The moustache has been in and out of fashion since the ancient Egyptians.
The pinnacle of it's popularity was just after the 1977 release of 'Smoky and the Bandit' in which Burt Reynolds sports, what is arguably 'the best moustache of all time'.
Although other respectable studies have shown it to be Tom Selleck's in Magnum P.I.
Sadly in recent times moustaches have dropped out of fashion.
Despite the efforts of a few die-hard fans, such as David Beckham, Johnny Depp and Hulk Hogan, tache wearing is currently at an all time low.
I decided to find out once and for all if a good moustache really does make a man more attractive.
Daly Thompson certainly thinks so. He told charity Movember recently: “Who wouldn’t want to grow a Mo? Mine has been great to me over the years and I wouldn’t have achieved the success I did without it. Having a Mo does wonders for your confidence."
I held a discussion forum which may have included, men's grooming experts, woman's fashion magazine editors and evolutionary biologists.
After several gruelling hours of debate in 'The Prince of Wales' it was decided to survey the public using four, fabulously insightful, questions.
One hundred people were surveyed, mostly women but to keep it fair, as approximately 10% of the population is gay, 10% of my interviewees were men.
I used 6 photographs of cultural icons with impressive moustaches, or not so impressive in the case of Fiddy Cent. The others were David Beckham, Aussie cricket legend Merve Hughes, Chia Hui Liu as Pei Mei in Kill Bill, Burt Reynolds and Willie Chevalier.
For each mo-adorned Adonis we asked:
On a scale of 1-5 how attractive is this man?
On a scale of -3 to 3 how much does his moustache enhance his appearance? (Minus numbers mean it takes away from his natural beauty and positive for how much it improves him)
Should he shave it off?
And the most important: If your boyfriend/husband/lover were to grow this moustache for charity, would you be happy?
The results were resoundingly in favour of the moustache.
Consider the first question. Attractiveness. Beckham was the winner here with 65% of respondents giving him full marks 5/5 and the other 45% giving him 4/5.
The really interesting statistic about Beckham is that 91% said the moustache makes him look better and the same 91% were against him shaving it off! Massive victory for the Mo there I think.
One Mo enthusiast even gave 4 out of 3 for the level of improvement the Mo makes to Dave's already enviable good looks.
The average, over all the photos, for looks enhancement was 1/3. Taking into account the scale was from -3 to 3 this is comprehensive proof that most people think Mo's improve looks.
32% gave the facial hair 3/3. But only 9% got the dreaded -3/3.
Since collating the results my self-confidence has rocketed, especially since my effort is currently not unlike Mr Beckham's. Well that's what I think anyway and anyone who says otherwise can just shut up, so there.
So, should the guys shave it off or not? The average over the 6 pictures was 70% in fouvour of keeping them! Another massive victory for moustache lovers. We asked the respondents to consider only the ascetic effects of shaving but it was difficult not to let a little emotion creep in.
Obviously the psychological effects of shaving off a much loved body decoration can be very great, traumatic even. Not to mention that some of the moustaches are integral to the wearers public image and personal success.
Scientists have proven that as a moustache grows, so does a man's emotional attachment to it.
This can be so strong that men will put their facial hair before their wife/girlfriend/boyfriend. Many a previously perfect relationship has been broken by a misguided girlfriend insisting on Mo removal.
And usually for the utterly selfish reason that it, tickles/scratches when kissing.
Consider Willie Chevalier, world champion, in the partial beard freestyle category at the World Beard and Moustache championships 5 years in a row.
What would he do without his moustaches?
In the survey 100% said not to shave it off. People even made extra comments in the margin emphasising how strongly they felt about it.
One person wrote: "He should never, never shave it off!"
And I agree. He's an ambassador for facial hair growers all over the world and a hero to his fellow Germans.
Not all mo's are as well loved as Mr Chevalier's. Fiddy cent's frankly half-hearted effort scored only 27% positively in the enhancement category and overall he scored the lowest in attractiveness.
65% of people said he should shave it off.
In a strange anomaly 81% said they would let their boyfriend/husband grow this one even though it was voted the least attractive!
The survey will, undoubtedly, be controversial but as it was conducted in a highly scientific and accurate manner it's results cannot be disputed.
Moustaches make men more attractive. It's a fact. I am just glad I do not work for the British government most of whom are cleanly shaven.
We know what happens to scientists whose studies do not agree with the government's arbitrarily held opinions.
I am of course referring to Professor David Nutt who was sacked recently for telling the truth.
I was going to put in pictures of the other two men I used in my survey but I am running out of time and waffling on a bit now.
I'm sure a quick look at google images can sort out my oversight.
Right I am off now to carefully shave around my upper lip, spray on some old spice and squeeze into some tight jeans.
Check out my progress and Movember fund raising success at http://uk.movember.com/mospace/107595
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