How does one care for and maintain a handlebar mustache? I assume some type of wax or other fixative is used to hold the curls at the end in place. Is there some special method for cleaning it?
What about in the morning - how does it look when you first get out of bed? I think they’re really neat and have always wondered about them. Thanks in advance, teeming millions!
I’ve seen the tins of moustache wax in some shaving departments, usually along with tiny combs.
I’m guessing it’s like the old Macassar oil, of antimacassar fame, in making a mess of whatever it touches.
There is special moustache wax you can use. I read about it in the Wall Street Journal a few months ago. Apparently the wax had become hard to find in the U.S. until recently, when moustaches began to grow in popularity again. An Internet search for “moustache wax” turns up several vendors offering a variety of brands for sale.
You would have to find some pretty strong wax to hold the weight of the hair at a horizontal angle. Maybe some type of gel that hardens when it dries. I think earwax would work in a pinch to keep the ends together in a neat bundle.
The commercially produced moustache waxes make the moustache very stiff, holding the hair in place how ever one sets it as the wax dries (which happens pretty quickly).
(I just blow-dry mine. It may fall in a heavy rain, but I’m not walking around with stiff hair jutting out of my face all day. Of course, I have no desire to look like Salvador Dali; the “Irish bartender” look is fine for me.)
Tom, do you wash the wax out before you go to sleep?
I wasn’t clear. I hate the wax. I use only a blow-dryer when I get out of the shower and shave. It is up to the 'stache to stay up the rest of the day.
My guess would be that anyone who showers or shaves daily will wash out the wax. (For the brief period that I tried wax, I found it really irritating.) Guys who don’t need to shave (e.g., full beards) and guys who don’t shower daily may get away with letting the wax set for several days (as long as they sleep on their backs). (Do you recall the scene in Murder on the Orient Express where Hercule Poirot is getting ready for bed? He put a little net thingy over his moustache to hold it in place while he slept.) (Ick!)
I can imagine that moustache wax is unpleasant and see why people would want to avoid it. How about a moustache “perm” using either heat or chemicals? Will it work?
Um… I too had a handlebar moustache until recently. More of the Salvador than the Irishman. I’ll tell you more than you ever wanted to know about 'em, but I’ve never consulted an official guide or anything. I’ve used two types of wax. Hold on a sec and let me check the bathroom…
Okay, first, there’s the “chapstick” style. It’s a hard wax, about the consistency of a good caranuba paste wax, comes in a stick just like the lip stuff. Harder than chapstick, which I regret to say I have also tried in a pinch. This parictular stuff is pretty good, and will hold a one-inch moustache in a Snidely Whiplash for at least half a day without reapplication, and a good shorter handlebar in an upturn curve for most of the day. It doesn’t really dry; you just have to shape it and sit still for a couple of seconds. It’s ingredients read:
Petrolatum, Candelilla Wax, Hydroxylated Lanolin, Castor Oil, Microcrystalline Wax, Beeswax, Fragrance, BHA & BHT
It is distributed by: Cook Bates/Cosmetico Co., Inc., Venice FL 34292.
I give the above address because it is the only tolerable moustache wax I ever used. It came in conjunction with a nice little kit (wax, scissors, comblet, twizzler) I got one Christmas, so I don’t know how much it costs.
The paste stuff that comes out of a toothpaste tube sucks. It’s not nearly as strong when it dries and is more prone to “breaking,” when the 'bar separates into two or more separate strands, and you wind up looking like you have Vishnu dancing on your nose, or worse, a well-used metal brush. On the other hand, it’s not nearly as brittle, so it may be intended for the more natural look.
Care and feeding of a handlebar is kind of a pain. It requires near constant trimming, and if you’re a tweaker like I was you wind up crinkling the ends and have to trim those, which makes it hard to grow past a certain length. Only once did I grow it long enough to sport a Rollie Fingers-type 'stache that curled back on itself, but I was happy when I did because it stuck together better. The stache is shaped by thumb and forefinger. That can be a technique all to itself. In my case, one half always wants to curve up, while the other naturally goes down, so I had to be very careful which direction I was twisting. I never got the hang of that twizzler thing; it might have been thrown into the kit merely as a novelty.
I used to wash the stuff out nightly, but I drink a lot and I sometimes wind up in strange places. Results of sleeping on a waxed moustache vary from hilarious to disastrous. Girls seem to get a kick out of a mildly mussed-'stache, especially when one end turns up and the other down, which mine was prone to do. Somewhere in the middle it looks sort of like having a toilet brush on your face. At the extreme end, a solidly waxed moustache can actually break, forcing a scorched-earth trim job and weeks or months of recovery. Plus, you look like a total idiot until you can get home. It was this latter outcome which put my latest efforts to rest.
There is one other thing about handlebar moustaches which should be mentioned. People tend to laugh at you, or possibly with you, when you’ve got a really good one. There is just something silly about a crazy waxed 'stache that really brings out the mirth in people. I always liked that.
I tried growing one once.
Still have the moustache wax somewhere.
It always looked sick and I never could get both sides looking the same.
Ever see a guy with one side perpetually sagging? Pretty silly looking.
Still wear a stach though.I haven’t seen my upper lip in 20 years
this is soo sweet! I’ve been growing just the plain 'stache for about a month now, maybe longer. Second time I’ve done it. This time I have the solo mustachio because I f’ed my goatee up while trimming it.
Had a little bald divot, and you can’t combover a beard. So I shaved it off. And I have seriously been considering growing it out and even handlebarring it.
So I’m doomed to being a demagogue and an idealogue, all for want of a classy mustache. I’m bringin this back into style, yo.
So my question is, does normal hair gel work? It would be bad for drinking or eating soup, of course. But is wax any better?
jb
please pardon my obvious lack of antecedents above. hope it’s not too hard to follow.
jb
I used to have a handlebar moustache. In my case it was easy to form due to the natural curliness of my hair. Once it was long enough I just twisted it into shape and it basically remained there so I never had to use wax or any other artificial means.
Wow, Sofa King, that was very informative! Thanks everyone else, too.
jb_farley
Moustache wax is made for moustaches.Sooo it probably works best.