Chest Hair: The Complete Guide For Men
As a man, there are three things certain in life, death, taxes, and chest hair. For many men, it's a source of pride, but for others, it's the bane of their existence and something they would give anything to get rid of. Whether you love your chest hair or hate it, This guide will help you keep it under control, and we even answer some of the most common questions men have when it comes to chest hair. So with that being said, let's get right into it.
Why Do Men Have Chest Hair?
The reason men grow chest hair comes down to genetics and biology. It is theorized that chest hair was a positive physical attribute thousands of years ago that helped keep your body warm. Chest hair also made it easier to visually spot fleas on the body. It's also believed the reason men have chest hair to this day is due to sexual selection. Men who had chest hair in the past were generally more healthy and had the opportunity to reproduce because they were perceived as more attractive and cleaner. Higher levels of DHT are also a cause for high hair growth in general, including on the chest.
Does More Chest Hair Mean More Testosterone?
Men with higher testosterone levels do grow more hair. This is because an enzyme called 5α-reductase converts testosterone into the sex hormone DHT, which causes hair growth. it doesn't determine the location of hair growth; that comes down to genetics, but it does increase overall hair growth.
Do Girls Like Chest Hair?
Remington products surveyed 440 of their female customers and asked what men's grooming styles they find most attractive. Here are the results
53% of women surveyed who are casually dating said that men should at least give their chest a simple trim, so it doesn't look like a carpet.
47% of women surveyed agreed that they like chest hair on men, and it gives them a masculine appearance.
17% of women surveyed said they prefer a man to be cleanly shaven with no chest hair.
So our takeaway from this survey is that overall, women like chest hair and even find it masculine, but they want you to keep it trimmed and maintained. I'm surprised by the low percentage of women who want men to be cleanly shaven. It seems women don't want a grizzly bear, or a little boy; they want something masculine yet neatly trimmed.
What Percentage Of Guys Have Chest Hair?
A study of over 1100 men ages 17 - 71 found that only 6% had no chest hair at all, while 56% displayed a moderate amount of chest hair. 38% of men displayed a light amount of chest hair.
In African American men, 22% were found to have no chest hair, while 37% displayed a moderate amount of chest hair, and the remaining 41% had a light amount of chest hair.
Should You Shave Chest Hair?
While some guys who don't have a lot of chest hair can get away with shaving their chest, in general, we do not recommend shaving your chest hair. Shaving your chest hair can increase your chances of getting ingrown hairs. Another common side effect of shaving your chest is experiencing an itching sensation when hairs grow back.
So if you hate the look of your chest hair, we recommend trimming. Trimming won't cause ingrown hairs or cause skin sensitivity, and trimming technology has made a lot of progress in recent years with precision trimming blades like the Brio Zero Blade that can get a skin-close trim. Not to mention trimming is less time-consuming and an easier process than shaving.
Now, if you want to learn the correct way to trim your chest quickly and easily, then scroll down to the section right below this, and we will walk you through it step by step.
How To Trim Chest Hair
Now we will walk you through how to trim your chest hair step by step. Before we get started, we recommend trimming your chest in the shower; this will make for an easy clean-up later. Trust me; your significant other will appreciate this.
You only need a few products to trim your chest hair; here's what you'll need.
What You Will Need
- Electric Trimmer
- Trimming Guards
- Precision Trimming Head (optional)
What length Should Your Chest Hair Be?
This is up to your personal preference, but generally, the best two options are to go with stubble length or to go for a clean-shaven look. Remember that we don't recommend shaving, as mentioned earlier in the article. To get that shaven appearance without shaving, you can use a precision trimming head like the Zero-Blade that you can attach to your trimmer.
If you are going for the stubble length and are going to keep the appearance of some light chest hair, then make sure not to shape or stylize your chest hair. It looks best to follow the overall natural growth pattern on your chest. You don't want to define any outlines or shapes. The only acceptions are if you want to remove hair from the nipple and belly button areas.
Step 1. Trim The Upper Chest
Once you are in the shower and have your trimmer ready with a trim guard of about 1 or 2 for that stubble appearance, of your precision blade attacked, if you are going for a skin close appearance, you will want to start at the upper chest.
Start with one side of the chest and trim down in the direction of hair growth. You might have to go over the same areas multiple times to get all the hairs. Once you finish, you can repeat the same thing on the other side of the chest
Step 2. Trim The Abdomen
Next, trim your abdomen area from the bottom of your chest to the top of your belly button. Use the same vertical trimming technique and go over the entire abdomen. Trim downwards in the direction of hair growth. You might have to go over each section multiple times if there are any leftover hairs.
If you are skinny or have visible abs, you might want to go slower on this step and be sure to angle your trimmer correctly when trimming the indented areas of your abs.
Step 3. Trim The Upper Pubic Region.
Now it's time to trim the upper area of your pubic region right below the belly button. If you want to keep trimming lower, we recommend our guide to trimming your balls here.
We recommend trimming in the same way as the previous steps; however, if you have a happy trail, then you might want to determine if that's something you want to keep or not. We don't recommend shaping your happy trail, and you should keep it looking natural while cleaning up the surrounding areas. If you want to learn more about happy trails, we wrote a blog here.
Step 4. Finishing Touches
You should look nice and neat, but before you leave the shower, make sure to go over these easy-to-miss areas.
Check to make sure you don't have any leftover hairs growing around the nipples. You can use your trimmer without a guard and slowly approach and cut the hairs.
Next, look at your lower neck; you might have some clear or smaller hairs that you overlooked before. You can cut those using your trimmer without a guard, or you can use your precision trimming blade to remove them altogether, Make sure to trim in the direction of hair growth.
Another place you should check is shoulder hair. It's not exactly chest hair, but If you plan on having your shirt off any time soon, then this is Definitely hair you want to trim off. We recommend using your precision trimming head to remove the appearance of shoulder hair completely. If you don't have a precision trimming head, then using your trimmer without a guard is also acceptable.
Conclusion
There you go! That's our blog on chest hair for men. We hope you learned something, and if we missed anything, we would love to hear your feedback in the comments below. If you are interested in other areas of manscaping, then be sure to check out our blog posts on happy trails, and trimming your balls here.
Happy grooming!
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