The older I get, the extra tasking shaving my physique hair turns into — mush as I hate doing it, although, I’ve come to simply desire being shaved, particularly down there (internalized misogyny is a lot enjoyable!). That is all regardless of the crimson bumps I usually topic myself to whereas folding my physique in half with a five-blade razor as I bathe. Folks on TikTok who additionally desire to remain a minimum of considerably hairless are with me, which I do know as a result of I continuously watch them work out shaving alternate options akin to waxing, sugaring, depilatory instruments, and depilatory lotions.
One in all these shaving alternate options lately caught my eye as a result of I already owned one: a males’s facial hair trimmer. For years, I’ve stashed a cheapo drugstore trimmer in my medication cupboard for at-home undercut trims however little did I do know, TikTok customers had repurposed the facial hair instrument to take away physique hair, reportedly with none irritation. I’ve watched folks use (or hear them speak about utilizing) one to take away hair on their legs, armpits, and even bikini traces — so I needed to put the strategy to the check on my very darkish and coarse physique hair, which simply so occurs to be paired with cast-white, delicate pores and skin (thanks, Irish-Italian bloodline).
For my little experiment, I clearly did not wish to take my generic, six-year-old beard trimmer to my most delicate areas, so I opted for a major improve: Meridian’s The Trimmer, gifted to me by the model. It is truly designed particularly for males’s pubic grooming, nevertheless it’s kind of the identical as a beard trimmer: a vibrating razor with tiny comb-like tooth that comes with a number of longer comb attachments. It is wildly compact and, with its olive inexperienced hue, fairly rattling cute for a “males’s” product. Comparable trimming choices embrace Bushbalm’s Francesca Trimmer or Manscaped’s The Garden Mower.
Earlier than I stripped all the way down to the skivvies and went for it, I turned to Connecticut-based board-certified dermatologist Mona Gohara, M.D., for some primary recommendation on preparation. “[Use a] mild cleanser and exfoliate; I at all times assume that’s a good suggestion previous to any hair elimination or grooming,” she explains to Attract. “Earlier than trimming, be sure the hair is dry.” I showered with my go-to physique wash — Billie’s Cream-Gel — and scrub — Frank Physique The Authentic Espresso Scrub — per Gohara’s directions. After each bathe, I lay on my mattress in a gown till I dry all the way in which off, so I wasn’t too nervous about extra water hanging round in my physique hair.
Later in my bathtub, I took the trimmer to my armpits, then legs, then pubic area. It must be famous that my hair within the prior two areas had solely grown out for a couple of days. The latter, I hadn’t touched in a minimum of every week and a half. This wasn’t essentially a game-changing second for me, however I did discover an incredible, lazy different to shaving for the times I would like a last-minute clean-up or wish to shave however simply cannot be bothered.
I say that as a result of utilizing a trimmer in your physique hair like this does not produce almost as clear a shave as razors. As an alternative of a clear, easy, naked floor, a beard trimmer will depart you with the tiniest little bit of stubble — when you have lighter-colored physique hair, you won’t even be capable of see it. After utilizing it on all of the areas I shave usually, I seen it wasn’t as easy as it might’ve been after shaving historically, however I am completely OK with that for conditions that are not… nicely, intimate, in case you catch my drift.