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There are some people that we just cannot imagine without a mustache. Actors like Tom Selleck and Burt Reynolds, legends like Charlie Chaplin, sportsmen like Rollie Fingers, artists like Salvador Dali and even porn stars like Ron Jeremy. Their mustaches have become part of their persona.
We also have hockey and baseball players who won’t shave their facial hair during the playoffs for fear that it may jinx them and lead to bad luck. That’s why most of the players start looking like grizzly bears by the time the Stanley Cup or the World Series ends.
Mustache Styles and Forms
Mustaches can come in a lot of different forms and styles. One can wear it using the walrus design in which the mustache is bushy and hangs down just over the lips. This was how the great German philosopher sported his mustache. It did not kill him and it probably made him stronger.
Another style might make you an object of ridicule. It is called the toothbrush look, in which the mustache is thick but shaved and trimmed nicely so that only a square will remain at the center. Think Adolf Hitler, though it might be better not to think of the madman at all. Charlie Chaplin also had a toothbrush mustache and he took advantage of its similarity to Hitler by mocking the Nazi leader in the 1940 movie entitled “The Great Dictator.”
Or you can also try the handlebar mustache. Its bushy and, as the name emphasizes, resembles that of a bicycle handlebar. The ends on both sides are pointed upwards. Rollie Fingers, a member of the Oakland Athletics that won baseball’s World Series three straight years in the early 70s, best exemplified it. It is also the style commonly associated with French artists with a paintbrush on hand.
Mustaches can also be worn just like the styles followed in the old days. The pencil style is narrow, thin and straight. It features a wide gap between the nose and the mustache. Old-time actors like Clark Gable and Errol Flynn sported it. Or you can copy Salvador Dali’s style of long and narrow points that would curve upward in a steep fashion. No facial hair should grow past the corner of the mouth.
The Appeal of Mustaches
When done and worn correctly, mustaches can help enhance the features of a man. Burt Reynolds and Tom Selleck were considered to be two of the sexiest men during their time, aided in no small way by their facial hair.
Mustaches have become so important for some people that tournaments have been actually held for fans of facial hair. The very first recorded competition for the best mustache was held in the northern part of Italy during the early 1970s. In 1990, the First Hofener Beard Club in Hofen/Enz formally organized the first World Beard and Moustache Championship in Germany. A second tournament was staged five years later in 1995 in another German city called Pforzheim. Eventually, the tournament became more popular and has been hosted in other European cities and even in Las Vegas.
The Longest Mustache in the World
Unfortunately, the World Beard and Moustache Championship judges only base on aesthetics. As a result, the winners are adjudged based on the purely subjective opinions of the judges.
If there were an objective way of judging mustaches, then the best way is by measuring its length. And if that were to happen, the winner would hands down be Ram Singh Chauhan of India. He owns the longest mustache in the world at a length of 4.29 meters. For non-metric users, that is 14 feet long. That is equivalent to Shaquille O’ Neal standing on top of Dwight Howard. Yes, Chauhan’s mustache is as long as the height of two towering centers from the NBA.
Expert Advice on Growing a Mustache
Chauhan gave out some advice for people who want to grow a mustache and maybe one day eclipse his record. Among his suggestions are:
1. Start young. Chauhan is now 54 years old, but he started growing his mustache in 1970 when he was not yet even a teenager yet at around 11 years old. Facial hair grows fastest during a person’s youth. Age has a way of slowing things down and making the hair brittle and easier to break.
2. Don’t cut it. In the 43 years that he has been growing his hair, Chauhan has never cut his mustache except for the part around the lip area.
3. Take care of it. Wash it, oil it and groom it. Chauhan washes his mustache every 10 days and uses coconut-based shampoo. You can also use items like beeswax and pomades, or even a leave-on conditioner to prevent split ends. Some experts have an even weirder advice…dip the mustache in beer to keep it nice and tidy.
4. Enlist the help of your family. Chances are high that your family, especially your wife or girlfriend, will be against it. it takes a long time to take care of it and it may get in the way of intimacy. Chauhan said that his wife started to accept his mustache only when he started to get recognition for it. So, as with anything in life, get your woman to support your endeavor.
5. No pain, no gain. How does Chauhan handle his mustache? He used to wrap it around his ears. When it got longer, he started wrapping it around his neck. It is hard to sleep with it and, as mentioned earlier, hard to get intimate with someone else. Those who are only starting to grow one will also experience itchiness. But it’s just a little pain, so endure it and stop acting like a wimp.
6. Follow your road. Grow a mustache because it would suit you, not because it is in fashion. Chauhan started growing his facial hair when mustaches were in vogue but continued with it even when it sort of went out of style. As a matter of fact, his own son does not want one. Still, the mustache is what makes him unique, so he persists in keeping it.
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