# Experiences with male waxing (TMI, perhaps) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 4, 2009, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiences-with-male-waxing-tmi-perhaps/488247 "2009-03-04T05:15:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiences-with-male-waxing-tmi-perhaps/488247/41 "2009-03-06T09:32:35Z")
I have very few hairs on my back, and the ones that are there are not really visible, so I usually just ignore them. The few times I did go for a totally smooth body look, I used a spatula to get places I couldn’t reach. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiences-with-male-waxing-tmi-perhaps/488247/42 "2009-03-06T10:00:40Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > I just don’t get why you’d put yourself through it if there was a painless alternative (depilation cream) though. I’d just like to point out that the pain of waxing is over in a couple of seconds, while the pain I got from the chemical burn the friggin’ depilation cream gave me? That hung around for almost two weeks :eek: Never again. Rip away! ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiences-with-male-waxing-tmi-perhaps/488247/43 "2009-03-06T13:13:31Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > I just don’t get why you’d put yourself through it if there was a painless alternative (depilation cream) though. Unless you’re also in the position of having hair in places you can’t reach? Well, depilation cream only gets rid of the hair. It doesn’t pull it out from the root. So waxing lasts longer and just feels cleaner–it also exfoliates the skin because you get rid of layers of dead skin. I never get the smooth feeling from Nair that I do from waxing. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiences-with-male-waxing-tmi-perhaps/488247/44 "2009-03-06T21:33:45Z")
Different strokes for different folks I suppose, and again waxing isn’t “over in seconds” for me as I get a week’s worth of red blotches afterwards so it’s pretty much Veet or shaving. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiences-with-male-waxing-tmi-perhaps/488247/45 "2009-03-07T05:44:41Z")
> [@MissMossie](#): > > Did anyone else think this was going to be about a [different kind of male waxing](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=252770)? (WARNING: another TMI thread) Thanks **MissMossie**. I was trying to find that thread. ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiences-with-male-waxing-tmi-perhaps/488247/46 "2009-03-07T06:47:06Z")
If you have fair skin and dark hair, I’d suggest laser hair removal. The pain is no worse than waxing, you don’t have to do it forever (unlike waxing), and you won’t have problems with ingrown hairs. It’s a longish process (once every six weeks, to hit the growing cycle of all the follicles, or something) but IMHO so totally worth it. When you’re waxing, the new hair growth only feels softer because it’s not being shaved off, stubble always feels rougher than new growth. I don’t think it grows back thinner either. I think – in the waxing process – some hair gets ripped out by the roots and some only gets broken off or missed entirely. You get stubble pretty quickly, though it IS sparser than what shaving would give you. Even if you’re a monthly waxer, you still need to do (at least) weekly maintenence to stay hair-free. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiences-with-male-waxing-tmi-perhaps/488247/47 "2009-03-07T09:16:10Z")
Laser isn’t cheap though, but I agree if you have a lot of dark hair then it’s probably a long term investment. I was seriously considering laser for a while but now that I’ve been using Veet for several years my body hair is less of an issue so I’ve decided not to bother. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiences-with-male-waxing-tmi-perhaps/488247/48 "2009-03-07T13:34:25Z")
> [@Sue\_Duhnym](#): > > If you have fair skin and dark hair, I’d suggest laser hair removal. The pain is no worse than waxing, you don’t have to do it forever (unlike waxing), and you won’t have problems with ingrown hairs. It’s a longish process (once every six weeks, to hit the growing cycle of all the follicles, or something) but IMHO so totally worth it. Are you saying you’ve had laser hair removal done personally? Do you mind if I ask what part of your body, and what the results were? When I read about it, all sources seem to promise a likelihood of “permanent hair reduction”. It’s hard to tell what that means because it seems like an obvious attempt to not over-promise. Is it possible for the area to be as smooth as after waxing or is it just a decrease in hair, permanently? I have a consultation in 2 weeks, by the way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiences-with-male-waxing-tmi-perhaps/488247.md?page=2)