Some men go their entire lives without thinking about their armpit hair. Some men stare at their armpits in the mirror, worried that their hair is like an enormous forest that children in fairy tales could disappear into and never be seen again. If you’re one of the latter people, worry no longer — the answer is here.
First of all, you should know there’s no reason you need to have armpit hair at all. Some scientists theorize its only purpose is to trap the body odors that emit from the armpit, a genetic legacy from our primate origins when having a strong scent was the best way to attract a mate. This, you may have noticed, is no longer the case — quite the opposite, in fact.
So there’s a good reason to either trim your armpit hair or do away with it entirely, but if you’re doing the former, well, there isn’t a proper, established length as much as there is a proper range of lengths. If you leave it too long, the people who are lucky enough to get a good view of your bare underarms won’t notice you trimmed it, so what’s the point? Most armpit hair usually only grows to be two to three inches long, so an inch and a half should do the trick. If you cut it too short, then you’ll have armpit stubble in two of the most sensitive parts of your body.
Whatever length you choose, there is one iron-clad rule to follow: Whatever hair is visible when you put your arms down at your sides, you trim them down until they disappear. (This is a good rule even for men who don’t otherwise plan on taming their pits, frankly, but as always, you be you.) Whether you trim or shave is ultimately up to you too, of course.
If you’ve decided to trim, it’s pretty easy — use scissors to cut the longer hairs down to make the process easier on you and your electric trimmer. Select your comb length, and then use the aforementioned trimmer and cut that hair down to size.
If you want to shave your pits, repeat the process above, using the trimmer at its shortest length, then get in the shower. Exfoliate the skin gently but thoroughly, then apply your shave butter or whatever else you use before shaving. Grab an extremely clean razor and begin shaving. The armpit is not shaped to be razor blade-friendly, so take your time with it and gently shave in all directions to get every last hair stalk, thus avoiding the aforementioned stubble. Then apply a good moisturizer to prevent ingrown hairs and razor bumps, which you also want to avoid because, again, it’s very sensitive under there.
Congratulations, you have now deforested your armpits! Now, all you need to do is find someone to show them to.
