The Imperial mustache was named after its most famous wearer: Kaiser Wilhelm the second, the last emperor of Germany. Without a doubt, a great looking Imperial will give you the air of royalty and authority as it is a bold and daring look. Though not often equated with modern styles of facial hair, many enthusiasts are trying to bring back the Imperial in today’s world and adapting it to the look of more modern times.
The imperial consists of a thick mustache that is complemented by hair grown on the upper cheeks up to the cheekbones. Different shapes can be played with but the sticker is that all hair not from the upper cheeks and upper lips must be clean shaven and no curls are allowed.
If you have very fine or very curly facial hair, growing an Imperial mustache will be difficult if not close to impossible for you. If, however, you have thick and straight facial hair and you are daring enough to try for a bold and authoritative look than the Imperial offers quite the challenge.
The first thing you’ll need to do is to grow out your facial hair on your lip and cheeks. You will need a lot of hair, so this part can take up to 3 months for men whose facial hair grows slowly. Since it can look kind of odd to be growing out a tuft of hair just on your cheeks, some men opt to grow out a full beard while they are preparing for the Imperial beard style. Obviously, once your facial hair gets long enough, you can shave clean your neck, chin and lower cheeks.
Another difficulty in growing out your mustache for an Imperial is that you’ll want to train your mustache hairs to grow outwards. At first, it may seem like your mustache is simply growing thicker while the ends aren’t growing outwards, but with time you will start to get the longer ends. Don’t trim your mustache while it is growing out as this will only slow the process down.
Never trim the hairs on your mustache, but rather encourage them to grow in the direction you want. If you’ve never had a mustache before, it may take time to get used to the tickling feeling they cause, and you’ll probably have to change certain eating habits after getting a fair bit of ketchup in your stache after biting into a big hamburger. I recommend for trimming to use the scissors made by Sanguine that are professional grade (see on Amazon).
Once your mustache has achieved the length you’ll need and the hair on your upper cheek are at a similar length, you’ll need to begin to train your imperial facial hair. Training facial hair simply means encouraging the hairs to grow in the direction and in the style you want. Two products that you’ll need are mustache wax and a mustache or beard comb.
Start training your mustache hairs from the time they’re small. This can be done simply by wetting down the mustache with water and combing the hairs in the direction you want them to go. Once your mustache gets longer, you’ll want to use mustache wax. The wax will hold the hairs in place over the day and further train the mustache to follow the Imperial style that you are after.
There are dozens of types of mustache waxes on the market, but whatever brand you choose, you will want to make sure that the wax keeps a good hold throughout the day. A sign of a cheap wax is one that begins to lose its hold during midday (especially during hot summer months) as your mustache becomes droopy and messy looking. It might be a good idea to put on a little extra wax if you’re going to be outside a lot during a hot, sunny day.
While some waxes come with perfumes or fragrances that smell tempting, understand that you’ll smell that fragrance all day long as it will be right up against your nostrils. Many men prefer unscented waxes for that reason. Great unscented wax is available on Amazon, manufactured by the Rocky Mountain Barber Company.
In order to style the Imperial mustache, you’ll first want to generously apply wax throughout the entire mustache. The tips of the mustache hair will need a little bit of extra wax as they will be the weak points of the mustache most likely to begin to droop. Understand that you will be going against nature as you try to get the tips of your mustache to go upwards instead of downwards so don’t get frustrated if it takes some time for your mustache to be trained to go against nature.
Don’t twist the ends of your mustache as this will make the hairs to appear to be thinner almost like a Dali style mustache. Keep the mustache hair thick and standing almost straight up as you form it to go upwards. When you connect the stache to the upper cheek hairs, flatten out the upright ends for a more natural transition into the cheeks.
Creating the great look of an Imperial mustache may not be easy. It will take time and patience, but if you are persistent, you can have a great looking mustache that your friends will envy and women will find intriguing.
