Manscaping, Grooming Tips for the Groom

We've covered (well, uncovered) the brides, so now its time to talk to the grooms.

by regular Guest Blogger, Simon Daykin of Gutsy Groom

Tommy Lee once said, “A man should shave everything but his legs, ‘cause shaving your legs is just weird dude.” Now you don’t necessarily have to go this far, but some manscaping may be in order for your wedding and honeymoon. If you have some unsightly hair you may need to get rid of or if you’re worried about your pasty white skin scaring other folks on the beach, manscaping can really make a difference.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

I have full sleeve tattoos, so I shave my arms. I have been doing so for close to 5 years now…I also moisturize daily to keep my smooth arms nice and soft. I do it so the tattoos look better, but I used to work with a guy who shaved his arms because he had an arm hair forest! I mean this hair was really thick, it was kind of distracting. If you’re heading to the tropics for your honeymoon, may I suggestwaxing your chest and if need be, your back. Back hair is just no good, even Homer Simpson shaves his off. (While singing about it) A nice smooth torso is great for your new wife to lay on and kiss, no hair tickling her ears, or worse…getting in her mouth on the wedding night.

Private Bits And Arm Pits

I will be honest with you, I shave my arm pits, I never liked walking around in a tank top looking like I had 2 midgets in a head lock. But then I found another great plus…neither my sweat nor my deodorant was sticking to the hair I no longer had. It cuts the smell down on a sunny day and the deodorant went right onto the skin instead of the hair. It was win, win. So now we come to the elephant in the room, no pun intended. Your man bits. One has many choices here, the full shave, a trim or maybe you get creative with your styling. It is up to you. But keep this in mind…when you shave your face, you get stubble, this is true for all hairy areas, so if you go the full shave, keep on top of that, you don’t want to give your new wife razor burn do you? No you don’t. And guys… always use a sharp razor and take your time.

Color Me Tanned

We have a lot of couples getting married in the fall or winter, then they head off to the tropics with their wonderful Calgary tans, by which I mean white so bright it hurts your eyes. I know I am in this boat during the winter. Well, I have the answer! Forget the tanning beds or those creepy booths you stand in.Head to the spa and have one of the staff air brush, by hand a tan onto you. You can choose the darkness content and where the tan lines go. So if you’re feeling feisty, bring your speedo and that will be the tan line marker, or you can go tan line free if that’s ok with you and the staff member. This doesn’t protect you from the sun, so bring your sunscreen, but it will add some color so you won’t be so white when you hit the islands. I got one done last week for my trip to Maui and I am very happy with it, they can even define your abs if you like. Just don’t go overboard, because you DO NOT want to look like “that guy”, we all know who “that guy” is.

Simon’s Gutsy Groom Advice

Manscaping is nothing to be embarrassed about. Women shave, wax, pluck and so on. Many Hollywood actor type folks are quite smooth in the skin department and I’m sure they have their daily lotion ritual to keep their skin soft and protected. I know I do.

How much manscaping you want to do is certainly up to you and you alone, I will say that waxing is kind of painful but lasts longer than shaving, I won’t be held responsible if you decide to wax your man bits though. And hey, we’re men, pain ain’t that bad and it is only temporary.

I would suggest talking with your significant other about the hair removal before you go ahead and get started. They may really like your hairy chest, but then again, they may not.