And so it’s Movember. The month formally known as November is fast becoming a bit of an institution, with a growing army of Mo’Bros across the globe (and Mo’Sistas) dedicating 30 days to cultivating all manner of facial hair in the name of a good cause…
That's a lot of Mo's...
I took part last year along with a group of colleagues at work, with some striking results. We raised over £3,000 between us and had more than a little fun at the same time. We’re doing it again this year, and there have been some outstanding efforts already, with almost a fortnight still to go in the month.
Not all of these were clean-shaven at the start of the month. Can you guess which?
After my full-on ‘Deadwood’ sheriff moustache in 2010, I’ve decided on something slightly more sophisticated this time around. I like to call it my ‘musketeer’, and the trimmed style has certainly been accepted / tolerated a bit more readily by Rachel.
I’ve also noticed that there seems to be considerably more white hairs in my fledgling moustache this year. Indeed it seems notably fairer than what remains of the rest of my hair. At the same time, some of the other guys seem to have grown much fuller and denser Mo’s this time around, whereas last year we were able to poke fun at their ‘fluffy’ efforts.
I had an interesting experience last weekend, when we went to a very good and friend of 20 years’ birthday party. Most of the guests were also long-term friends from university, so they recognised that this isn’t my normal ‘look’. But there were also other guests who were strangers to me. We’d never laid eyes on each other before. What did they think? Should I declare myself, or just carry on as normal? How silly does it look, or does it, er, suit me?!
It has been interesting as the month develops how quiet admiration develops through the group of Mo’Bros. Tim didn’t shave his already-impressive Mo at the start of the month, but he now has waxed and twirled ends that make the rest of us (well, me at least) extraordinarily jealous. There are also some very striking ‘trucker’ handlebars that really take nerve to carry off.
But perhaps my favourite moment of the last few days has been the discovery of this terrific clip, that gets to the very heart of the experience of having a hairy lip.
Movember is about raising awareness and funds to change the face of men’s health. 100 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each day in the UK alone. So if you’re not already committed to Children in Need or other worthy causes, please donate whatever you can at http://mobro.co/ChrisMoody. Thankyou.
I’ll put more pictures on my Facebook page and probably here at the end of the month.
