Essential Grooming Tips From A French Barber

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Last month we swung through the Cannes Film Festival as guests of Chivas,and had a chance to meet with Laurent Briard, the Official Barber for theChivas Regal 25 Salon. Laurent is a barber in Cannes year-round, but for the festivalseason, he's busy getting guys red-carpet-ready.

Laurent is aquintessential Frenchman: discreet, stylish, opinionated and possessing of impeccabletaste. His take on men's grooming trends are so timelessly refined, we could probably runthis article once a year for the next five years and it would still ring true. Here areexcerpts from our conversation, which took place in the Chivas Regal 25 Salon at the HotelMartinez.

AskMen: So what are the standout grooming trendsyou're seeing for 2013?
Laurent Briard: The enormous return of the moustache,notably among young guys, who have always associated moustaches with older people. But nowthey're being associated with younger artist-type looks. And now we're starting to see bigmoustaches coming back along with the beard.

What do you tell guys who can't grow a full beard?
Well, everyone can do a moustache. So those guys will go for just a moustache, which issomething that requires maintenance.

What advice to you havefor a guy who wants to try out a moustache for the first time? What's a good beginnerlook?
Always just startby letting it grow for a week, just to see how it comes in. Then go see a pro to see whatyou can do with your particular way that the moustache grows -- you never know how it'sgoing to grow in until you wait.

Whattools do you absolutely need to maintain a moustache?
You need a boar'shair brush and a little balm if you want to have it look neat. The current trend is alittle bit of a thick moustache that descends just below the top of the lip, until it'salmost hiding the lip. There are two types -- the one that's ever so slightly above thelip, with a thin line above the lip. But what we see more often is to leave the moustachemore natural.

If you have a thin lip, you can camouflage your lip a littlebit, make it seem bigger by having a thicker moustache above it. You can't let your facialhair overgrow its original shape. You have to maintain the lines daily, otherwise when yougo to shave, the razor won't catch the hair evenly and you'll have a jagged line.Especially in the morning, when you're not completely awake yet, you want to have a cleanline to follow.

What's hard to have is symmetry. If you break the symmetry,it's a catastrophe. So if you maintain it, you'll have a better chance of maintainingsymmetry. Continue Reading

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