The Hungarian

“Big, bushy, and swept to the sides from a center part. A Walrus that learned to comb.”

Difficulty: Medium Maintenance: Medium Best on: Oval, Square, Round, Oblong

The Hungarian is a large, thick mustache in which the hair is parted at the center and brushed outward to the sides, extending past the corners of the mouth in full, bushy wings. It is not curled or pointed like a Handlebar, and it is not left to droop like a…

About History Famous Wearers How to Grow It How to Trim It Grooming Routine

⬆ I Wear This Stach ✂ Stach Care Guide 📖 Read the full How-To Guide →

📌 The Hungarian at a Glance

Style: The Hungarian mustache
Difficulty: Medium
Maintenance: Medium
Best face shapes: Oval, Square, Round, Oblong
Famous wearers: Sam Elliott, Count Gyula Andrássy, Mark Twain, Jamie Hyneman, Wilford Brimley

About the Hungarian

The Hungarian is a large, thick mustache in which the hair is parted at the center and brushed outward to the sides, extending past the corners of the mouth in full, bushy wings. It is not curled or pointed like a Handlebar, and it is not left to droop like a Walrus; it is swept sideways with volume and, usually, a bit of balm or light wax to hold the sweep.

Think of it as the big-mustache sweet spot. It has the presence and density of the Walrus with the shape and intention of the Handlebar, and it flatters a wide range of faces. In competition, the Hungarian is defined as big and bushy, beginning from the middle of the upper lip and pulled to the sides, with hairs allowed to extend a modest distance beyond the corners of the mouth.

History of the Hungarian

The Hungarian mustache takes its name from the heroic, swept-back mustaches of 19th-century Hungarian nobility, hussars, and revolutionaries. Hungary's 1848 generation — statesmen like Count Gyula Andrássy, whose dramatic mustache and hair became part of his public image — wore large mustaches as an emblem of national identity and martial pride, and the style spread through the Austro-Hungarian officer corps and beyond.

In America the look arrived with immigrants and frontier life, and variations of it appear in photographs of cowboys, railroad men, and Civil War officers. Mark Twain's later mustache drifted between Walrus and Hungarian depending on how recently he had combed it.

Today the Hungarian is the style people often mean when they say "that big Sam Elliott mustache" — Elliott's silver mustache, when brushed out to the sides, is a textbook example. It is a mainstay of the World Beard and Moustache Championships and a favorite of men who want a monumental mustache without the daily engineering of a Handlebar.

Famous Hungarian Wearers

Sam Elliott →
Count Gyula Andrássy
Mark Twain →
Jamie Hyneman
Wilford Brimley →

Face Shapes That Suit the Hungarian

OvalSquareRoundOblong

Face-shape guidance is general. Every face is the right face for a mustache if you commit hard enough.

🌱 How to Grow the Hungarian

Growing a Hungarian

Grow everything for 3 months. The Hungarian needs both length and density. Leave the upper lip completely alone, and allow the hair at the corners to grow outward past the mouth.
Establish the center part. From week 3, comb the mustache outward from the center every morning, while damp. This is the signature. Over weeks the hairs learn to split and lie to either side.
Allow the wings. By month 3, the outer sections should extend beyond the corners of the mouth. Competition rules allow roughly 1.5 cm past the corner; for everyday wear, whatever looks balanced on your face is right.
Keep it bushy. Unlike the English, do not narrow the body. Let the top edge stay full and let the hair build volume. Trim only the center along the lip so you can eat.
Sweep, do not curl. Use a small amount of balm or soft wax to brush the wings out and slightly up. The ends should look full and brushy, not twisted into points.
Assess at month 4. If the wings are thin, keep growing; the corners are always the slowest part. A finished Hungarian typically takes 5 to 8 months.

Read the full How-To Guide →

✂ How to Trim the Hungarian

Trimming a Hungarian

Center lip line. Comb down, then trim the center third along the top of the lip with scissors so the part is visible and the mouth is clear. Work hair by hair.
Wings. The outer sections stay long. Do not cut the ends unless one side is dramatically longer than the other or a split end appears. Shape the wings with a comb and balm, not scissors.
Outer boundary. Shave hairs beyond the wings on the cheeks. The wings should be mustache hair swept sideways, not cheek hair. Stray hair well past the corners of the mouth gets cleaned up.
Top edge. Clean only strays beneath the nose. The Hungarian's top line stays natural and full.
Bulk. If the body becomes so thick it loses its swept shape, thin lightly from underneath with thinning shears every 4 to 6 weeks. Never thin from the top.
Bottom of the wings. Comb the wings out and check that their lower edges are even. Trim a hair or two if needed to keep both sides level.

Trim dry, combed into the swept shape, and free of wax. A Hungarian looks bigger in the mirror than it is; trim conservatively.

🧴 Recommended Grooming Routine

Hungarian Care Routine

Morning

Wash, towel to damp, and apply 3 drops of beard oil worked through the full length.
Comb outward from the center part with a wide-tooth comb, then refine with a fine-tooth comb.
Warm a small amount of balm or soft wax and sweep each wing out and slightly upward with your fingers, then brush with a boar-bristle brush to set.

Midday