Hair-raising tips: growing the mo
G ROWING a moustache can be a dangerous business. You risk ridicule with uneven growth or social exclusion with an unclean and whiffy tache. Then there’s the maintenance and the blade-based dangers of
trimming. You can avoid these pitfalls with our Movember guide. View this moustache-growing month as an opportunity to look dashing while raising awareness and money for the men’s health charity. Sculpt your moustache and be creative; slick it like Dali or brush it like Einstein. Either way, all you need to do is to decide on a shape and wear it with pride. We talk to Brent Pankhurst who runs Pankhurst barbers on Savile Row, who gives his advice on the best ways for your moustache to reach its full potential.
To sign up, visit uk.movember.com
TOP TIPS FROM BRENT PANKHURST
• Grow a beard: The best thing to do at first is to grow a full beard while you’re growing your moustache; let it all grow together. It really is the best way to grow one without looking stupid – you don’t want to look as though you’re growing a caterpillar on your lip. There will be an itchy period until it reaches a certain length. Then, when you’ve got the full beard, have a cut-throat shave at the barbers to take the beard off and to leave the moustache.
• Shaping the mo: Your moustache must be defined in the right way at this stage. While you’re at the barbers, make sure you get them to shape your moustache according to what you would like. Be clear with what you’re asking for. The trend with a lot of these Hoxton kids is to have a moustache like Cary Grant’s.
• Maintaining: Once you have the moustache, make sure you maintain the shape above your top lip. You can do it yourself by using nail scissors to keep that line so that your lip is exposed. Or you can go to your barber (once a month, but for Movember you’ll probably only need to go once), and ask them to trim it for you.
• Shaping: To style your moustache use a wax or a moulding cream. Use a little comb, which you can buy from a good barbers such as Pankhurst, Taylors of Bond Street or Trumpers, and run it through your moustache.
• Cleanliness: The worst thing is having a raggedy, dry, wiry moustache, or something that’s dirty or smelly. Care for it as you would care for your hair. When you wash your hair, use a tiny bit of shampoo on your moustache, and always condition it. Or even better, use leave-in conditioner.
37 Savile Row, pankhurstlondon.com