My first piece of advice for you guys out there hoping to shave your pubic hair is this: Don’t. I’ve previously established that I’m a big pervert horndog for male body hair, so I’m obviously not gonna prude up when it comes to the male bush. The thing is, I’m kinda on an island. According to data referenced by Manscaped in its guide to women’s pubic hair preferences on men, only 10 to 20 percent of us prefer things untamed. In fairness, that’s still a healthy chunk, so if keeping things wild is your preference for your body, you’ll likely still have a pool of women who dig it. Better yet, studies about the pubic hair preferences of gay men find that they’re a bit more forgiving of full bushes, with 78 percent saying they’re just fine with a jungle down there.
But if you want to appeal to the largest quantity of women or men (which is also perfectly understandable — though, again, by no means a requirement), around two-thirds of female survey respondents cited “trimmed” as their preference, while 12 to 16 percent liked things completely smooth.
As someone who does her own pubic landscaping herself, I can confidently state that trimming is by far the easier method to pursue. There are plenty of pubic hair trimmers on the market that function much like those you might use on your head or face, but are typically smaller and built around the idea that most people like to keep the grooming tools they employ upstairs separate from the ones they employ downstairs. That said, you can totally still use head or facial hair trimmers on your pubes. I would recommend, though, using a guard/comb to allow for a little length to remain. After all, you can always go shorter. Scissors are also an option, but they can provide more of a challenge to maintain uniformity in length. Either way, it’s best to do the trimming on dry hair. Afterward, rinse off, and you’re done.
If you want to go completely bare, you’ll need both a trimmer/scissors and a regular razor (ideally with as new of a blade as possible). Start by trimming your preferred way, on dry hair, and then jump in the shower. Give yourself a few minutes to warm up — warm water will soften your skin and hair follicles, making for an overall smoother shave. During this time, I like to exfoliate. You can buy body scrubs that will help slough away dead skin, but a washcloth will do the trick, too. Just be sure to soap it up, and don’t scrub too hard. Next, you’ll need to grab your shaving cream and really get to work. Shave in the direction of the hair growth, rather than against it. You might have trouble getting every single hair shaved down to the skin, particularly right up against the base of your dick. Try pulling the skin taut for a bit more room, but it’s also not a big deal if you don’t get everything completely smooth.
Once you’re finished, lather up the region with moisturizer. There are lots of products out there designed to help prevent post-shave ingrown hairs from emerging, and most of them actually work. I use this one, because it makes me feel like a fancy bitch. But there are plenty more marketed toward men if you have some internal shit to deal with that prevents you from buying feminine products.
As for your balls? Let them be. And not for aesthetic reasons either. The skin is too thin and loose there to get anything resembling a good, close shave. You can try, but there will be blood. If you really want to be smooth all over, wax specialists are well-equipped to manage that for you.
Otherwise, for everything else in the vicinity, don’t sweat it: It’s hair, so it’s gonna grow back — whatever you do to it. Who cares then if it takes some practice to figure out exactly how best to trim back the hedges?
Magdalene Taylor
Magdalene Taylor is a staff writer at MEL. She covers internet culture, sex and the online adult industry. She lives in Brooklyn but is from God's Country, Western Massachusetts.
