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Staying indoors for a while can affect your grooming game. However, it may be the right time to get back in the game if you plan on going out. It means shaving every part of your body, not your facial hair alone.
If you still don’t get it, we are referring to manscaping.
What Is Manscaping?
Manscaping involves shaving your body hair, including on your chest, back, underarms, and pubes. However, the term is mainly used to refer to men. You can use a razor or a trimmer, but you can also opt for laser hair removal from a professional.
While there is nothing wrong with embracing your hair, shaving it will benefit your body. One of the significant benefits of manscaping is that it boosts your hygiene.
Excessive hair on the armpits or pubes may trap dirt and bacteria if you do not clean these areas properly after sweating. This can lead to bad odors or infections. Keep reading to learn various manscaping styles, risks, tips to consider, tools involved, and manscaping rules.
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The Major Rules of Manscaping
You should follow specific rules when manscaping to ensure you do it correctly. Let’s discuss some of the rules.
Do Not Trim Everything
One of the consequences of not shaving your hair is that it traps moisture, predisposing you to fungal infections. However, you should not trim all your body hair.
There isn’t any scientific proof that some body parts should not be trimmed, meaning that the final decision on these areas is based on your preferences. Furthermore, you are the one to decide how long you should grow your hair before shaving.
Know the Ideal Time for Waxing and Shaving
Waxing is not time-consuming compared to shaving, but it is more painful. Shaving is a better option for rapid gratification, even though your skin will be itchy for a few days. But if you wax, you may not have to shave again for another few weeks.
Additionally, your skin will take time to recover if you wax it. This process entails pulling hair follicles from the skin pores, which may cause bacteria to enter. Ultimately, your skin becomes susceptible to infections if you do not care for yourself.
Read Next: How Long Does Hair Have to Be to Wax?
Hygiene Is Imperative
It may seem obvious, but hygiene should be the first manscaping rule. First, you should not use the same razor for more than two weeks or more than four times.
Furthermore, it can become blunt, making it hard to shave. Second, always use a clean razor before shaving. You should first sterilize it before shaving to kill germs. Additionally, take a shower before shaving.
Tips to Consider When Manscaping
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You must consider various things when manscaping — let’s look at some of the tips you should keep in mind.
Choose the Right Technique
There are several manscaping methods, like trimming, waxing, and shaving. However, you need to choose one that suits you best. Furthermore, each body part may require a different approach, which you must consider.
For example, shaving is an excellent technique, but you may injure yourself if you don’t do it properly. Moreover, waxing is another technique you should consider, but it is ideal for your back.
Use a Conditioner or Moisturizer Before Shaving
Follow this pro tip before manscaping as it will soften your hair, making it easy to shave. Additionally, the conditioner will prevent skin dryness and irritation after shaving. You only need to apply the conditioner or moisturizer and wait five seconds before shaving.
Use Different Razors
It may seem obvious, but many men make this error. They usually use the same razor for trimming their face and other body parts.
However, since this is a delicate area, you should use a separate razor for each body part, especially your pubes. Also make sure the razors are clean and sharp. Using dirty razors may lead to various complications.
Shave the Hair After Taking a Shower
Manscape after taking a warm shower. This will eradicate the dirt and bacteria on your hair, thus avoiding infections. Taking a shower also makes your hair soft and easy to shave.
Pre-Trim Before Shaving
If you have not shaved in a while, the chances are that your hair has grown a lot. Thus, you should pre-trim it before shaving. This prevents itching after shaving, which occurs when you pull long hair.
Manscaping Styles
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Manscaping is a popular grooming activity for men. While some men want a hairy look, others want a clean-shaven body or trimmed hair. Here are some options you can choose from to help you achieve your desired manscaping results.
Waxing
Waxing is an efficient and non-invasive cosmetic hair removal procedure. While most believe it is only for women, men also get waxed similarly. It is an incredible procedure offering a lot of benefits, like:
- Reducing hair regrowth
- A smoother and cleaner look in only a few minutes
- Long-lasting results up to 6 weeks
- Exfoliates and removes any dead cells on the surface of the skin
- Very time-efficient, allowing you to return to your daily routine without limitations
Shaving
Shaving is the most common way of manscaping your chest, beard, pubic, and back areas. Most specialists recommend that individuals use razors and blades to achieve the best results. Here are some of the benefits of shaving:
- You can easily do it yourself in the comfort of your home or personal space
- It is a simple and quick method
- Suitable for individuals with sensitive skin
If you are not used to shaving by yourself, consider having someone else, such as a partner, help or seek hair removal services to prevent potential shaving accidents.
Laser Hair Removal
The laser hair removal technique is an innovative, efficient, and permanent solution for men seeking to reduce and eventually eliminate unwanted hair growth.
Although the treatment requires more than one session to attain the desired results, it comes with a few benefits:
- It is time efficient, allowing patients to save more time for other activities
- It is less painful and has minimal discomfort or scarring
- It saves you money, in the end, needing only a few sessions to achieve the hairless look
Read Next: Should I Get Laser Hair Removal?
Pros and Cons of Manscaping
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You may have heard so much about manscaping from media tabloids, friends, and medical specialists. However, based on the benefits and challenges from different reviews, you may be uncertain about your manscaping journey.
Pros
Below are the benefits of manscaping.
Organization and Efficiency
It is not a secret today that most people measure your worth by appearance. For instance, picture two men. One with unkempt facial hair, long armpit hair, and multiple chest and back hairs peeking out of his shirt.
The other is a neatly groomed man with a shaved back and short pubic, chest, and armpit hair. Who would you want to be associated with?
Well, the truth is most individuals, both men and women, would love to be associated with a well-groomed and manscaped man because he portrays organization and scores a few points on the attractive scale.
Boosts Confidence
Deciding to shed some of your manly hair can do well for your confidence. For example, a well-groomed and manscaped man can dress accordingly and feel more confident in his skin than an unkempt person. It explains why it’s a common instinct to shave before a job interview or high-profile meeting.
Cons
Below are some drawbacks of manscaping that you should keep in mind.
Costly
Hair removal techniques can break your bank. For instance, if you consider shaving and waxing, you may need to buy razors, trimmers, shavers, creams, moisturizers, waxing strips, and other tools.
We also suggest not settling for cheap products; thus, you may need to spend a lot of cash looking for high-quality hair removal products. Not to mention, these methods are repetitive; thus, you will have to spend money doing the same thing repeatedly.
Read Next: How Much Does Laser Hair Removal Cost in 2024?
Cuts and Bruises
No matter how much you want your manscaping journey to be smooth, it is necessary to understand that you may get some nicks, cuts, bruises, and irritation while shaving, waxing, or undergoing laser hair removal.
Are There Any Risks of Manscaping?
Here are the risks involved when manscaping:
- Skin irritation occurs when you shave or wax your hair. Applying a lotion after shaving prevents skin irritation.
- Skin burns may occur when you use various manscaping techniques like electrolysis and waxing. To avoid such burns, test a small part of the area to be manscaped before commencing the process, especially if you have sensitive skin.
- Rashes are common when you shave your hair since it irritates the skin. You should moisturize after shaving and use clean tools.
- You may get an infection such as folliculitis, especially after waxing or shaving. The primary remedy is to use clean shaving tools and shower before manscaping.
- Ingrown hairs occur when the hair does not grow in the required direction, thus causing a bump. Exfoliating before shaving removes dead skins that clog pores and prevents ingrown hairs.
- Cuts are a significant risk when shaving. Be gentle when trimming your hair to avoid such incidents.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Below are common questions men ask about manscaping:
Yes, it is very typical for men to wax. Most men, especially in the athletic industry, including wrestlers, bodybuilders, and swimmers, get groomed for their work. However, regular individuals prefer it because it offers a smooth aesthetic and utter convenience while undertaking regular activities. Expect your wax specialist to apply soft or hard hot wax on the area you need hair removal. The technician will then quickly remove the wax accompanied by the hairs in the opposite direction of the hair growth. Lastly, the expert will wipe away any remaining wax, and your session is done. Specialists often advise men to exfoliate the skin regularly to prevent ingrown hairs and maintain smooth skin. Then, when they go in for waxing, the process will be more effective at removing excessive ingrown hairs. Men often choose to manscape to improve their appearance and make their skin more supple, smoother, and attractive, when looking for lovers. Manscaping significantly improves a man’s confidence levels, thus allowing them to express themselves freely to others. This is a narrow-minded and outdated notion that should not exist today. However, some men cannot shake the feeling that men who shave their hair are not masculine. Those with such a mindset can be regarded as sexists, although the bad news is everyone is entitled to their opinions, and there is no escaping that.Is it normal for men to wax?
What can you expect when seeking professional manscaping waxing services?
Do men need to do anything before and after waxing?
Why do men choose to manscape?
Do some men consider manscaping feminine?
So, What Is Manscaping?
Manscaping involves removing body hair; it’s done mainly by men. Men indulge in this process to achieve confidence, feel comfortable having less hair, and gain an attractive physique.
As such, if you want to begin your manscaping journey, you have a lot of choices to consider and ample knowledge at your disposal to make the right decisions for you. Happy manscaping!