September Barber Visit

Here's my latest before and after barber shots from yesterday.  Actually, in the picture my hair does not look to much different in the two shots except that it looks like I have a flag growing out of my head in the after shot.

It really was not a good mustache day.  I was corkscrewing like crazy.  But this time my barber did not say anything about the mustache.  No offers to trim it or anything.

The pictures show some wispy hairs that extend beyond most of the others in the mustache.  These aggressive hairs seem to grow faster than the others and were driving me nuts, so this morning I trimmed them to where most of the other hairs end at the tips.  I thinking trying to end the corkscrewing by trimming would be a major mistake, but these strays will never blend in so getting rid of them was the right thing to do.

Today I am wearing the mustache straighter with less curl at the ends.  Less curl means less corkscrew which looks better.

On another note, my wife now calls my mustache "that mustache" rather than "your mustache".  She has not yet been won over.

Moustache in the sunlight

Sunlight shot

No,  I don't have a face-spanning mustache - I just had the camera in real close to show the individual hairs. 

The hairs in the center now have enough length that they grow to the side and form the nice mustache shape without any waxes or glues. Here it is just brushed to the sides and pinched and pulled up a little at the tips. 

As it grows up, it seems to be better behaved.  Had I given into the temptation to trim the center, I am sure that I would have regretted it and would now either be battling those hairs as the lengthened again, or having to trim again.  For any of you considering growing a handlebar, resist the urge to trim until you see it grown out.  You can always trim latter, but you can never untrim.

Trimming the Goatee to Make the Mustache Look Bigger.

Before and after reduction of the goatee

Can I make my mustache look bigger by making my beard smaller?  I think so.

Trimmed the Goatee... and I Like It!

After the goatee trim - over exposed on purpose to better show the facial hair.

 

Today I trimmed the goatee but left everything above the mouth untrimmed and I must say that I like the results.

The Plan - Growing the Mustache, Removing the Goatee and No Trimming

In my research, I saw that there were two competing ideas on how to grow a handlebar mustache.  One involves trimming the area immediately above the mouth, and letting the sides grow out.  The other is to NEVER trim the center of the mustache but comb all hairs to the outside.  I have decided to go with the latter approach.