Here’s a general guide to how often you should manscape depending on the type of hair:
- Hair down there – Every 1 to 2 weeks
- Hair down there (this tends to grow slower) – Every 1 to 4 weeks
- Armpit hair – Every 2 to 4 weeks
- Leg hair – Every 2 to 4 weeks
A lot of men have the mistaken impression that manscaping is something that needs to be done daily, and is something that takes a very long time. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Not quite. Unfortunately for many men, they may have the impression that manscaping:
- Takes a ton of time
- They need to do it every day.
The truth however is that it doesn’t take that much time, and unlike moisturizing, you certainly don’t need to do it every day.
So,
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How Often Should You Manscape?
The short and quick answer is that, for most men, trimming or shaving their nether region once every few weeks seems to be the sweet spot. For armpits and other body hair, about once every 2 to 4 weeks seems to be quite popular. A lot of men also reported that they will manscape the night before a date, just to be safe.
The most amount of time that you will take manscaping and just general grooming is the first time, as chances are your armpit hair and other body hair will be at its maximum length, having never been trimmed or shaved.
After that first time, however, it is all just upkeep.
The first time you go over your body with a trimmer, and maybe shave a few rough spots here and there, it might take an hour or two. Afterward, however, generally speaking, it’s not going to take long at all for maintenance purposes.
That said, you really do need to be consistent in your upkeep and maintenance.
The further you fall back, the more time it is going to take to get back to the spot where you were.
Personal grooming is just like your personal health, the longer you stay away from the gym and off your diet, the harder it’s going to be to get back to where you were (or where you are going).
What Tools Should I Use To Manscape?
Remember, there are also actual health concerns when manscaping yourself. Some of the biggest risks include infection, ingrown hairs, and skin irritation.
In addition, you also face the risk of cuts and more serious injuries, which nearly half of men have experienced from manscaping, according to a recent survey.
Most of these issues come from improper techniques and using the wrong tools.
When it comes to trimming our delicate areas, you should invest in a tool that will allow you to do so safely and efficiently. That’s why we came up with our own guide to the best groomers and trimmers for manscaping.
Do I Need to Trim Body Hair Every Day?
No.
If we are talking about keeping your overall body hair in check, then a quick once-a-week or every other week all-over with a body trimmer is about the absolute most often you need to keep your body hair at a manageable length.
And this is for men who are quite finicky over their body hair. For men who want a little bit more, but at the same time want it tamed, once every 3 weeks or even once a month will definitely suffice.
Do I Need to Manscape Every Day?
Unless you star in an adult film every day of your life, you don’t need to be manscaping daily.
Here, however, it really depends on your personal manscaping style.
If you are going for a very smooth, hairless look then of course you will need to have more upkeep than a guy who would rather just trim his berries and public hair and call it a day.
If you are one of the latter, then much like general body hair, once a week is probably the most you need to do.
I did a bit of looking around, mostly from various men’s forums, regarding popular timelines for often men manscape different body parts. I basically found the following to be most commonly listed:
- Every 1 to 2 weeks – Trimming or shaving hair down there
- Every 2 to 4 weeks – Trimming or shaving armpit hair
- Every 2 to 4 weeks – Trimming leg hair
If you are former, this is of course going to take more care. Stubble tends to come out quite quickly, so if you are looking for a totally hairless look you may need to shave your shaft every other day or every three days.
Usually, hair on the shaft grows less quickly than it does right at the top of your member, so this is the area where stubble can quickly become a nuisance.
Stay on top of this as long as necessary. Hair down there seems to grow less quickly than the shaft, but can be a total pain to shave when it grows out longer, so you really need to stay on top of this if that’s your thing.
Speaking of how fast or slow hair grows on your body, you may find the next section interesting.
How Fast Does Your Body Hair Grow?
Knowing how fast your body hair grows may give you a better estimate on how often you will need to manscape.
Your body has around 5 million hair follicles, all of which go through 3 stages:
- Anagen – This is where your hair follicle is actively growing
- Catagen – This is a transition stage where the follicle actively grows and rests
- Telogen – This is the resting stage, where the hair follicle has stopped growing
Both the hair on your scalp and the hair on your body go through these 3 stages, but the difference between being that body hair goes through these phases much, much faster.
This is important to know because it’s the reason why your hair can grow to incredible lengths, while your armpit and other body hair cannot.
Hair on your scalp for instance tends to remain in the anagen (growing) phase anywhere from 2 to 6 years. After that, it will transition to the telogen (resting) phase and eventually, fall out and start the process all over again. Body hair, on the other hand, goes through these phases much, much faster. This is why you’ve probably seen people with incredibly long hair or beards, but you’ve never seen someone who has armpit hair or leg hair that gets that long.
For instance:
- On average, the hair on your head will grow about 6 inches per year. Men’s hair grows faster than women’s due to higher levels of testosterone.
- On average, the hair on your head grows from 1 centimeter to 1 inch per month.
- Facial hair tends to grow at roughly the same speed as scalp hair.
- Armpit hair, for instance, grows at about half the speed of scalp and facial hair, around .27mm per day. As it is body hair, the speed at which it goes through each stage is also faster, which is why it doesn’t grow forever.
So, based on this information, 2 things should become apparent:
- Your body hair grows much slower than the hair on your head.
- The hair on your body cannot grow as long as your facial and scalp hair.
This is why, for most men, following the listed guidelines above is ideal:
- Anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks seems to be the sweet spot for all of your body hair.
That being said, how fast your body hair grows also depends on several other factors, such as:
- Genetics and lineage
- Health
- Diet
Can I Slow Down Body Hair Growth?
There are 2 things that you can do to slow down how fast your body hair grows. One of them is obviously not advisable:
- Reducing the amount of Vitamin C, niacin, biotin, iron, and zinc in your diet.
- Waxing.
Vitamin C, niacin, biotin, iron, and zinc all help and support your hair health to one degree or another, and so, by limiting their intake, you could theoretically slow down your hair growth.
Obviously, that is not advisable as it’s just not healthy.
Your other option is to wax.
This is because when you trim or shave your body hair, the follicle’s root remains intact. When you wax, you are basically ripping it out, root and all. This means that it will take longer for the hair to grow out before you need to manscape.
Summary
To summarize everything up:
- You don’t need to manscape every day.
- As long as you keep a regular routine, your upkeep time should be minimal.
- The sweet spot for most men with respect to their armpit hair, and other body hair is one manscaping session every 1 to 3 weeks.
- Your body hair grows much slower than your scalp hair. It also does not grow as long.
- You can reduce how frequently you manscape by waxing.
Hopefully, this article helps correct the perception that manscaping takes a ton of time and that you need to do it every day.
It’s well worth it to manscape regularly because it provides a lot of hygienic benefits and your partner will certainly appreciate it and could provide a boost to your overall life.