Login or Create an Account

This article originally appeared at MadeMan.com.

So, you’re two weeks into Movember. The halfway point. The dog days of mo month. The initial giddiness from your first moustache-defining shave has worn off, and you’re still a couple weeks shy of a handlebar. Your new friend—stuck somewhere between stubbly and bristly—is eliciting no shortage of uncomfortable glances from strangers in the elevator, as well the persistent complaints of chafing from your significant other. Let’s face it, if your moustache were a Britney Spears song, it would be “Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman.” And while you may be inspired by Nick Offerman, you yearn for something more.

Well, as the editor of Birchbox Man, I can tell you that the best way to kick the mid-Movember doldrums? Start styling and pampering the hell out of your ’stache. At the two-week mark, you may not have a ton to work with, but there’s a lot you can do to improve it’s appearance. Here are a few tips for taking care of that two-week mo:

1. Shave the encroaching beard so your nascent moustache can’t stow away in surrounding stubble.
2. Comb it with religious zeal. This trains hairs which way to grow.
3. Trim along the lip and snip cheek and nose hairs to keep things tidy.
4. Got extremely fair hair? You might want to brush in a little color gel, to make that white-blond moustache more visible. (Movember promotional and gala parté partner Just For Men comes in handy here.)
5. Twist in some wax (if you’ve got the length for it). If not, apply a bit of conditioning beard oil for luster.
6. Legitimize the look with a slicked-back side part.

More of a visual learner? Watch me demonstrate most of those tips in the video below.

Note: The result of these steps may be no perceptible change in creepy or awkward ’stache levels. But the placebo effect is well worth the effort.

—Martin Mulkeen