Movember and No Shave November have arrived. Take the time this week to step up your stache game, and let the world know, you are a force to be reckoned with. Mustache Champion Adil Ibrahim is here to break down his top tips for how to grow a mustache, an award winning one.

First and foremost, you will go through the ugly phase.

Embrace it.

Learn from it.

The ugly phase is your tuition.

The lesson is growth.

As your mustache grows, so will you.

Learn the lesson.

Embrace it.

The ugly phase is also a critical time for you to understand the direction of your hair growth.

Once your hair starts gaining more length (say, longer than a grain of rice), use your index finger and thumb to start pushing it out from the center of your upper lip out to the edges. It will feel like this isn’t doing much, but it does. In addition to ‘training’ your mustache, it makes you more familiar with your field. You are becoming a mustache farmer; you need to start becoming very familiar with your upper lip. This kind of training will allow you to fix your mustache without having to frantically seek out a mirror every 5 minutes, once your mustache is in full bloom.

Once you have some decent growth, you will start to form the basic shape of what many would refer to as the Cop-Stache or the Magnum P.I. Stache. Once you have this first stage stache, you can keep it from growing further, and just maintain. If you choose to keep growing, and want to go to the next natural step of a Handlebar Stache, then all you need to do is take your index finger and thumb to the very edge of one side of your mustache, pinch, lift, and shave the tiny area underneath this spot. You will start to see makings of a Handlebar. This only works once you have a full fledge Magnum P.I. going on. The next thing is to buy some mustache wax, apply it, and twist the edges of your new Handlebar Stache.

If you feel like clipping or shaping your mustache, remember to never clip, cut, trim, or do anything to the hair which is growing outward from the center of your upper lip (the center of your upper lip is also known as the philtrum.) The only place you should be doing any trimming, especially with a Handlebar Stache, is at the tips of your mustache. Always keep your hair growing from the center, outward.

If you find yourself with a glorious stache, and feel moved to inspire others in becoming the man you have become, you may want to compete in mustache competitions. Most mustache judges will look for symmetry, density, and a distinguishable shape (a fourth criteria can be the magnanimous presence you shall exude on stage). Symmetry means to have full and even growth on both sides of the stache; this is achieved through proper trimming of the edges. Density is of course about that thickness. You achieve it with time, proper combing and waxing, and most importantly with the right beard and mustache oil which will keep your hair thick and strong. Lastly, to achieve that distinguishable shape, look at mustache style charts on the Art of Manliness or at the American Mustache Institute.

Most importantly, remember to apply beard and mustache oil at night, and of course apply mustache wax in the morning, before heading into the world to recruit more mustache farmers into the hirsute community.

Never stop growing.