you should keep in mind. First of all, you don’t have to wash out the wax each day; you can keep it clean as you need, but the wax is perfectly fine staying where it is. For one thing, good luck getting all of that wax out without a lot of trouble; furthermore, it’ll undo all the great training you gave your facial hairs. Just keep it in and only take it out if you really feel like you need to. Also, get a dedicated comb for your mustache; you don’t want to get mustache wax in your other hairs anyway.
There, you should know everything you need to about how to grow a handlebar mustache. Just give your mustache some time, trim if you need to, get a great mustache wax, and shape it to your liking. Best of luck!