Manscaping

“Manscaping: to groom a man. Shaving, waxing, cleaning up the superfluous fur.”
- Urbandictionary.com

This past summer was one hot summer! It seemed like every day that went by the rising temperatures made it feel like we were living on the surface of the sun. Because of all that heat and sweat there is one business that seems to boom in the summer months. Estheticians all over the Southeast were waxing and removing unwanted hair in areas that were exposed. Let’s face it, in the summer heat you want to wear as little as possible so that you’ve got the essentials covered but everything else can catch a breeze, if by some slim chance there happened to be one. While waxing is nothing new to women, we’ve been doing it for decades in the most delicate of areas, a new phenomenon has reared it’s furry head (pun totally intended) among the males. Manscaping has become one of the new defining attributes of the metrosexual/ubersexual man!

While I was at my friend Victoria’s salon, Victoria’s Skin Therapy, filming my web series Real Women/Real Sexy: Wax On Wax Off: Brazilian Wax I thought we’d ask her about manscaping. If you watch the web show, you know that Victoria and I are very close. Next to a gynecologist, your esthetician ranks pretty high up there on the “I’ve seen you in and out of your underwear” list of people you know.

I asked Victoria if she often did a little manscaping for her male clients. Her response was, “Absolutely! They are often tentative about asking and are sometimes not sure what it’s called, but they definitely want to know how it’s done.”

So, I asked what were some of the main reasons a man would come in to get himself “scaped” and these were her answers:

1. Men want to feel lighter and airier down below, just like a woman does during the hotter months of summer.

2. Some men have asked their spouses to wax their delicates and the spouse has responded with, “I will if you will.”

3. A few have come in on a dare. Sometimes Victoria only gets half way through. This, she explains, is why she always starts from the outside in on men. If they change their mind in the middle of the process, at least they look even when they leave.

The one challenge that Victoria says she faces with this new found beauty regimen for men is that beauty suppliers don’t make coverups for males. When a woman goes in for a wax on the delicates, there is a lovely little paper thong to cover up the unmentionables. There is no such coverup for men. Victoria always tells her male clients to bring in a sock. Tube socks work best!

I’ve done the research for you metrosexual guys out there! If you want to get rid of your superfluous fur, go see your local esthetician! They’ll make sure you are taken care of and that you walk out even and smooth.

Oh, and don’t forget to bring your sock!