Beard Culture

How to Manscape: A Complete Guide

You’ve mastered the whiskers, and now you’re ready to dabble in the art of full-body landscaping. But if you’re a little nervous about taking up the razor and tackling the wilds of your physique, don’t worry. Manscaping doesn’t have to be intimidating. In fact, it can be quite the opposite: a refreshing treat for your entire impressive physique—and all the lucky visitors thereafter.

Ready to immaculate your Eden, Adam? We’re answering all of your questions in this complete guide on how to manscape like one handsome son of a gun.

General Rules of the Road

Like perfecting your Jeep wave, manscaping takes practice to hone your unique style. Keep these tips in mind before making your way to Trim City:

Come prepared to the party – Manscaping is a party of one (or sometimes two), but that doesn’t mean you show up empty-handed. Grab a few towels, a quality body & groin trimmer, body wash, a loofah, and a moisturizing balm.

Invest in a quality body trimmer – We don’t want you to learn the hard way that manscaping with a crappy body groomer leads to regret (and incredibly awkward bandaid placement). Invest in a quality trimmer, ideally one with interchangeable heads to glide over all your goods.

Go from longer to shorter – They still haven’t invented body trimmers that can turn back time, so it’s best to trim a bit off at a time and go shorter afterward if desired.

Though the terrain you’re shaving may be a little different depending on where you’re shaving, the general method is pretty much the same if you’re using an electric trimmer:

Exfoliate – Exfoliation just means removing a layer of dead skin cells so you can get closer to the base of the hair. You can do this in the shower before you break out your trimmer. Load up your loofah with body wash and move it in small circles over your intended shaving zone or try an exfoliating body wash. Just be gentle and rinse thoroughly.
Dry off and put down a towel – Dry yourself thoroughly before busting out your trusty electric trimmer. Wet hair can tangle in the fast-moving blades and let’s just say that’s something nobody wants to experience. Once you're as dry as possible, put down a towel where you’ll be manscaping.

Go with the grain – When it comes to steak, the rule is to always go against the grain. When it comes to your tender meat, trust us and go with the grain. This will help prevent those uncomfortable ingrown hairs.

Double-check your work – Want to avoid that “Dang it, I missed a spot!” moment? Then use your bathroom mirror and (be brave) a handheld mirror to ensure you manscaped thoroughly.

Rinse – The post-shave rinse is all about making sure those last little hairs have come loose and won’t be making you itchy as you go about your day.

Now that we’ve got the basics down, let’s dive into a few specific manscaping tips based on all your key manly regions.

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The Ears & Nose

As we get older, our nose and ear hair gets longer. Luckily for us, maintaining ear hair and nose hair is easy. By far, the easiest way to get rid of ear and nose hair is by using a body groomer with a dedicated ear and nose hair attachment. If you don’t have a dedicated trimmer, try using tweezers to pluck any longer hairs, or carefully use a pair of men’s grooming scissors to get rid of those unruly, stray hairs.

The Torso

There’s a lot of room for personality here. Are we going for Captain America or full Greecian fluff? Whatever your style, the torso sets the tone for the rest of the bod, so choose wisely.

Consider your hair length – If your body hair is sparse, you can probably get away with going a little shorter. If you have wooly, thicker hair, trimming your unwanted body hair too short can make you spikey in places we don’t want to be spikey.

Match your beard – Mimic the style of your smolderingly-crafted facial hair to create a cohesive look. If your beard style is clean and angular, go for a polished tree shape.

The Arms & Legs

Unless you’re a competitive athlete, the arms and legs are where you can take a breather. People expect hair on the limbs, so it’s best to let nature do most of the work.

Take a couple inches off – If your arm or leg hair is indubitably lengthy, you can use a trimmer on 5 or 6 to take a bit off the top.

Tame furry hands and feet – While arm and leg hair is expected, hand and foot hair is something slightly less appealing. Clean up paw fuzz with a handy razor. Use a shaving cream or shave gel to combat cuts and skin irritation.

Man looking at his hairy armpit with dissaproval

The Armpits

When it comes to armpit hair removal, some men like ‘em smooth, while others go for an inconspicuous trim. While it remains up to you, we do advise at least a little TLC. Your undershirts will thank you.

The up-down trim – Armpit hair grows both up and down. Trim the hair in the same direction as the hair grows to avoid irritation.

Careful of crevices – Whether trimming or shaving, leave those sunken middle crevices for last to maximize visibility and minimize nicks. Take a little neck-stretch break if you need to before tackling those hard-to-reach areas.

The Back

If you’ve been blessed with a hairless back, we’re jealous and maybe even a little angry with you. Just kidding. But some of us are carrying the weight of a thousand hairy wolves back there, and if that’s you, we got you.

Plan a romantic back shaving date – If you’re rocking a wolfy look back there, your partner might be thrilled to spend a steamy Friday night shaving those tufts clean off.

Opt for a wax – If you don’t have this kind of heavenly-sent partner, take yourself on a romantic trip to the waxing salon. Tip well.

The Groin

Gentlemen—it’s time. Grab your hand mirror and let’s shine those tools. How to manscape downstairs begs the question of whether to use a body trimmer or a razor in the workshop. We say it depends on the project.

Trim the bush and gooch – Tidy these areas easily with your body trimmer. We’ll be using that valuable razor time elsewhere.

Shave the gonads and shaft – Carefully, dear brothers, and take your time. Pull the sensitive skin taut after a warm shower and shave your pubic hair in delicate, short strokes that barely meet the skin. Instead of using a typical shaving cream or shave gel, we recommend using a clear shave butter so you can see what you’re doing down there, on top of combatting razor burn and skin irritation.

The Peach

So you got a little peach fuzz, eh? It’s not as displeasing as back hair, but it’s no trip to a swanky cocktail bar, either. Taming your tochus is not so much about what you do—it’s more about what you don’t.

Without some professional help, it can be difficult to achieve a nice smooth peach—in fact, it can be dangerous. Think of it this way—when handling a sharp tool, you want to see where you’re going and have confidence you can control where it’s going. Reaching around with your electric razor where you can’t see clearly or maneuver comfortably is a sure way to invite danger to your manscaping time.

Our advice? If you want that squeaky clean hairless look from cheek to crevice to cheek, book a wax appointment or get laser hair removal and let the experts take care of your…hairière. (Sorry, we had to.)

The Beard Club Cordially Invites You to the Manscape Garden Party

Who says manscaping has to be scary or painful? It’s time to change that. It might take some sharpening, but how to properly manscape and get rid of that unwanted body hair is a skill in arm’s reach.

We are The Beard Club, but we’re in the business of hair everywhere—and we want to help take the pain and guesswork out of managing yours.

In addition to our classic beard products like our beard oil which can help with a variety of beard growth issues, our waterproof body trimmer has two interchangeable heads for torso-to-toe comfort. Throw in our moisturizing body wash and men’s loofah, and you’ll be kissing hands in no time.

Sources:

Coach Magazine. Top Five Chest Hair Styles. https://www.coachmag.co.uk/grooming/3392/top-five-chest-hair-styles
GQ Magazine. The GQ Guide to Body Grooming. https://www.gq.com/story/gq-mens-body-grooming-guide
The Adult Man. The Manscaping Manual: How To Manscape Your Entire Body Safely. https://theadultman.com/hair-and-grooming/manscaping/