In the Middle East, training girls how to erase all traces of hair on their bodies practically starts in the womb.That’s why the market is so saturated with products, services, and advertisements reflecting that. But for men the opposite seems to be true, namely, hair is good! In fact it’s on the rise with a particularly bizarre aesthetic procedure. Recently, CNN and the Huffington Post featured articles about the new phenomenon that’s all the rage in our region: Men’s surgical mustache implants.
One woman using sugar wax to remove another’s mustache
That’s right, while women are lasering hair follicles, stretching sugar wax, and waiting for the electricity to come back on to use the epilator machine, men are going straight to the surgeon to surgically implant hairs onto the upper lip creating a thicker, fuller, and undoubtedly sexier mustache.
The articles note that one surgeon in Turkey is performing at least 60 procedures a month, and another in Paris has a customer base mostly made of men from the UAE, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran. With such soaring numbers, the doctors are opening offices in the region and men are booking tourist packages to take their families on vacay while they buff up their lip ticklers.
A man from the Lebanese mountains rocking a tight mustache
When I first came to Lebanon I was so surprised at how many men rocked facial hair, and I liked it! It’s a common way to crop your face with a well manicured mane, unlike in the US where most of the people with mustaches are just hipsters and men still stuck in the 80′s. Old men, young men, rich men, and poor men let their face follicles grow here. And barber shop services are cheap, reliable, and everywhere. I think one man from 2famous is getting an old-school shave for $3 as we speak.
Man in Beirut seems confident enough in his home-grown ‘stache
I must admit I didn’t know many men in the region were facing trouble growing out their mustaches, but if those extra whiskers are going to make them feel better and command more respect, then why not? And dare I say, at the very least it might make them kiss more passionately, as made clear in one of my favorite quotes:
“Un beso sin bigote, es como un huevo sin sal” (A kiss without a mustache is like an egg without salt.)
Seems the men of 2famous don’t need any help on growing their mustaches…
But will people start facing the dilemma of being called out for their synthetic strains of hair? Some undervalue another’s beauty when they find out the person in question is riddled with plastic and botox; Does this mean a man’s lack of ability to grow his own face bush and result to plastic surgery for it make him less of a legitimate badass?
Mustache Implants On The Rise In Middle East As Men Seek To Emulate Famous Arab Figures [Huffington Post]
Mideast men go under knife for manly mustaches [CNN]
Have you seen any great mustaches here in the Middle East? Post pics in the comments!!
