The Handlebar Club Forum

Greetings gentlemen,

So I'm having a problem which wasn't terribly noticeable, but now seems to be becoming a bit of a problem. I have six months of growth on the stache and it is just into a good length where I can shape it better than before. I have trimmed a little with scissors, perhaps an inch total off the ends primarily, but some whiskers grow faster than others and those were also trimmed some. I'm reticent to do this any more because when i grew my moustache before and trimmed the ends too much, I got 'block' ends which weren't very good. I don't think this is the root of my problem however. I think I have been shaving too much away on the right side of my face and as a result the stache looks too short and thin on that side.

My question is this; What's the best way to correct the unevenness? I think I have two solutions, but am willing to entertain other notions. The first would be simply to stop shaving so much around the stache and wait for it to fill in. I suspect this will take some time indeed and may not look great until it completes itself. It could be another six months even, more perhaps. Is anyone familiar with this problem? How long does it generally take for the exfoliation process to run its course and completely replace the whiskers on average? The only other option I can think of isn't much of a solution at all and that's to shave the whole thing off and start again. Here's the image to consider.



What do you think?

Hi,

Firstly, your stache looks fine as is. Stop trimming. It will always look better to others than to its owner. Stop fussing with it or you will wreck it. Don't start over. No need. Just stop trimming around it and let it grow out at the sides. Nobody will notice.

Mine took a total f five or six mos to have all full length uncut hairs in the middle, but everyone is different. be patient and put away the snips.

A Handlebar moustache is a terrible thing to waste - shaving off completely and starting over will only delay progress; better to give the growing area a wider berth and do not tr*m any existing whiskers. Also, rather than shaving to the lip commissure, use your smile lines (nasolabial folds) as a guideline for the east and west borders and shave everything outside those lines. That way you can recognise the full potential of your upper lip area.

Each hair has its own growth cycle. The advance party will go dormant at some point, then shed - so, rather than tr*m the longer whiskers, I suggest you exercise greater patience and give the laggards time to catch up.

You could also grow a beard for a while. Then, when you shave it off, carefully respect the aforementioned smile-line borders. Don't shave it off, whatever you do. It looks good to me - and remember, no one stares at your moustache like you do.

The eye symetricizes (a word?) automatically. Would have never picked up that it was uneven had you not mentioned it.

Cheers,

Bob

Just leave it be and don't shave too close. It will be fine. Do not shave it off! Dimidium facti qui coepit habet "He who has begun has the work half done".

For pittys sake do not trim it.Everyone will tell you this.Just grow and train it.Cheers scottyb

Thank-you gentlemen. I am as patient as a man may be. I will hold off and see what the spring brings.

I feel your pain.

I am determined not to touch a pair of trimming scissors for two months (until my 64th birthday) and see what I have to work with. It is really tough because I've had the same style for decades and have always leaned toward the manicured look. Now, having all of those uneven hairs just begging to be snipped, I have to take a deep breath and keep combing them to the side, cursing their belligerence at succumbing to gravity.

Trying to keep the spasms and twitching to a minimum as my trembling hands caress those brand stinking new German Malteser Moustache scissors....

Just when I thought I was the only one to do something.... ah... unwise...
The left side seemed a little longer than the right.. I'll just take a 1/16 off... well then the right looked longer..
You all know where this is headed.. fortunately I stopped and decided to just let it go.. so maybe a year or so from now I'll take out the scissors again.. but then maybe not.

Well contrary to the wisdom of the group and my own assertions I spent a few episodes in February and one in March trimming (ever so slightly, honestly) to find a balance which I have largely achieved. One thing I have noticed and adding to the problem of imbalance is that moustache whisker shedding is also occurring at an uneven pace from one side to the next. So many hairs have already found their way out from the right side of my 'stache that it's hard to imagine it will thin to any greater imbalance. I really do want to see it growing now to see if the issues I've encountered can remain righted and perhaps even improve. I don't even want to trim the ends unless desperately necessary. I know at this point it will only make things worse and not better. I've made these assertions before, but I think I mean it this time. I wouldn't have wanted to do the trimming I've done in the weeks following my previous post if I had gotten the shaving portion right in the first place.



I should say that it is not outside the nasolabial folds with which I have had the problem, it is the area at the corner of my mouth. The right side tends to grow downward a little more than the left so that when I shaved to a straight bottom edge the right side resulted in a thinner end to the whisker group compared to the right. I've been letting these fill out on both sides more shaving just up above the 'corners' of my mouth and plucking the strays. I've been doing this especially on the right and although it is really not yet noticeable and I doubt will be for many more months ... if I can last that long. For the last few days I've had the urge to shave my winter beard away and I have never been able to last the whole summer with a moustache before. Any words of wisdom about making it through the next 5 months would be greatly appreciated. I'm going to need it. I suspect the urge to shave my upper lip will rise dramatically in the weeks to come.

Anyhow, judge for yourselves.



PS You can also notice that the whiskers around my philtrum appear to have stopped growing. Another quirk to contend with.

Well, hang in there xman and hold out before cutting it off. As I mention on my blog (link below) you will have days where you hate your moustache and days where you love it. I have a two week rule that has saved me a few times: Never remove your handlebar moustache unless you have hated it for two weeks solid. There are a lot of self image issues and subtle social pressures and concerns we can get now and then regarding having a handlebar moustache, but usually the days of disliking are few and you will start liking your moustache again after a few days. Just hold out. I had a period of ten days of doubt a few months ago and survived.

Growing a handlebar moustache is a big image change and takes a lot of courage. You might think you just don't like it some days, but more than likely behind that "just don't like" is some concern for or fear of opinions of others. Hold out. It takes a while to build it into your self image and stop wondering what others may think.

Eric, my issue isn't the image. I prefer the image of being bearded and like the look of my moustache more than not. My problem is that when the warm months come it gets hot and bothersome. So I prefer the look of the hair, but not the feel.

The urge to achieve perfect balance is a dangerous one. I don't think anyone's moustache is perfectly balanced... that said, I have trimmed the tips ever so slightly a couple times over the last year or so for special occasions where I wanted to look as perfect as possible. But even then I was careful to take off very little at a time. When I did it, I waxed and styled as I wanted it and then just snipped the few extra long hairs down to match the rest, making each side look right in itself and not worrying too much about perfect balance... no one stares at you long enough to see the minute differences you do.

As a side note, I just had about a month or so where I felt my right side was significantly fuller than my left at the tips, but suddenly last week the opposite became true - go figure!

I think that the problem is only in your head and that it will go away if you resist one summer the urge to shave. I have a moustache now for several years and never felt any discomfort in the summer, although it might get quite hot and wet here as well. In fact, I nearly even don't notice the stache anymore, it was rather the goatee (that I had sometimes additionally) that disturbed a bit in my opinion. Yet, in beard boards many guys with real big full beards report that they have no problems at all in the hot months. So, it seems to be just a matter of getting used to it.