In this episode of Grooming Guide, GQ's resident grooming expert Matty Conrad breaks down and critiques the mustaches on some of today's biggest stars, including Miles Teller, Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Nick Offerman, Bad Bunny and more. From the beardstache to the modern horseshoe, Matty offers the tips, tools and techniques needed to pull off your dream 'stache.
Director: Sam Dennis
Director of Photography: Callum Gunn
Editor: Phil Ceconi
Host: Matty Conrad
Producer: Shelby Boamah
Senior Producer: Noel Howard
Camera Operator: Oliver Smith
Grip/ Gaffer: Nick Taillefer
Audio Engineer: Alex Shamku
Production Assistant: Samantha Buzza
Post Production Supervisor: Rachael Knight
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Rob Lombardi
Assistant Editor: Andy Morell
Director: Sam Dennis
Director of Photography: Callum Gunn
Editor: Phil Ceconi
Host: Matty Conrad
Producer: Shelby Boamah
Senior Producer: Noel Howard
Camera Operator: Oliver Smith
Grip/ Gaffer: Nick Taillefer
Audio Engineer: Alex Shamku
Production Assistant: Samantha Buzza
Post Production Supervisor: Rachael Knight
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Rob Lombardi
Assistant Editor: Andy Morell
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Is it just me, or is the mustache having a moment?
00:03 More and more celebrities are starting to wear
00:04 just a mustache as a style statement these days.
00:07 Everybody from Henry Cavill to Pedro Pascal.
00:09 Let's dissect some of the finest mustaches
00:11 that Hollywood has to offer.
00:13 [dramatic music]
00:16 Miles Teller.
00:23 I'm just gonna say it,
00:26 Top Gun Maverick put the mustache back on the map.
00:29 Suddenly, younger guys were wanting mustaches
00:32 because Miles Teller looks really cool in this.
00:34 And his mustache here was just a nod back
00:36 to the original film with Anthony Edwards
00:37 who had the same mustache.
00:39 My dad had a mustache when I was growing up,
00:41 and I remember the first time I ever saw him without one.
00:43 I almost didn't recognize him
00:44 because his upper lip looked huge.
00:46 I kinda think that's what's going on with Miles Teller here.
00:48 I've gotten so used to seeing him with a mustache
00:50 that without a mustache,
00:51 I can't stop staring at his upper lip.
00:53 One of the things I like about Miles Teller with a mustache
00:55 is it just makes him look more mature.
00:57 With this kind of shape,
00:58 I think he was trying to go for a bit of a chevron,
01:00 but I'm not sure if he has the growth.
01:01 That's okay.
01:02 If you can't grow the mustache of your dreams,
01:04 you can still probably grow something,
01:06 and it can still look cool.
01:07 You don't always have to get all the way there,
01:09 but I think whatever this is,
01:10 it works really great on Miles Teller.
01:12 I mean, is it just me,
01:13 or is this giving you kinda Tom Selleck, Magnum P.I. vibes?
01:16 If you look at Miles Teller's look in Top Gun,
01:18 this has a direct correlation to Magnum P.I.,
01:20 which of course is another mustache hero from the 1980s.
01:23 It was essentially a good time guy
01:26 that paired up with a floral shirt
01:27 and gave him this sorta sex appeal.
01:28 I'm not sure what's doing the heavy lifting here,
01:30 the mustache or the floral shirt.
01:33 Either way, it's working.
01:34 [upbeat music]
01:35 Henry Cavill.
01:36 Straight out of the gate,
01:39 I'm gonna say that Henry Cavill looks a lot better
01:41 with a mustache than without a mustache.
01:43 Add some interesting kind of articulated definition
01:46 to his face.
01:47 Henry Cavill's mustache actually started a small revolution
01:49 in what we call the beard stache.
01:51 It's basically when you pair up a mustache
01:52 with very short stubble,
01:54 which kind of decreases the contrast
01:56 and makes it a better entry-level mustache
01:57 for guys that are maybe feeling a little self-conscious
02:00 about just having the old lip caterpillar up there.
02:02 But what's most interesting about this mustache
02:04 is it is a multi-million dollar mustache.
02:07 When he was doing reshoots for the Justice League,
02:09 he was simultaneously filming Mission Impossible,
02:11 a film in which he had a mustache.
02:13 So when he had to go back and do the reshoots,
02:15 they asked him to shave it off, but the studio said no.
02:18 Instead, they had to digitally remove his mustache
02:20 from the film to the tune of over $20 million.
02:24 That's some serious commitment to the stache.
02:25 Now, the shape of Henry Cavill's mustache here
02:27 is called a chevron.
02:28 That's two descending square shapes,
02:31 one on either side of the nostrils.
02:33 This shape is worn by lots of people, like Donald Glover.
02:35 [upbeat music]
02:38 You can see here Donald Glover
02:41 is also wearing nicely shaped stubble.
02:43 So this is an excellent representation of a beard stache.
02:46 One of the things that's really great
02:47 about a chevron mustache is it pairs up really nicely
02:50 with a square angular jaw.
02:51 You can see how much it amplifies
02:53 the square shape of the jaw.
02:55 It really highlights the better features of his face.
02:57 This is a very flattering look for Donald Glover.
02:59 Both these celebrities have nice strong jaws,
03:01 and so pairing it up with an angular looking,
03:03 nicely outlined mustache will compliment that perfectly.
03:06 His mustache, fucking chef's kiss.
03:08 Pedro Pascal.
03:11 Pedro Pascal is one of those actors
03:15 that can wear a lot of different facial hair,
03:17 but I really love to see him with something, not nothing.
03:20 I almost don't recognize him without some sort of
03:22 like scraggly beard or some sort of outlined mustache.
03:25 And his mustache style is kind of a version of a chevron,
03:28 but it has these like dropping corners
03:30 on the side of his mouth that makes it feel
03:31 a little bit more like an outlaw.
03:32 And I really like that vibe.
03:34 Sometimes he wears it with a little bit of a beard stache,
03:36 but his beard's not particularly thick.
03:39 In fact, a lot of people have given him a lot of flack
03:41 that he doesn't grow a thick enough beard.
03:43 Honestly, give the man a break.
03:44 He is a national treasure.
03:46 When it comes to his overall style,
03:48 I love this dropping style of mustache on him.
03:50 It does have that kind of badass, biker-y outlaw vibe.
03:54 And you can't really talk about outlaws and mustaches
03:56 without mentioning the original outlaw mustache,
03:58 Mr. Burt Reynolds.
04:00 [upbeat music]
04:02 Now, Burt Reynolds was an American actor
04:06 and he was in a ton of movies,
04:07 but probably one of his most outstanding roles
04:09 was "Smokey and the Bandit."
04:10 He had this cool cowboy vibe
04:12 with this little pyramid mustache and this swagger
04:15 and this style that really worked.
04:17 Burt Reynolds is one of those guys
04:19 that's always worn a stache prominently,
04:21 so you don't often see him less than maybe clean-shaven
04:24 with a very solid, contrasting mustache,
04:26 and he's worn everything from a tight little pyramid
04:27 to a heavier chevron.
04:28 And really, the difference between those two is the top line.
04:31 The top line of a chevron mustache
04:33 is very nice and square to the lip,
04:35 whereas a pyramid descends slightly into points
04:37 towards the outside.
04:38 It gives it a bit of a different effect
04:40 and a different feature to his face,
04:41 but I think he looks good with everything.
04:43 Jesus, this guy even looks good clean-shaven.
04:46 Grooming tip number 55.
04:47 Learn to use a safety razor.
04:49 It's cooler than a cartridge,
04:51 it's close as a straight razor,
04:52 and the blades are as cheap as chips.
04:54 It was good enough for Grandpa,
04:55 and his hands shook like a washing machine
04:57 with a full load.
04:58 One of the reasons I think it's great
04:59 to be able to compare these two
05:01 is because Pedro Pascal and Burt Reynolds
05:03 have very similar face shapes and features,
05:05 so it makes sense that those mustache shapes
05:08 would work equally on both of them.
05:10 Jim Carrey.
05:12 Jim Carrey is a character that we're not used to seeing
05:16 with just a mustache,
05:17 but for his role in "Sonic the Hedgehog,"
05:19 he started off in the first episode
05:20 with what we call a handlebar mustache.
05:22 Now, a handlebar mustache actually turns up at the end.
05:25 It's fashioned after an old-fashioned handlebar on a bike.
05:27 In fact, if you wanna know
05:29 what a handlebar mustache is defined as,
05:31 the English Handlebar Mustache Club,
05:33 which was established in the 1800s,
05:35 defines it as, and I quote,
05:37 "A hirsute appendage of the upper lip
05:38 "with graspable extremities,"
05:40 which is about the most English thing I've ever heard.
05:42 Fun fact about "Sonic 2."
05:44 I was Jim's barber on that movie,
05:46 and I worked with Jim and that mustache.
05:48 It's not real.
05:50 A lot of those types of mustaches
05:51 are very difficult to achieve yourself
05:53 and create such a low amount of functionality
05:55 that it would be almost impossible
05:56 to maintain one in real life.
05:58 A lot of the time, that's either gonna be
05:59 some sort of exaggerated makeup or CGI,
06:01 and in this case, it was both.
06:03 So hoping to grow a mustache like this yourself
06:05 is gonna take a pretty big commitment.
06:07 Either way, I think we'll agree
06:08 that the handlebar mustache suits him
06:10 just a little bit better than that mustachioed monstrosity.
06:13 The important part to understand
06:15 about a handlebar mustache is that there's two parts
06:17 to everybody's mustache.
06:19 There's the peak and the points.
06:21 The points are usually the longer part,
06:22 and the peak is kept a little bit shorter
06:24 and more sculpted so that the mouth
06:26 maintains its functionality.
06:27 If you wanna wear your points up,
06:29 it's about taking a blow dryer,
06:30 creating just a little bit of shape,
06:32 and then using a wax to maintain that nice, clean facade.
06:35 You don't necessarily need to go
06:37 with a heavy wax style either.
06:38 You can look at Tom Hardy in the film "Bronson."
06:41 He had a similar style mustache
06:42 that was worn just a little looser
06:43 without the kind of producted pointy tips.
06:46 It still has a cool feel to it
06:47 and looks a little SI maintenance,
06:49 and honestly, pretty badass.
06:51 Bad Bunny.
06:53 I honestly love this guy.
06:57 He's so charismatic, and he's so interesting
06:59 and fun to watch, and he has so much fun with his style.
07:01 But one of the things that really stood out to me here
07:03 is that there's a lot of guys
07:04 that are starting to wear this shape
07:06 called the half horseshoe,
07:07 which is something that he is sporting perfectly.
07:09 Now, a horseshoe shape is often misconstrued
07:11 as a handlebar mustache.
07:13 In fact, a lot of people call it a handlebar mustache,
07:15 but this shape around the mouth that drops to the sides
07:17 is actually called a horseshoe mustache.
07:19 And the most modern iteration of that
07:21 is where a lot of guys are wearing
07:22 what we call a half horseshoe,
07:24 which means the sidelines don't drop all the way to the chin.
07:26 They just come below the corners of the mouth.
07:28 Now, I think this is actually a really cool look.
07:30 It looks very badass and cowboy
07:32 and has, again, a bit of an outlaw feel.
07:34 In fact, any time you see a mustache
07:36 dropping to the sides past the corners of the mouth
07:38 gives it a little bit more of a rough
07:39 and ready kind of feel to it.
07:41 I really dig it.
07:42 And it looks really great on him here,
07:43 especially 'cause he contrasts this
07:45 against wearing a beard as well,
07:47 which is nice and finely outlined.
07:48 So this is a guy that is clearly no stranger
07:50 to spending time on his grooming.
07:52 His beard is always neatly outlined.
07:54 His half horseshoe is always neatly outlined.
07:56 This is a very cool style.
07:58 Other guys that like to wear stuff like this
07:59 are The Weeknd.
08:00 (upbeat music)
08:03 You can see on The Weeknd, same style.
08:06 It just drops slowly to the outside
08:08 and gives it a little bit more of a retro badass vibe.
08:11 You can contrast that against the type of facial hair
08:13 he wears, which is always neatly outlined.
08:15 These are guys that are no stranger
08:17 to having a decent beard trimmer
08:18 and something that can maintain those outlines
08:20 every single day.
08:21 I think a certain amount of badassery
08:23 is assigned to this mustache
08:24 because of guys like Danny Trejo,
08:25 who's been wearing this thing for as long as I can remember
08:28 and is clearly not to be fucked with.
08:31 But if you wanna wear something
08:32 just a little bit more out there and really go for it,
08:34 I say go all the way, man.
08:36 Go Hulk Hogan on it.
08:37 That guy's sidelines drop all the way down
08:39 to his collarbone.
08:40 Yeah, brother!
08:41 Now, even though this type of mustache
08:43 usually does require a little bit more solid growth,
08:45 especially where your mustache connects
08:47 to the rest of your beard,
08:48 that little corner part there,
08:50 if that grows solid down, then you're good.
08:52 It's still a really good option
08:54 even if you can't grow a full beard.
08:55 Grooming tip number 29.
08:57 Always try and shave with the grain of your beard.
09:00 Against the grain will be closer,
09:02 but it's also a recipe for ingrown hairs and irritation.
09:06 Nick Offerman.
09:07 Honestly, I mean, is there a more masculine representation
09:12 in history than Ron Swanson?
09:14 But if you ask me, the mustache is doing
09:16 the heavy lifting for the character.
09:17 There's something really solid
09:19 about a walrus-style mustache that he's wearing here.
09:22 Now, the walrus-style mustache covers both lips,
09:25 so it really obscures most of the mouth.
09:27 This is a very bold mustache to wear.
09:29 It is something that has low functionality
09:31 because it covers the mouth,
09:33 so there's a bit of a commitment that it takes,
09:34 but that's kind of the beauty of it.
09:36 It's the fact that that mustache is so present
09:38 and so forward that it's almost distracting
09:41 from the rest of the features altogether.
09:43 Now, if you look side by side,
09:44 I think Nick Offerman looks a lot better
09:46 with a mustache than without a mustache.
09:48 Maybe I'm just partial to that whole Ron Swanson thing.
09:51 The thing is, mustache isn't just an aesthetic,
09:54 it's kind of a vibe as well,
09:55 and different mustaches seem to be making their way
09:57 into different shows and films,
09:59 and they almost enhance the quality
10:00 of the character that's wearing them.
10:02 Look at Ted Lasso.
10:03 Ted Lasso made mustaches pretty cool again,
10:05 especially if you've got kind of a friendly vibe.
10:08 But if you go back a few years before that,
10:09 you'll find movies like Anchorman,
10:11 where the mustache really signified Ron's arrogance.
10:14 There was something so funny about Ron's mustache.
10:16 It was just such comic relief,
10:17 and the way he would wiggle it
10:18 and make it kind of dance and stuff.
10:19 And with the more contemporary version of that
10:21 being seen on Ted Lasso,
10:23 you can really see that heaviness of the mustache
10:25 almost creates a kind of more friendly visage to it.
10:28 But look at other guys that have worn a walrus mustache,
10:30 like Sam Elliott.
10:31 [upbeat music]
10:34 Now, Sam Elliott is my personal mustache hero.
10:37 That guy has embodied what it is to have a cool mustache,
10:40 and if you see him without one,
10:42 it almost looks kind of weird.
10:43 When it comes to the walrus mustache,
10:45 the whole purpose of it is that length and that growth,
10:48 so it doesn't require an awful lot of maintenance
10:50 and grooming, but it will require an awful lot of napkins
10:53 and an awful lot of fine motor skills
10:56 when it comes to actually eating, drinking.
10:58 The walrus mustache is kind of notorious
11:00 for being difficult to work with.
11:02 I actually just think it's cool
11:03 that it's named after an animal.
11:04 Other mustaches that are named after animals
11:06 is, of course, the capybara mustache,
11:08 which is owned solely by Post Malone,
11:10 whose mustache looks like two capybaras kissing.
11:13 [upbeat music]
11:16 I know, I can't unsee it either.
11:19 A slightly similar but more groomed style of this
11:21 can be found on actor Milos Ventimiglia.
11:23 If I'm being honest,
11:25 I think he looks better without a mustache.
11:27 Maybe it's the rest of his outfit,
11:28 but he kind of looks like a silent movie star,
11:30 like the villain.
11:30 As much as that can be cool,
11:32 I think he just looks a little more stoic
11:33 and badass without one.
11:34 A mustache, to me, doesn't look natural on him,
11:36 it almost looks like a costume.
11:37 Sometimes that's important.
11:39 Does your mustache fit the rest of your style
11:41 or does it stick out like a sore thumb?
11:43 Sometimes you gotta take that into account.
11:45 [upbeat music]
11:46 Michael Cera.
11:47 Now, I know Michael Cera's a bit of a dark horse choice
11:51 for this list, but there's actually a reason
11:53 I chose to talk about him.
11:54 Michael Cera has a round face shape.
11:56 Mustaches are not always the most flattering thing
11:59 for guys with a round face shape.
12:00 And that mustache that he has
12:01 just makes his face look even wider.
12:03 Now, let's compare that against somebody else
12:05 that has a round face shape, Michael B. Jordan.
12:08 He has a round face shape and a mustache.
12:10 The difference is he wears what we call an anchored stache.
12:13 That means he has a small goatee at the bottom,
12:15 which really draws out the shape of the chin
12:17 and leans out the face shape,
12:18 creating a better sense of balance for a look like this.
12:21 To see Michael B. Jordan without facial hair
12:23 absolutely works, he doesn't need it.
12:25 But if I'm being honest,
12:26 I think he looks pretty good with it.
12:27 I'm gonna say with facial hair.
12:29 (upbeat music)
12:31 Brad Pitt.
12:32 (upbeat music)
12:34 When Brad Pitt wore this mustache style
12:36 for the Inglourious Bastards film,
12:38 it really evoked an old style Hollywood kind of vibe.
12:41 It was right around the time when everybody was wearing
12:42 these really cool classic haircuts,
12:44 and so it really fit right in.
12:45 He's wearing a style called a pencil style.
12:47 Now, a pencil style is not just a thin little squiggly line
12:50 above the upper lip that makes you look like a French waiter.
12:53 With a pencil mustache, both the peak and the points
12:55 are kept very, very short.
12:56 His is more of a thicker classic pencil mustache.
12:59 He's wearing what we call a full pencil style.
13:01 And it's really cool.
13:02 I think he looks great with a mustache.
13:04 I don't, however, think he looks great with a beard.
13:06 So this is one of those face shapes,
13:08 or maybe just one of those personalities,
13:09 that in all honesty works really, really great
13:12 with this type of facial hair.
13:13 It adds just a little bit of interest to his face
13:15 without completely obscuring the rest of his face
13:18 the way a beard often does.
13:19 Now, other representations of pencil mustaches
13:21 are of course guys like John Waters,
13:23 who is that super thin little pencil mustache.
13:26 In fact, many people refer to this mustache
13:28 as the John Waters mustache.
13:29 But also Eddie Murphy, who wore this mustache a lot
13:32 during the 80s and 90s.
13:34 And as you can see, he has that little anchor
13:36 at the bottom of it, which really balances out
13:37 the rest of the shape, being as his face shape
13:39 is already quite lean.
13:41 It's really sharp.
13:42 But there's another famous mustache
13:43 that's based on the pencil mustache
13:45 that was made famous by artist Salvador Dali.
13:47 Now, the Dali mustache is essentially a pencil mustache
13:50 with very long points that are waxed up into tips.
13:53 In subcultures of the mustache world,
13:55 there's actually competitions to see
13:57 who has the best versions of mustaches like these.
13:59 My God, look at that thing.
14:01 You're gonna put an eye out with that.
14:02 A pencil mustache is something that requires
14:05 an awful lot of maintenance.
14:06 It's something you have to be on top of almost constantly
14:09 because as soon as it gets a little bit bushy,
14:10 it starts to lose its shape.
14:11 So having a really good mustache trimmer
14:13 for a shape like this is paramount.
14:15 Grooming tip number 212.
14:17 Change your razor cartridge frequently.
14:19 It'll help you avoid unsightly razor rash
14:22 and ingrown hairs.
14:23 Timothy Chalamet.
14:25 (gentle music)
14:27 Timothy Chalamet is still a young guy
14:29 and he has something that I like to call the shadow stache.
14:32 It's kind of that pre-mustache move,
14:34 but there is still something kind of cool about it.
14:37 Now, the shadow stache gives you just this elusive
14:39 little idea of a pencil mustache.
14:41 It makes him feel just a little bit more European almost.
14:44 But when it comes to your overall grooming,
14:46 a shadow stache is fine,
14:47 but he probably is gonna look best clean-shaven.
14:49 There's no point in amplifying the jaw
14:51 if it's already chiseled and perfect.
14:54 Look at that thing.
14:55 Other actors that have trouble growing thicker facial hair,
14:58 guys like Steven Yuen,
14:59 also rock a similar style of mustache.
15:02 One of the things I like about the way Steve Yuen does it
15:06 is again, he creates the anchor style.
15:08 He has a little bit of that goatee at the bottom
15:10 which really amplifies the shape of his chin
15:12 and draws out the more linear shape of his face.
15:14 Thanks for tuning in to our deep dive
15:16 into Hollywood's finest mustaches.
15:18 The coolest thing about mustache
15:20 is that almost everyone can grow some type of mustache,
15:23 even though you might not be able to grow a full beard
15:25 or have patchy areas
15:27 or you're not as dense as you'd like to be,
15:28 you can still probably have some sort of mustache style.
15:31 Now I hope there was some inspiration in here
15:33 for you to find a style that might work for you.
15:35 Got someone you think should have been on this list?
15:37 Make sure you drop a comment below and let us know.
15:39 Maybe we'll put them into part two.
15:40 My name's Matty Conrad,
15:42 and until next time, good luck and good grooming.
15:45 (upbeat music)
15:47 (upbeat music)
15:50 (upbeat music)
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