How to Trim a Mustache?

Step by step (scissors, most control)

1. Start with a clean, dry mustache (wet hair looks longer and you over-cut).
2. Comb straight down over the lip.
3. Use small barber / mustache scissors. Rest a finger on the lip if it helps as a fence.
4. Trim horizontal along the lip line, snipping a little at a time. The usual target is hair that clears the lip when your mouth is relaxed, unless you're growing a handlebar that you wax out of the way.
5. Check the corners in a smile. Hair that dives into the nasolabial folds looks messy; don't carve a deep notch unless that's the style (pencil vs. walrus vs. chevron all sit differently).
6. Blend the top edge into the nose with a comb and light snips so it isn't a shelf.

Trimmer: use a long guard first. Go shorter only if it's still shaggy. Trimmers remove more, faster — easy to create a bald gap at the philtrum.

Common mistakes: trimming while looking up (you cut too high), using bathroom shears that pull, and matching the lip on a smile so it looks too short at rest.

Keep the rest of the beard in mind: a mustache that's much shorter than the beard can look like a gap. Many people trim the mouth line weekly and the bulk less often.

You may also want How To Use Rice Water For Hair? or What Does Patchouli Smell Like?.

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