I started thinking seriously about this subject a few days ago.
What happened you might ask?
Well,
My brother went to a salon to get his chest and abdomen waxed.
All of it.
He asked me what I thought before making the appointment and, frankly, I was against it.
He’s my younger brother, he’s almost 18 years old.
There’s a huge age difference between us and that’s why I still see him as my little brother on whom pain should definitely not be inflicted.
I was against the whole thing of getting so much of his hair removed from the root. The idea of him going through that pain was not something I was fine with.
Moving forward to the moment when he came back from the beauty salon, I asked him all about it.
His chest and abdomen were really red.
However,
I must admit that the results were great. We are a bit of a hairy family and his waxing session definitely made a difference.
He said it was really painful. The pain made him sweat a lot while strips of wax were pulled continuously.
Even so,
He was happy and he’s going to continue waxing once every 3 weeks. He’s a bit obsessed about his looks.
Waxing for Men: The Must-Know Things
1. It’s painful
I’ve already talked about this in my introduction.
Waxing means removing hairs from the root. Pulling the root from its follicle.
If you have been shaving and you want to switch to a slightly longer-lasting method, it’s going to hurt the first time quite a lot.
It also depends which areas you want to get smooth.
The underarms are obviously one of the most sensitive areas, together with the intimate area.
I don’t know about the back but I reckon it’s not nearly as painful.
If you haven’t used any hair removal until now, your hairs might be a bit long for waxing.
It they’re too long it’s going to be a lot more painful. That’s why you should trim them.
2. You should let a professional handle your first experience
Or someone who has handled wax before.
This is pretty important because the strips need to be pulled fast and parallel to the skin.
Otherwise,
Most of the wax remains on your body, you make a mess, and few hairs are removed while still being painful.
All professionals have seen enough men sitting on their table so they definitely know what they’re doing.
Just take deep breaths and try to relax.
3. Choose hard wax
Whether it’s microwavable hard wax or the type that needs a warmer, hard wax is the way to go.
It handles coarse hairs without breaking them.
If you want to be even more specific, go for wax for coarse hairs. There are even waxing kits for men + women.
If you want a bit of help, just so you know what you should be looking for, check out this post on the best waxing kits.
One more thing,
Always test the temperature of the wax. You don’t want it to burn your skin.
Obviously,
You apply the strip in the direction in which the hair is growing and pull with a swift in the opposite direction.
4. Always apply a moisturizer
The chest and back areas require a bit of attention because otherwise you might suddenly suffer from a breakout.
After all the hairs are removed, remove the residues using oil (baby oil or any other type of oil).
Then,
Apply a rich moisturizer to comfort the irritated skin.
5. Exfoliate
This step is just as important.
Always exfoliate before removing the hairs.
After that,
You can apply talcum powder or baby powder to absorb the moisture so that the wax can stick better to the skin and hairs.
Make sure to exfoliate 2-3 times a week, at the beginning on dry skin or at the end of a shower on wet skin or even both as I do these days.
It will hopefully keep your skin free of ingrown hairs and looking amazing.
Even if you don’t need to wax your back, I think it’s good to consider exfoliating your back, as well.
What’s the bottom line?
I’m all for waxing for men.
I certainly appreciate men that take good care of themselves and their bodies.
However,
I don’t agree with waxing your face. That’s where I draw a big bold line.
Are you looking for an alternative to waxing? Something easier to pull off at home but still with the same results?
Try an epilator for men.
Hi, Denisa.
If I may, I’d like to add my personal perspective on men and getting themselves all waxed up.
I can understand why some REALLY hirsute men would want to get a wax job. But I’ve never been the sort of woman who thinks ALL men should get all waxed. If a guy has a little chest hair and is okay with it, why should he subject himself to the pain? Also, as far as the intimate areas go, I’m the sort of woman who LIKES seeing that bit of “treasure trail” as it were, to say nothing of actual hair on a guy’s parts.
Concerning the fear of pubic lice that’s been mentioned on various pro-male-waxing sites: As long as a guy keeps himself clean, and reasonably trimmed, I don’t see the need for a guy to go through a ton of pain just to keep lice away from his junk. But again, for me, male pubic hair, especially when neatly trimmed, has a far more primal appeal than zero hair. And I want to say to guys who think they have to get rid of the “treasure trail”: “No! Stop! Don’t do it!” LOL! 😉
I figure, if a guy’s genetically coded NOT to have lots of hair (Many Native American guys are like this–my guy friend Q is one of them: he’s part Lakota), that’s one thing. But I must admit, I seem to be one of these throwback women who don’t see the point of men doing the painful uber-scaping if they really DON’T have to or want to.
Ultimately, I think it should be a guy’s choice whether to get rid of hair or not, but I think my biggest beef is with the overly zealous anti-hair sentiment and the expectation that hair-wise, men should be just as smooth looking as the women. Heck, I don’t even like the extreme expectations placed on women–and I *am* a woman. I definitely refuse to put wax near my lady bits. Unh-unh. I remember waiting all my childhood to HAVE pubic hair down there, to look like a *woman* for pete’s sake. Why would I remove it just so I can look like a little girl again? Unh-unh. I do not see the point. And believe me, I have tried waxing. Not for me.
But then, I’m 38 years old, and a most “hippie-fied” daughter of two hippie-era parents *shrugs* Sure, I shave my legs and pits, but that’s about it.
And I am the sort of natural woman who likes a more or less natural man.
Hi Kat,
Thanks so much for your comment! I loved it, really really enjoyed reading it!
Hi Denisa, I have to wonder, why you let your brother go thru the mess, and pain of waxing when epilating would have been a much more private, and less painful way of removing his hair? I’m a fairly hairy guy by nature (Italian genes) and have been using epilators since 2006 or so. My latest is the Silk Epil 9 (thank you very much for your review on that one) and as you know, they work just as good, if not better than waxing. I use mine on all parts of my body. In fact, I used to have a bear pelt growing on my chest, and afteffective 10 years of epilating, I don’t hardly get any hair growth above my belly any more. Just a sparce hair here of there from time to time.
Hi Dave,
Thanks so much for your comment! I don’t hear about men using epilators too often so it’s always a pleasure 🙂 Thanks again for your comment, I’m sure it will inspire others who look for an alternative to waxing and shaving.
hi deny hope ur doin great & ur enjoyin summer days ive a new topic 4 u i hope u ‘l like it ive noticed that the twisers of the epilators differs from one brand to another “philips/braun/kemei & this affects the epilation i don know but since ur the epilator girl i thought that this kind of topics belongs 2 u
Hi Kamilia,
Yes, every epilator has different tweezers. Even the Braun Silk Epil 9 has different tweezers than the Silk Epil 7 and both epilators are designed and manufactured by the same brand.
It’s a good topic but I think it’s a bit hard to quantify the difference between the so-many tweezers.
Thanks for the comment! Have a wonderful weekend, Kamilia!
Hi, as a guy who started waxing a few years ago, this was an inspiring post. Hope this comment can inspire someone else that’s still on the fence on bodywaxing and taking care of the body in general.
At first I hesitated to go for wax or any other method of extensive body hair removal, and asked myself whether I should do it or not. After all, male waxing/hair removal in general, has traditionally had some negative connotations; it has been seen as somewhat “gay” and something that’s part of womens domain. Also, women have traditionally been fed sentiments like “real men have hairy bodies”.
But I believe things have changed during the past 10 years. Now, doing things like working out to get a fit and attractive body as well as doing hair removal now seems acceptable and even encouraged for men too. In addition there seems to be some motion towards “role reversal” as well, meaning that I think we’re heading into a period where men will do these things to an even larger extent than women. Some say this will never be true, but hear me out: For the past years we’ve seen the feminist body positivity movement promoting “natural beauty” meaning less emphasis on aspects like extreme fitness, grooming, surgery etc. At the same time, there has been an increase of focus on appearance, grooming and fitness for men, in the wake of hollywood movies like Magic Mike, the most recent Tarzan movie and the remake of Ghostbusters.
That doesn’t mean these trends will be internalized overnight by every member of society, but it has some impact in my country. While I don’t believe women will stop exercising, grooming and shaving, the reasons for doing so seems to be changing from being “playboy” attractive like during the 90’s to personal well-being and a more natural and diverse form of beauty. Men on the other hand, seems to be moving towards a narrower media driven ideal, aided by dating applications like Tinder and similar apps, in which the number of men is much higher than of women (and thus higher competition to get a date).
Thanks so much for your comment! I’s a great analysis of the current times and it was a pleasure reading it!
Thanks again! Have a wonderful weekend!
Hi. Ok I “come out” as a man, who simply enjoys some basic grooming besides the front neck. I shave a few zones of my body, for now, mainly for trimming. Not “exagerate”, I think, for today standards, I respect all body hair preferences, for men or women, I also personally don’t mind body hair on women, as well as them shaving their arms if they like them smooth. I don’t 100% exclude I might turn to waxing one day, though it sounds quite ouchy, lol.
But you said it slightly thickens your hair just like shaving. Curious on why so, as I read waxing hurts more where we already shaved, while waxing for long might thin out hair and decreases the pain, as it might damage the follicle.
Hi again Antonymous,
It’s no bother at all 🙂 I love reading about other people’s experiences. Obviously, I can also only talk about my own experiences with different hair removal methods. I’ve tried them all, besides laser hair removal and electrolysis.
My boyfriend trims his hairs, he has also tried shaving but since he has coarse hairs, trimming them out is a lot easier because it doesn’t cause any ingrown hairs and the skin isn’t irritated.
My brother is more obsessed with his looks so he waxes at a beauty salon. I didn’t recommend epilation to him because he’s still young and a bit too lazy for epilation. It’s a different experience when someone handles everything for you. He got used to the pain fairly quickly.
If you want a smooth look for a longer time, shaving is not an option and it’s a bit bothersome after a few days when the hairs start growing back. The hairs are a bit prickly so it’s not a nice feeling. If you don’t shave and let the hairs regrow for a longer period of time they become soft again so it’s not a permanent state. I don’t think shaving makes the body more hairy. But I do get the impression that the hairs become a bit thicker, whether we are talking about shaving, waxing or epilation. But I can’t be that sure because I don’t even remember how my hairs used to look like. Even so, I still think that it pretty much grows back as it used to be.
As you said, we become hairier as we grow older and for women that’s really bothersome because our facial hair gets a bit out of control. It’s sort of a taboo issue but I can see the changes affecting me, too, especially since I have dark hair. You get at a certain age where you start wondering whether you should wax/epilate more areas on your face
Men definitely have it easier when it comes to hair removal because you’re expected to be hairy, it’s not a shock. Women are expected to be hairless. I’m glad that you don’t mind body hair on women but women mind it no matter what their partner says 🙂
I don’t know if I answered all, come back anytime if you want to chat!
Thanks for your kind answer, I didn’t see it on the other post, as you replied here. Yeah I really don’t mind body hair on girls, mostly, but even in the cases where I find it less flattering, at most I’m not attracted, I don’t umderstand the idiots who go rude about it, in the comments and not only, ad if they are in control and their rude opinion should count. Mine should simply be basic decency, though. That’s where you’re right, a woman might personally prefer if a guy shaved his back and/or shoulders, at most chest too, in some cases, but it’s rarer she goes so rude and entitled about it. And these same guys act outraged on a completely non serious article about men fashion mistakes, callimg women entitled and going what if it was about women, while there are countless about them too.
Silly non serious articles in both cases ( at least most of the times I read some mildly useful tips too).
About your boyfriend, I understand it, shaving can also be more maintenance if hair are coarse, trimming is cool too. Mine is that awkward zone between Depp like natural hairlessness and others with good but not too thick coverage, that stops over shoulders but no back hair. Sparse yet more patchy in some zones, along with shoulders which I prefer to shave, as they don’t blend well, imho.
As for the idea of getting thicker, I think that’s cause hair in a zone rests and stops growing at an average length. We don’t see a few recently shed hair growing speed easily, so they seem faster after we shave as they all need to grow back to their length and thicker, bacause they lose their tip. If my arm hair grows to an average of say 1 cm, that length fully grown back is gonna be as thick all the way as the base only used to be before shaving :D.
It’s unlikely it stays this way once shed, though you migh add to consider the follicle tends to expand a bit in order to grow, and the base is always a bit thicker, though increasingly less.
Thanks again for considering my walls of text 😉
All options are way too expensive. But even I am obsessed with the looks part. I used to trim my hair with a trimmer. I guess the epilator would cost the same but I can not ask for ₹ 2000 in one go. A trimmer costs 200 rupees with 1 year warranty. I am from India. Your boyfriend could epilate if he finds waxing expensive. But even epilating would be 2¢ a day for 3 years which is unnecessary. I might buy scissors for ₹18 which would also last 3 years if not more. Or I could pluck hair which would be free. In India even sanitary napkins are a luxury which are available for 2-10¢. Here a GB of data also costs 4 ¢.
Raunaq, thanks for the info! The lucky thing is when you get an epilator and it lasts 10 years or even more but you can’t count on that and it is plenty of money to pay all at once.
Plucking is actually great but it takes too long. It involves a lot of patience so that’s the thing with it.
Well, you could look into sugaring since you can do the recipe at home and it works just like waxing, what do you think about that? I’ve never tried it but I think it’s a great method and it might be what you are looking.
Hi Denisa,
I have been shaking my pubic hairs off for over ten years (I do a complete “bro-zilian”), and armpit hair for about the last five years. I do it because it makes me feel cleaner, and to be honest, I really love both the look and the feel. My wife of 31 years thinks complete removal is unnecessary for me, but she does appreciate the results. I was disappointed with shaving because of the expense (a new 5-blade razor at least once a week, razor burn, and very noticeable stubble after just 2 days) so I was looking for an alternative. Waxing was not a option do to cost and the fact that I didn’t want a stranger going near my privates.
After some extensive internet research, I read a lot (everything I could find!) about epilators and decided to go for it. I bought myself an early birthday present – a Brain Silk-epil 7. I wanted a wet/dry model, and Braun makes the best. Reviews said the 7 series was as good as the 9 series at a lower cost, and since this was an “experiment” I figured I’d save a little money.
I let the hair grow out to a short stubble and then tried out the epilator in the shower. I was prepared for extreme pain, but was surprised that, although it hurt, it was nothing like what I was expecting. I used every tip I had read (don’t push too hard, go slow, keep the skin taut, 90° angle to the skin) and it went well enough that I included some of the more “tender” areas too. My armpits were a breeze with almost no “ouch” sensation. After drying off I was understandably very red, but VERY smooth.
It’s been a week. The redness completely diminished after about 24 hours. I completed my “bro-zilian” 3 days after the initial trial. So that’s all my pubic hair from my belly button down, front to back, side to side, my buns, and my armpits. And the verdict is in:
100% SUCCESS! I couldn’t be happier! It’s been a week and I am just as smooth as immediately after shaving! No razor burn, no rash, no ingrown hairs! I LOVE IT! I wish I’d known about this years ago! I want to tell everyone, but I’m easily embarrassed, so I’m telling you.
Thank you for your advice and for sharing your knowledge. I hope others will read this and see how great the results are. My birthday is in 3 days and I’ll still be smooth after epilating over a week ago!
Jon, your comment made me smile so much! I’m so happy when someone has a positive experience, no matter which hair removal they use. And when someone finds that epilation is not torture then I’m thoroughly pleased.
It just brings me joy when someone is excited with their hair removal method. You’ve made my day with this!
Happy birthday, Jon! And many happy happy birthdays in the future!
Always moisturize after each epilation, it makes your skin really comfortable. I use a really nourishing body cream and they’re very good after epilation no matter the skin type that one has.
You’ll probably end up epilating once every 2 weeks, that’s my time frame.
P.S.: The emails are not public on my website anyway for total confidentiality, only I can see them, I approved the comment with the right email. And the one with the email won’t be approved so it won’t appear on the website, I’ll keep it without approving it.
Thanks so much for the comment and once again, have a very wonderful birthday, Jon!
Very happy for you it didn’t hurt that much the moment your turned to epilating for the first time after shaving for long time! That’s encouraging if I ever chose to do the same, but I’ll test it first though we’re all different. About shaving I dunno if it’s just me not being that hairy on my neck and chest, but after over a month I’m mosty still very comfortable and feeling smooth. I change the blade when I experience shaving not making my skin significantly as when I started, than it starting be more painful, as my skin is still pretty comfortable, just not really smooth anymore, which is useless at that point :).