How to Shave Body Hair (Men)

Co-authored by Juan Sabino

Last Updated: October 25, 2022 References

Many men choose to remove their body hair for many reasons. Swimmers and bodybuilders choose to do so for performance and competitive reasons. Other athletes choose to do so for similar reasons. Some men choose to do so for purely aesthetic reasons. However, many men are relatively uninformed about how to properly remove their body hair. Depending on the part of your body, removing your body hair can be a time consuming and involved activity. Luckily, there are a few steps you can take to make your body hair removal a lot easier.

Things You Should Know

Hop in the shower and apply a pre-shave product to the body part you'd like to shave.
Cover your shaved skin with an aftershave product to keep it moisturized and protected.
Give yourself plenty of time to shave your body hair, as it can be a time-consuming process.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Shaving Different Parts of Your Body

1
Shower before shaving. Taking a warm shower before shaving is highly recommended. Not only will the shower remove dirt and relax you, but it'll also open up your pores.^{[1]
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Expert Source

Juan Sabino
Professional Barber
Expert Interview. 28 January 2020.} Taking a shower, then, is a shaving and hair removal best practice. Make sure you do it.
- Don't spend too much time in the shower. 3-5 minutes should suffice.
- Make sure you dry off well.
- Fully rinse off any soap or body wash.^{[2]
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2
Apply pre-shave gel or similar product. After you've showered and dried off, make sure to apply some sort of pre-shave product. Of course, such a product will depend on where you are shaving.
- If you're shaving your beard, make sure to use a facial scrub or something that will clean and soften your beard before removal.^{[3]
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  Expert Source
  
  Juan Sabino
  Professional Barber
  Expert Interview. 28 January 2020.}
- If you're shaving a more sensitive area, consider pre-shave oils or gels.
- Don't substitute with products (soaps and other products) not intended for these uses.^{[4]
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3
Manage your facial hair. Shaving your facial hair is the one constant that almost all men have to deal with. As a result, we're pretty familiar with what we need to do. Consider the following:
- If you have a beard, take a trimmer with a low guard, and remove as much hair as possible.
- After you've trimmed, or if you don't have a beard, moisten and lather your face with water and shaving cream.
- Take a razor and shave with the grain. Although shaving against the grain might give you a closer shave, it could also damage your skin.^{[5]
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  Expert Source
  
  Juan Sabino
  Professional Barber
  Expert Interview. 28 January 2020.}
- Rinse and moisturize.
4
Shave your back. Shaving your back is one of the most popular things for men to shave. It is also relatively difficult due to obvious constraints. When shaving your back, you might just need an assistant to get hard to reach places. But with or without an assistant, you need to follow some of the same procedures:
- Take your trimmer with a low guard and trim your back hair.
- Moisten and lather your back with water and soap/shaving cream.
- Take a razor and remove the remaining hair.
- Rinse and moisturize.
5
Groom your chest and stomach. Some men prefer to shave their chest and stomach entirely. If you prefer to shave your chest or simply trim excess hair, you'll follow similar directions. Make sure you have a good pair of clippers, don't cut corners, and don't rush.
- Make sure your hair and skin are dry.
- Shave or trim in the direction of the natural grain of your hair.
- Shave or trim all the way down. Don't leave any hair untrimmed or unshaved as you move down your chest and stomach.
- Apply lotion afterwards.^{[6]
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6
Remove your armpit hair. Most experts agree that many men don't need to bother removing all of their armpit hair. Typically, if you've got a lot of armpit hair, you should just trim it. If you want to remove it all for one reason or another, do so. Consider the following:
- If you're trimming, trim with a long attachment on a clipper. You can also do this with scissors.
- If you're going to shave it all off, trim first with a shorter attachment for a clipper.
- When you're done with the trimmer, moisten and apply shaving cream if you want.
- Use a razor to remove the left over hair.
- Moisturize afterward.
7
Groom your arms. Men who wish to groom their arm and shoulder hair can also either shave it all off or just trim it. Tending to your arm and shoulder hair will compliment your overall look if you choose to go for a more bare and clean cut look. However, shaving your arms and shoulders should be done with care.
- Shave your shoulders and biceps bare. Start on the shoulder with a trimmer and no guard.
- As you move down toward your elbow, use longer guards. This is because most men won't want to completely shave their arm hair off.
- Make sure there are no hard hairlines when you are moving down from the biceps to the lower arm.
- When you're done with the trimmer, moisten your arms and apply shaving cream if you want.
- Use a razor to remove the left over hair.
- Moisturize afterward.
8
Tend to your legs. Like with other parts of their body, men have two choices when it comes to grooming their leg hair. They can either shave it all off or trim it. Both follow the general rules set forth on other parts of the body.
- If you're trimming, make sure you use a clipper with a moderate attachment. Start with a longer attachment, and move smaller until you find the desired length.
- Try to trim most excess hair off with a short attachment.
- Moisten and lather your skin.
- Take a razor and shave off the rest of the hair.
- Rinse and moisturize afterward.^{[7]
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9
Groom your groin. The groin area – and all of the parts there – is the most complicated area to shave. A general rule is to take a moderate sized clipper guard and remove all of the excess hair that you can get with it. After this, you need to decide whether you are completely shaving, or just trimming. If you're trimming, just adjust to a smaller clipper guard and trim until you get to the desired length of hair. If you're shaving, you need to consider:
- Remove as much hair as you can with the shortest clipper guard possible. For hard to reach areas where you can't maneuver a clipper, use small scissors – be careful!
- After removing excess hair, moisten your skin with water.
- In order to get the rest of your hair, take a new/sharp razor and use slow and small strokes to remove the rest of the hair.
- Don't use shaving cream or lather as you might not be able to see the hair you need to remove.
- Moisturize afterward.
10
Manicure your butt. Many men prefer to take all of the hair off of their butt. If this is you, then your method is fairly simple. Take your clipper with no guard, and just shave everything off. Consider the following:
- You most likely don't need to use shaving cream, but you might want to moisten your skin with water.
- You'll need access to a large mirror so you can see those hard-to-reach places.
- You'll probably want a small mirror so you can maneuver it around to see harder-to-reach places.
- Make sure to lift your legs up so you can get all of your hair. Don't leave uncut swaths here and there – especially in that super-hard-to-reach place.
- Moisturize afterward.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Taking Care After Your Shave

1
Take a shower or bath and wash with warm water for two minutes. Taking a short shower or bath is one of the final steps of your shave. Here, you'll wash off any hair, pre-shave or shaving cream residue, and use water to relax your pores.
- Do not use soap because it dries the skin.
- Don't spend too long in the shower.
- Make sure to dry yourself thoroughly.
2
Put on aftershave. After you've showered and dried yourself, make sure to put on an aftershave product on the areas you've shaved. Aftershave products are not really just for your face, but for any area where you've shaved. It will keep your skin from drying out and help repair any damage you might have done with the razor.^{[8]
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3
Clean your razor and trimmer with alcohol. Now that you've finished, you need to clean up your mess and make sure your razor and trimmer are clean and sanitary so you can use them next time.^{[9]
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Expert Source

Juan Sabino
Professional Barber
Expert Interview. 28 January 2020.} This is important, as you don't want dead skin and hair on your razor and trimmer contributing to bacteria growth.
- Take a cotton swab, cotton ball, or clean cloth rag and soap them with alcohol.
- Clean the razor, trimmer, and trimmer guards with your alcohol-soaked rag.
- Allow to dry and put away.^{[10]
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Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Planning Your Shave

1
Decide on your overall look. Make sure your body hair grooming style fits your entire body and your overall look. You don't want to contradict yourself and send mixed signals about the sort of person you are. A little forethought can save you a lot of embarrassment and awkward looks.
- If you've got a beard or other facial hair, try not to completely shave your chest and legs.
- If you're going for a fully-shaved look on almost your entire body, make sure you keep up with shaving your facial hair.
- Consistency is key.^{[11]
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2
Commit yourself to maintenance. Maintenance is the biggest factor that stops guys from shaving their body hair. After all, if you make the choice to shave, you'll generally have to invest a lot of time keeping that look up.^{[12]
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3
Decide what exactly you want to shave. Different areas of the body present different challenges. As a result, figure out where you want to shave ahead of time. Avoid deciding to shave your entire body on the fly, as you might not have enough time or the proper supplies to complete your mission. Consider your:
- Back.
- Arms and legs.
- Groin.
- Posterior.
- Chest.
- Face.
4
Set aside a large chunk of time. Shaving your body hair is not as quick as shaving your face. Part of the problem is that we don't really shave our body hair often, so we're not sure how to do it. As a result, you need to set a large chunk of time aside to get the job done.
- Don't have anywhere to go.
- The more of your body you'll be shaving, the more time you'll need.
- Don't rush or cut corners.^{[13]
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5
Find a place to shave. Shaving your body hair is an extremely messy endeavor. Once you get started, hair will be flying everywhere. Make sure you find a good place to shave that'll be easy to clean up afterwards.
- Consider the bathroom.
- Showers or bathtubs work best.
- If you're not in a shower or tub, consider putting some towels down on the floor to collect your hair.
- If you're in a shower or tub, consider putting a hair blocker near your drain. Otherwise, you'll be picking up some chemical drain cleaner to unblock your pipes in the near future.^{[14]
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Expert Q&A
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Question

What is the best way to shave body hair?

Juan Sabino
Professional Barber
Juan Sabino is a Professional Barber and the Owner of Juan's Barber Shop, a barbershop based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Juan has over 20 years of male grooming experience and over eight years of professional barber experience. He specializes in combovers, barber fades, and tapers and is focused on improving men's overall wellness.

Juan Sabino

Professional Barber

Expert Answer

Support wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer.

Make sure you shave with the grain of your hair so you don't irritate your skin.
Question

What is the best way to shave body hair?

Juan Sabino
Professional Barber
Juan Sabino is a Professional Barber and the Owner of Juan's Barber Shop, a barbershop based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Juan has over 20 years of male grooming experience and over eight years of professional barber experience. He specializes in combovers, barber fades, and tapers and is focused on improving men's overall wellness.

Juan Sabino

Professional Barber

Expert Answer

Support wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer.

Before you shave, take a hot shower to help open up your pores and clean off any dead skin.
Question

Are men allowed to shave their body?

Community Answer

Of course!