The days of excessive body hair on men being seen as attractive are long gone. Men, if your idea of looking sexy is showing a little chest hair to go along with that mini-bling you’re wearing, you are in serious need of a body hair makeover. You may also want to check those pants. Tight is rarely OK; shiny and slick, never. But that’s a topic for another day. Right now, let’s dive into the murky waters where few men have gone before: mens hair removal.
It used to be that waxed legs and chests were the exclusive domain of cyclists, swimmers, bodybuilders and male strippers; however, those days are pretty much behind us. Guys today are stripping themselves of excess hair, and the trend continues unabated. In addition to their legs, chests and back, men are also paying attention to their bikini lines. And why not? Women are taking notice and the increased sex appeal and fresh feeling should be more than enough to convince men out there to consider waxing, laser hair removal, electrolysis, tweezing and trimming in addition to the all-familiar shaving.
Let’s talk about waxing. Understandably, some men may have reservations about going to a salon to get waxed; after all, the salon isn’t exactly a place frequented by men, unless of course it’s the kind that serves alcohol. Fear not, for there are estheticians that do house calls. Yes, dudes, you can get waxed in the safety and comfort of your home. Of course, some men will insist on doing it themselves. You know who you are. If you’ve ever insisted on fixing your own car and ended up breaking your radiator in the process, or tried to fix your own plumbing and ended up with a flood in the house, then you are the type. Trust me. Unless you love giving yourself loads of pain while getting all messy, let the professional do it for you. And professionals they are. They will wax in and around your tool if you ask to get waxed in the genital area, but they are not going to touch your manhood. No amount of tip will change that, so get that off your mind.
Another area that men are choosing to wax are their eyebrows. More and more, men are opting to have handsomely shaped brows, and why not? Actors and athletes are getting it done, so why not Joe Plumber? Look, there’s nothing sexy about a big caveman with a unibrow, so guys with excessive facial hair tend to have their eyebrows shaped. Get that bush above your eyes trimmed, and get rid of that unibrow look. It hasn’t been “in” since the Neanderthals went extinct. Listen, it doesn’t have to be male model perfect, but you don’t have to neglect it as if you are getting ready to audition for the next Geico Caveman commercial either.
If waxing is your preferred approach to mens hair removal, then you may want to focus on the following areas: the eyebrows, back, chest, genital area and legs. Smaller areas like knuckles and toes are good candidates as well. There is no hiding from the fact that this approach is painful, about a four on the pain meter on a scale that goes to five at max. With repeated use, waxing will result in thinner hair that does not grow back as quickly. The hair removal will have to be repeated, as this process does not permanently remove the ability of your hair to regrow.
Next, let us look at laser hair removal for men. The laser approach involves the use of a FDA-approved laser to accomplish mens hair removal; in essence, the laser zaps the hair follicles and pretty much permanently deep sixes the follicles so that hair is not able to grow back. The results may differ for men with different skin pigmentation, so you may want to explore whether you will be a good candidate for this procedure. With this procedure, men with darker hair do better, as their dark hair absorbs the laser energy, thus yielding better results. A mens laser hair removal practicioner will be able to make that assessment for you.
It is important to understand that the laser hair removal for men procedure results in permanent reduction of hair, so if you think you might want to have some hair in certain areas in the future, don’t opt for this procedure. A laser treatment might be an awesome option for mens back hair removal, as this would result in a lasting, smooth back. But it may not be what you want for other areas. Think about it. Would you like to have smooth, bald balls for the rest of your life? Might there come a time when that would be seen as eccentric?
If you opt for laser hair removal for men, you may want to focus on these areas: your back, the nape of your neck and your eyebrows. As far as pain is concerned, it is probably at a little over 3 on a 5 scale. It will cost you a good chunk of change, but it may be worth it for those areas where you want to eliminate hair forever.
What about electrolysis? Sounds daunting, but I assure you it is not a CIA interrogation method. Its approach to mens hair removal is to deliver an electric current to each hair follicle through a very fine needle-shaped electrode. The idea is to destroy the root, and if you really want to be technical about it, there are three types of electrolysis; namely, galvanic, thermolysis and blend. Note that this method is FDA approved for permanent hair removal even though there is not guarantee that it will work 100% for everyone.
Electrolysis has the best track record when it comes to removing hair permanently, and its effectiveness is not dependent upon hair and skin pigmentation, so anyone can benefit. Since it doesn’t target hair pigment like laser does, men who are not good candidates for laser treatment can opt for electrolysis instead. Men who choose this method may want to focus on the eyebrows and hairs on their face and neck. This is not a pain free operation, and like the laser treatment, it must be repeated a few times until the follicles have been rendered dead for all practical purposes. The procedure will cause pain, though not as acute as that resulting from laser. Perhaps a 3 on a 5 scale.
Tweezing is a procedure that most men should be aware of. I’m sure you dudes have seen or heard your partners talking about or performing a brief tweezing operation here and there. Simply enough, tweezing involves the use of a tool called a tweezer, and what it does is enable you to pluck out the hairs that you wish to get rid of. Tweezing is a time consuming process, and depending upon the area you’re tweezing, may cause quite a bit of pain. Try tweezing your freshly grown moustache to see what that’s like.
Tweezing is an exercise best reserved for those smaller areas with excess hair. These areas include the eyebrows, knuckles and toes. As noted earlier, this approach is probably not a good one to use against your moustache or beard. It’s like taking a Swiss army knife to a gun fight. If you plan to tweeze, you may want to invest in a decent pair of tweezers. Your procedure will only be as effective as your tool will allow, so get a decent one. Two pennies pressed together does not qualify as a decent tweezer.
As far as pain goes, generally it is not as menacing as the laser hair removal or electrolysis procedures; however, depending on what you pluck, you may be in for a big surprise. Stick to the eyebrows, knuckles and toes, and you should be good. Start tweezing your moustache or nose hairs, and get ready to a mini armageddon. Seriously, tweezing and shaving are two very different approaches that employ two very different tools. Keep that in mind.
Let’s look at trimming, shall we? Earlier, while discussing tweezing, we alluded to the fact that certain areas need to be trimmed, rather than plucked, for practical reasons, not the least bit of which is the pain factor. The idea with trimming is that there are areas in men where they don’t necessarily want the removal of hair, but rather, the trimming (i.e. keeping it neat and short) of the hair. For example, some men’s ears and nose are profusely stuffed with hair, and when neglected, they look like a burnt herb garden is ready to launch. No sir, we don’t want to see that. But we don’t want the removal of the hair either. We need some hair there, so removal is out of the question.
Enter trimming. What will you need? Well, a good nose and ear hair trimmer would be very useful. Not only will these devices minimize pain, they will also mow down a bushel of man hair in record time. So, if you find yourself with unsightly hair that needs some tidying up, do not pick up a tweezer. Remember, hair removal is not the objective here. You simply want to trim and touch up. For that, specialized hair trimmers will do the job. These trimmers will be perfect for hair in the following areas: ear, nose, genitals, nape of neck, eyebrows and even sideburns if you’re into that. There should be minimal to no pain. On a scale of 1 to five, it should barely register 1.
In this article, we explored the various procedures for mens hair removal. There are, of course, products that promise to help with the process, and we did not cover that topic here. In a future article, we will look into several of those products such as mens hair removal cream, mens hair removal lotion and do-it-yourself mens hair removal wax kit.
Look gentlemen, with the myriad options available to you, there simply is no reason for you not to begin to tackle this business of mens hair removal. Perhaps a more accurate description should include the word trimming. With that in mind, shed the cave man look, and enter the twenty first century. From laser hair removal for men to electrolysis to tweezing to trimming, there is a procedure for just about anything you need for body hair removal and trimming. Go out there and get one done. It’s basic grooming that every man today should not neglect. And you don’t have to be in the male stripping business to entertain this concept.