Gone are the days of the caveman, and here is the era of the modern gentleman. It's no longer in style to look like you've just crawled out of a cave (was it ever in style?). Instead, we're making room for the perfectly groomed man. We know it's a sensitive subject, and not just because you want to protect 'your boys', but because manscaping still has a slight taboo. We reassure you though, it's okay to take it away.
What Do We Mean By Manscaping?
In a nutshell, taming body hair. Manscaping can include many different areas of the body, primarily your eyebrows, chest, underarms, back, shoulders and below the belt. Ensuring your body hair is perfectly maintained is a challenging task. You don't want to go bare down there, however not trimming enough will leave you looking like a bit unkempt. That's never a good look. Manscaping in general involves taming body hair, this can range from plucking a stray eyebrow, to shaving your whole back, however we'd suggest you go with what suits you best.
Top Tip: Regardless of what anyone says, go with what feels comfortable!Why Would You Manscape?
There are a lot of reasons, to be fair. It's actually more hygienic - unruly body hair can become a breeding ground for mass amounts of bacteria. It's not nice, it smells, and it definitely doesn't scream 'clean'. The whole situation below the belt can promote bacteria growth, due to the fact that bacteria thrives in warm environments. If that isn't enough motivation to tame the mane, body hair generally looks messy if it's not trimmed.
Manscaping Musts
1. Under Your Arms
We're not talking completely shaving - more of a trim. Treat it the same as your beard. You should be wearing deodorant everyday, which can sometimes make it difficult to completely clean under your arms, a small trim can solve that issue. It also prevents stray hairs peaking out of your t-shirt sleeves - no spider legs, thanks.
2. Your Back And Chest
You might have to call in a hand to help you with this, it's not so easy to remove hair from your back without a helping hand. It's probably easier to wax your back, and seek assistance from professionals to make the process smoother. Otherwise, it might look like you've forgotten to take your werewolf Halloween costume off - not a good look.
In regards to your chest, we'd recommend trimming rather than removing the hair completely. It helps to prevent the must-scratch-it-now sensation you might feel if you clean shave your chest.
3. Below The Belt
After you've spent time perfectly manscaping your body, don't forget the areas below the belt. As we've mentioned previously, it can be a breeding ground for bacteria. Keep in mind that the summer months are quickly approaching, so you're going to be warmer than normal regardless. It might be worth using a different trimmer than the one you use on your face - just because, well, you get what we're getting at. Remember one thing guys, the woolly mammoth died out for a reason.
4. Pull The Skin Tight
Some of the areas you might be looking at manscaping are super sensitive, the last thing you want is a razor nick down there. Trust us on this one. When shaving or trimming any sensitive area, pull the skin tight to even out the surface area. It helps the razor glide smoothly, and helps to prevent anything getting caught on your jewels.
You can thank us for this tip later. It might also be worth using a shaving cream that doesn't have so many active ingredients, whilst peppermint extract might feel great on your face, it doesn't feel so good on other areas of the body.
5. After The Shower
This is applicable for any form of shaving. Shaving after the shower helps with a couple of things. Your hair will be hotter from the steam, meaning it's less coarse and your razor will have an easier job. You will have also recently washed away excess dirt and oil, which means the hairs are cleaner, helping from reducing the possibility of jamming.
Top Tip: Splash your skin with cold water after shaving, it'll help close the pores and hair follicles, preventing ingrown hairs.6. Tidying Up Eyebrows
We know this is generally a tricky subject. Do this step wrong, and you end up looking permanently surprised. Not to mention, your face is the first thing people will notice and you don't want to be remembered for having unnatural looking eyebrows. Quite frankly, eyebrow taming requires more attention. We've got a full post on our blog that talks you through the whole process. Check that out by clicking here.
Final Thoughts
We're leaving this point until last, because it is possibly the most important tip. Do not use hair removal cream below the belt. If you want to know what Guy Fawkes felt like on November 5th, then go ahead. We really don't need to go into much more detail, just take our word for it on this one and keep the hair removal cream above ground.
As we've mentioned previously, you do you. If body hair suits you, we recommend rocking it. However if you're more into following trends and keeping everything tamed, take our advice from this post.
We know manscaping is a tricky subject. If you have any questions, drop us a message on Twitter and we’ll help!
