Choosing the Mustache Style that Best Suits Your Face Shape

Determining your face shape and features allows you to choose the facial hair style that best suits you. Read our tips on finding your mustache style.

A solo mustache is a strong style statement in today’s world. In the bearded times we live in, it’s rare to see a mustache without the company of a beard or goatee. However, the mustache takes on a different meaning when November rolls around. For 30 days, sporting a mustache shows your support for Movember, a worldwide movement to draw attention to men’s health matters like prostate and testicular cancer, mental health, and suicide prevention.

Even with such a noble cause behind you, what might scare you on Halloween is the anticipation of attempting to grow the best mustache you can over the next month with nowhere to hide from the prying eyes of friends, family, and colleagues.
Never fear; at Truefitt & Hill, we know that just as a beard can do wonders to redefine your face, so too can a mustache. Many of our most legendary patrons, like Laurence Olivier and Cary Grant, sported a mustache, so whether you’re aiming for shoelace-thin whiskers or a full-blown grandiose ’stache, we can guide you to mustache success. As a mustache can add fantastic character and balance to your features in ways a beard cannot, we might even convince you to keep the look well beyond when Movember is over.

Facial Hair Styles to Match Your Unique Features

It is essential to consider the size of your facial features. The right mustache style can minimize prominent features or accentuate and extend smaller ones. First, take a mirror, study your face shape, consider your nose, mouth, and other features, and imagine what will work best for you. The right style should complement your face, not overpower it.

Small Facial Features

If you have a small nose, avoid a big and bushy mo which will make the nose look even smaller. Instead, go for a shorter style, like the elegant, minimal, and stylish pencil mustache worn by actors like Orlando Bloom and Daniel Craig.
Similarly, don’t overpower a small mouth with a big, bushy mustache. Again, the pencil mo will broaden the mouth without taking over half your face. Growing the ’stache a little past the corners of your mouth will make your mouth appear a bit larger.

The pencil mustache, suited to both broad and narrow faces, is excellent for growing quickly, but it takes some daily attention to maintain the look.

Large Facial Features

If you have a prominent nose, consider a larger, thicker mustache, such as a chevron mustache like that of actor Will Ferrell in The Anchorman movies. It can add a lot of bulk to counterbalance significant features (nose, mouth, chin, eyes, ears) without dominating the face.

A classic mustache, primarily associated with the 70s and 80s owing to stars like Freddie Mercury, the chevron remains popular among first-timers. It is likely the style you will attain if you grow a mustache with no other type in mind.

Will Ferrell sported the chevron mustache playing Ron Burgundy in The Anchorman movies.

The easily maintained style fully covers the space between nostrils and upper lip, curving slightly downwards at the ends of your mouth. The chevron is one to be avoided for those with petite features.

Like actor Sam Elliot, anyone with a big nose or a broad face can also consider the walrus mustache. It will add volume to the top lip, helping add proportion to the face and minimizing prominent features to create a softer overall look. A big mustache with a lot of character will get you noticed!

Different Face Shapes

Every face shape has advantages and challenges when choosing a mustache style. Here’s a breakdown of which ’stache suits which face shape.

Oblong or Oval Face Shape

For oval or oblong face shapes, avoid styles with vertical lines, such as the horseshoe that will only accentuate your face length. Instead, opt for a narrow-to-medium-sized mustache that’s not too heavy in length or design. For example, the ‘Clark Gable’ or pencil mustache will counterbalance the vertical shape of the face with some horizontal action.

Clark Gable made the pencil mustache stylish on the silver screen of the 1930s and 1940s

Another one for narrower faces to consider is the handlebar mustache like Daniel Day-Lewis wore in Gangs of New York. Sharp and well-manicured, this mustache can broaden your mouth and add width to your face. It can be grown wide or narrow, so although it is naturally suited to narrow faces, it can be adapted to many face types.

After a few weeks of growth, use mustache wax to achieve this standout style loaded with personality.

Round or Square Face Shape

While the weighty walrus has potential for vertical lines that add flavor to wide, square, and round face shapes, these faces will particularly benefit from the upturned U, the horseshoe mustache. Synonymous with Hulk Hogan, it’s great for adding length to the rectangular face, the two lines descending past the mouth making a face appear longer. Worn bushy, it can also add weight to the look.

While it can be kept neat and trimmed for everyday life if you want to achieve an edgier look, grow the bristled ends down to the jawline, like Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction.

Diamond and Triangular Face Shape

Triangular or diamond face shapes, sometimes called heart-shaped faces, are typified by a pointy chin and wide cheekbones. For a triangle face, you have a few options. You can either go for an eye-catching mustache that reinforces your cheekbones, such as the Van Dyke mustache, or small, understated mustaches, like the pencil or pyramidal mustache.

The Best Beard Styles to Match Your Mustache

As we move beyond Movember, you may choose to keep your perfectly suited mustache but add a beard to complete your look. Not every style is as apparent as matching a Van Dyke beard to your Van Dyke mustache, though. So here are a few simple things to keep in mind, beard trimmer in hand, when adding additions to your facial hair.

Full Beard/Mustache Combos

The horseshoe mustache is the default setting of a natural full beard, but you don’t have to stop there. Men have been known to create dramatic looks by combining meticulously waxed handlebar mustaches with long beards.

Short Beard/Mustache Combos

Beyond growing a beardstache by adding a five o’clock shadow to your mustache of choice, there are plenty of styles to select from. For example, developing a circle beard, a sort of goatee where your facial hair forms a circle around your mouth, can be a great-looking choice. Even matching a smaller mustache is possible with a dramatic Balbo beard (think Robert Downey, Jr.’s Iron Man look) or pairing a pencil mo with a thin chinstrap beard that runs along the jaw or up your sideburns into your hairline.