When you think of manscaping, the first thing that comes to mind is probably shaving your hairy ball sack. However, manscaping goes beyond your balls. As defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, manscaping is “the trimming or shaving of a man’s body hair so as to enhance his appearance.”
When it comes to mowing your man lawn, no body part is off limits. According to a 2018 study by Chicago’s Advanced Dermatology, about 75% of dudes trim or shave their chest and back. Manscaping is becoming increasingly popular for a variety of reasons (porn is a major factor), but that doesn’t mean guys are good at it.
One survey discovered that nearly half of men have suffered cuts and other injuries while grooming, some of which required a trip to the doctor. When we heard this news, we knew we had to create an ultimate manscaping guide. Whether you’re trimming the hedges to reduce irritation, show off your muscles, or make your dick look bigger, you’ll learn how to make your manscaping routine as painless as possible.
We’ll start at the top and work our way down to the nether regions. But first, make sure your bathroom is stocked with all the right tools.
Essential Manscaping Tools
You can find all of these tools on Amazon or a supermarket:
- Clippers: If you have excess hair in the area you want to manscape, you’ll need to plow through the shrubs with clippers, which are designed for longer hair.
- Electric Hair Trimmer: If you don’t want to go fully shaven, a trimmer is a safe and efficient tool to keep your body hair under control.
- Razor: Stick with a simple, two-blade razor—don’t overthink it.
- Shave Oil: This will help the razor glide smoothly to protect your sensitive areas. Unlike shaving cream, shave oil is translucent so you see exactly where your blade is going down there, which is vital in the pubic area.
How to Manscape Your Chest
If you’ve been cranking out push ups during quarantine and want to show off your pecs, it might be time to chop your chest wig. But you can’t hack away like a barbarian.
If you opt to shave your chest, start with a #1 or #2 clipper. Next, take a hot shower, lather up with shave oil, and pull the razor in the same direction that your hair seems to be pointing. Moisturize with lotion afterwards to prevent razor burn.
If you don’t want a hairless chest, simply leave your chest hair at a #2 clipper length. If you go any shorter, you risk a prickly chest which is a nightmare if you have coarse, dense hair.
How to Manscape Your Back
The key to taming your ape-like back hair might be to avoid manscaping altogether and opt for waxing instead. Finding a personal body groomer to shave your back is challenging enough, but you also have to consider how miserable a back full of stubble will be after a few days.
Waxing removes hair from the root, so your skin will be smooth for up to six weeks before you need to worry about it again.
How to Manscape Your Pubes
If you have a full-blown bush below the belt, hit it with a #1 or #1 clipper length. For about half of men, this is as manscaped as it gets. However, if you want to go hairless, grab your razor and shave oil and hop in the shower.
- Clean up your privates with warm water and a moisturizing body wash to prime your hair follicles.
- Apply shave oil to the area above your shaft.
- Gently glide your razor downward towards your shaft to avoid ingrown hairs.
- If you have a furry shaft, pull your penis upward and shave with the grain.
- Rinse with cold water and apply soothing after shave lotion or moisturizer to prevent razor burn.
How to Manscape Your Balls
Navigating an electric razor around the curves and crevices of your scrotum requires surgeon-like precision. The following instructions should result in a silky smooth set of balls, without a trip to the emergency room.
If your balls are completely covered in hair, gently trim them with clippers, but beware not to clip your sensitive skin. Ideally, the hair should be a centimeter long. Once you’re trimmed down, rinse your balls with warm water and proceed.
- Lather your sack with shave oil (not shave cream) so your razor can glide through your pubes like butter.
- With the razor in your dominant hand, use your other hand to pull your scrotum skin taut to ensure a close shave.
- Slowly guide your razor downward using short, slow, gentle strokes until all the hair is gone.
- To prevent chafing, dust your boys with body powder. DUDE Menthol Chill is a talc-free, deodorizing, cornstarch-based body powder infused with natural ingredients like aloe and peppermint to keep swass and stank at bay.
How to Manscape Your Gooch
Otherwise known as your perineum, grundle, or taint, your gooch is arguably the most neglected crevice on your body. The patch of skin between your butt and balls is home to hair that festers with sweat and fecal remnants. Accordingly, grooming your gooch can cut back on stank and keep your undercarriage clean.
Whether you choose to trim or shave, follow these four steps:
- Pop a squat and spread ‘em.
- Cradle your family jewels to shield them from your razor or clippers.
- Keeping your manscaping hand steady, groom with the grain of your hair.
- Rinse, dry, and moisturize to prevent post-manscaping irritation.
If you can’t decide whether to go full bush, bare, or somewhere in between, follow the Law of Pubic Proportions: Your gooch hair should never be longer than the rest of your pubic hair.
How to Manscape Your Butt
Using a hair removal cream like Nair might seem like a quick fix for a hairy rear, but it can burn your b-hole badly, which can result in the dreaded polished anus syndrome. Shaving will make you as bare as a baby’s bottom, but that five o’clock shadow on your hindquarters means bad chafing.
Waxing is your best bet to conquer your hairy ass. It’ll keep your bum smooth for weeks and it’s a lot less work for you. If you can’t handle hot wax on your ass, an electric trimmer can tame that ferret hiding in your valley. Just make sure you don’t trim too short, otherwise it’ll feel like you’re sitting on a cactus all day.
A complete body grooming session might require an entire afternoon in the bathroom, but it's worth the time to transform yourself from a werewolf into a silky smooth stud.
