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For most of the year, the mustache doesn’t get much airtime. Relegated to the most daring among us, it’s a facial hairstyle that often goes unconsidered for the average man, deemed far too unorthodox to ever grace the face of anyone that calls himself “cautious”. Then comes November however, and all of that get’s turned on its head.
With millions of guys carefully cultivating their upper lip follicles in support of—and raising money for—a whole range of men’s health causes, the mustache has its brief moment in the limelight each fall as the Movember movement gets underway. Then, however, like clockwork, December starts and it fades back into relative obscurity for another eleven months. At which point, you might find yourself at a crossroads, deciding what to you with this lip tickler you’ve spent so much time and effort growing. Here, a few suggestions as to how you should proceed.
Keep it Going
After a full month of itchiness and interminable awkward phases, Burt Reynolds jokes and the painful process of acclimating your significant other to a new face, do you really want to take a razor to your upper lip and call it a day? Probably not. You’ve come too far. So instead, perhaps embrace this mustachioed look as your new normal. (This choice is particularly viable if you live in Nevada, Oregon or North Carolina.)
Now, you’ll need to proper tools to keep everything looking its best. If you haven’t already, procure a quality mustache comb and scissors for maintenance. Also, you’re going to want a beard/mustache oil, which’ll keep the hairs tame but not so much so that you’ll look like you’re trying to pull a Salvador Dali.
Transition Back to Beard
What if, though, while you’re generally in favor of facial hair, you’ve tried the mustache thing and decided it’s not for you? Well, then you might want to take your newly-grown hair garden and merge it with the rest of your facial hair to form a full-blown forest. Be cautious though: the intermediate steps between lip tickler and beard can be treacherous due to discrepancy in fullness. So, as soon as the stubble on your cheeks and chin grows to a respectable length, trim back your ‘stache enough that the levels match up. That way, going forward you won’t have to worry about your upper lip looking particularly thicker than the remainder of your face.
Try Out Something a Little More Inventive
Don’t get us wrong, rocking a full-on upper lip mane is already a daring endeavor, in and of itself. It takes a special kind of unselfconscious person to have the chutzpah to sport such an unconventional facial hair configuration, blatantly disregarding the average guy grooming status quo. However, there are still ways to deviate even further from the norm, and for some guys, somehow they work. (See: Pedro Pascal.) Maybe you’re one of those guys. But how will you know if you never go for broke, using your newfound mustache as a jumping-off point for glory?
Shave It Off
Having said all of that, knowing when to abandon ship is also an important part of life and that holds just as true for your face. Whether it’s due to patchiness or a bad case of the babyface, some of us simply look better clean-shaven. And you know what? That’s okay. So shave away, gents, if that’s what your heart desires.
