I want to start by saying, though, that if you and your partner have a certain preference for your chest and back hair, then by all means, do whatever makes you both happy.
With that said, – when it comes to your body hair, myself and a majority of women that I’ve spoken to, all preferred a trimmed look over anything else.
Now, of course, there’s always going to be a minority of women who like the hairless or caveman look (see video below for examples), but, in my experience, it’s VERY rare and for most of these women, is not a deal breaker if you’re keeping your chest and back hair managed.
If you’re naturally hairless, that’s perfectly acceptable – it’s when hairy men try to go for the smooth and hairless look that it goes wrong pretty quickly.
If you’re looking for me to discuss how to shave your chest and back bald, you’re going to be disappointed because that’s an unrealistic approach due to the side effects:
- razor burn
- ingrown hairs
- itching
- time commitment
Women don’t care as much about it as you think – to a point.
Chest
To start, you’re going to need a good pair of clippers – especially since these will also be used in my other body hair grooming articles/videos.
$40 – Wahl Elite Pro High Performance Clippers #79602
I love and only recommend these trimmers by Wahl because:
- This is what all my groomer friends, mentioned in the intro video, use.
- Wahl has been around for a long time
- Include a lifetime warranty (5 years on the blades, too)
- Made in the USA
- The kit comes with everything you could ever need
- They’ll last decades with proper care
Now that you’ve got the clippers, it’s time to get into how to do it:
- Trim before hopping into the shower so you can rinse off any hair that’s stuck to you.
- Use a 1 to a 4 attachment, depending on your preferred length. I recommend a 2 attachment (1/4″) because it’ll allow you to go longer between trims and it isn’t so spikey like a shorter attachment.
- Trim by going against the direction of the grain/hair growth. It won’t really work well going with or across the grain.
Stomach
While I’m talking about the front of your torso, don’t forget to trim your belly hair during this time, as well! You don’t want any line of demarcation, so use the same attachment as you used for your chest and trim whatever belly hair you have.
Stop at your waist, because below there will be a different topic for another day. 🙂
Back & Shoulders
There’s not a single woman I’ve ever met who said she thought back and shoulder hair was sexy – never once.
Luckily, you’ve got a 4 options, depending on the type and amount of hair you have on your back and shoulders.
1. Trimming
If you’ve got a little bit of back and shoulder hair that isn’t too coarse or thick, then trimming is for you.
I’ve recommended the ManGroomer to clients who are just in need of a once over every few weeks to keep it in check. It looks ridiculous but it works incredibly well!
$49 – MANGROOMER Ultimate Pro Back Shaver
This will allow you to closely trim the hair on your back and shoulders without needing to ask your partner or buddy to help you out. It’s a win-win for everyone, haha!
Pro Tip: Treat it as a back scratcher, rather than looking in the mirror and trying to use it. Just go up and down your back, starting at one side and going up and down to the other side. Do it a few times and you’ll get all your back.
2. Waxing
If you’ve got a little more than a sprinkling of back and shoulder hair, but it’s not a carpet, then you’re a good candidate for waxing.
You want to get it done every 4-6 weeks, but if you have an adverse reaction or get a lot of bumps or ingrown hairs, then it’s time to move onto the next option. Which is:
3. Laser Hair Removal
If you have an adverse reaction to waxing or you’ve got a lot of back and shoulder hair, then it’s time to call in the lasers.
It’ll take anywhere from 5 to 8 treatments every 5-6 weeks, but that’s the last time you’ll ever have to worry about it and my clients who’ve gotten it done have all said it’s worth it.
There’s one caveat, though. You can’t do laser hair removal if you’ve got light colored or super fine hair because the laser won’t pick it up. So in that case, look into trimming, waxing or the nuclear option:
4. Electrolysis
This is where each individual hair is zapped one at a time, and it works no matter what type of hair you have. It’ll be more expensive since it’s doing hairs one by one, as opposed to the shotgun approach like lasering, but it will work for everyone.
So that’s how to trim or shave your chest, back, shoulders (and stomach) hair to be more attractive to women.