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The older I get, the more of a task shaving my body hair has become. But much as I hate doing it, I've come to prefer shaving, especially down there (internalised misogyny is so much fun!). And that's despite the red bumps I often get after folding my body in half in the shower to shave with a five-blade razor. People on TikTok who also prefer to stay at least somewhat hairless are with me, which I know because I constantly watch them figure out shaving alternatives like waxing, sugaring, depilatory tools, and depilatory creams.
One of these alternatives recently caught my eye because I already owned the tool: a men's facial hair trimmer. For years, I've stashed a cheapo drugstore trimmer in my medicine cabinet for at-home undercut trims, but little did I know that TikTokers had repurposed the tool to remove body hair, reportedly without any irritation. I've watched people use (or heard them talk about using) one to remove hair on their legs, armpits, and even bikini lines, so I had to put it to the test on my very dark and coarse body hair, which just so happens to be paired with pale-white, sensitive skin (thank you, Irish-Italian bloodline).
For my little experiment, I obviously didn't want to take my generic, six-year-old beard trimmer to my most sensitive areas, so I opted for a significant upgrade: Meridian's The Trimmer, gifted to me by the brand. It's actually designed specifically for men's pubic grooming, but it's more or less the same as a beard trimmer: a vibrating razor with tiny, comb-like teeth that comes with several longer comb attachments. It's wildly compact and, with its olive green hue, pretty damn cute for a "men's" product.
Before I stripped down to the skivvies and went for it, I turned to Connecticut-based, board-certified dermatologist Mona Gohara, M.D., for some basic advice on preparation. "[Use a] gentle cleanser and exfoliate. I always think that is a good idea prior to any hair removal or grooming," she explains to Allure. "Before trimming, make sure the hair is dry." I showered with shower cream and Frank Body The Original Coffee Scrub — per Dr. Gohara's instructions. After every shower, I lie on my bed in a robe until I dry all the way off, so I wasn't too worried about excess water hanging around in my body hair.
Later in my bathtub, I took the trimmer to my armpits, then legs, then pubic region. It should be noted that my hair in the first two areas had grown out only for a few days. The latter, I hadn't touched in at least a week and a half. This wasn't necessarily a game-changing moment for me, but I did find an amazing, lazy alternative to shaving for the days I need a last-minute clean-up or want to shave but just can't be bothered.
I say that because using a trimmer on your body hair doesn't produce nearly as clean a shave as razors. Instead of a clean, smooth, bare surface, a beard trimmer will leave you with the tiniest bit of stubble. If you have lighter-colour body hair, you might not even be able to see it. After using it on all the areas I shave regularly, I noticed it wasn't as smooth as it would've been after shaving traditionally, but I'm totally okay with that for situations that aren't… well, intimate, if you catch my drift.
All of that is to be expected, seeing as trimmers aren't designed to slice hair off as closely as a straight-up razor is. But that's also why a trimmer doesn't leave much (if any) skin irritation in its wake. "They are manufactured to trim hair, not to remove it from the root. That is inherently more gentle and less sharp," Dr. Gohara says.
To sum it all up, you sacrifice comfort for a closer shave with a razor — but with a beard trimmer, you sacrifice that closer shave for comfort. Whether or not one will be better for you is, of course, entirely your personal preference and Dr. Gohara agrees with me. "If you are into being bare down there, then a razor is for you. For big-, small-, or medium-bush energy, it's trimmer all the way," Dr. Gohara says. And, she adds, the comb extensions that come with beard trimmers also offer more room for customisation. "It's like the flip phone to a smartphone: They both get the job done, one just has more bells and whistles. Choose your own adventure."
After having used both methods pretty consistently now, I'm opting for a combination of the two. I'm keeping a traditional razor for my armpits and legs because I prefer a closer shave there, occasional irritation be damned. My bikini line has always agreed best with occasional waxing, so I'll stick to that too. But for my lovely lady garden, I'm never giving up my trimmer because it's so damn easy. I'll also be picking it up for any and all last-minute body-hair removal emergencies.
You have to keep your trimmer clean, Dr. Gohara says and, thankfully, doing that is pretty much as easy as replacing your razor cartridge. "Use that cute little brush [that comes with the trimmer] to get the gunk out [of the comb]," she says. "And a little organic disinfectant spray will seal the deal."
This story originally appeared on Allure.com.
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