A
male
age
30-35,
anonymous
writes:My girlfriend told me she prefers a man that is shaved in the groin. I've always just trimmed fairly short, but I figured I would give shaving a shot if it is what she likes. I've only ever shaved my face so I wasn't too experience with what to do down there. I shaved in the shower with shaving cream but shaved against the grain. For the last two days I have had terrible razor burn and ingrown hairs down there. I will not see her for 3 days. Can I make this ugly razor burn go away before them? If not that's ok I can keep my boxers on.. But how should I shave to avoid this? When I shaved it felt like I had stubble.. Should I try wax or maybe a product like nair? Thanks so much Reply to this Question
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female
reader, Ciar  +, writes (23 August 2013):
 Simple things to avoid razor burn:1. Hair should be trimmed beforehand2. Let hair soak a while (7-10 minutes maybe)3. Use a new blade4. Go with the grain, then one sweep against if you have to5. Exfoliate and moisturize the area regularly6. Buy a bottle of PFB lotion. It's like Bikini Zone, but better because it's a roll-on. It's a little more expensive, but lasts longer. It reduces existing redness and prevents future flare ups. You can even use this on your face and neck.The more time you spend shaving the area the more you aggravate it. The above instructions shorten that time, thus preventing redness and ingrown hairs.Just curious. Do you expect your girlfriend to be completely shaved? If not and you're fine with her being groomed then apply the same standards to yourself. If she wanted you to dye your hair orange or tattoo your face would you do that too?If, however, you don't mind looking like a eunuch, then follow the above instructions.:)
A
female
reader, So_Very_Confused +, writes (22 August 2013):
 I'm voting for a new girlfriend too...
my hubby liked to totally shave when we met... I BEGGED him to grow SOME hair... but he only knew how to fully shave so I bought him a lovely wet dry trimmer for what a company here calls "Bonsai trimming" so now we call it that.
He can totally shave with it wet in the shower... so if you feel that YOU MUST be totally barren for this girl (although how she cannot feel like a pedophile I do not know) you could try that.
one of the things to do to avoid ingrown hairs is to moisturize and exfoliate (a rough washcloth will work) daily not just on shaving days... I would suggest a rough washcloth workout in the shower daily and moisturize the entire area twice daily and after the shower....
also I suggest using hair conditioner for shaving that delicate area...
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A
female
reader, k_c100  +, writes (22 August 2013):
 Gosh what is the world coming to when women want their men to be shaved down there!
Get yourself a new girlfriend, seriously. Or tell her you are not a pre-pubescent boy and dont want to resemble a 12 year old therefore you are not giving in to her demands and she should like you the way you are. Or tell her you want her entire body to be waxed and to never see a hair on her again and see what she says!
In all seriousness shaving is always going to lead to stubble and rashes and there is not much you can do to avoid it. Getting yourself waxed by a professional is the only way to really get good results, but even then the re-growth between waxes is pretty gross - you have to wait till the hair is a certain length before you can wax again.
But put your girlfriend's daft demands to one side - do you want to be waxed and hair free? You are a man after all and men have body hair. Hair free men are kind of creepy! Dont do this just to please her, she shouldnt be making these kinds of demands. Ok so if you had hair all over your back then you could kind of understand her wanting you to wax it, but on the groin? Men and women have hair on the groin, it is natural and is to protect us from bacteria. So what she is asking is completely unnatural and incredibly vain. If you are happy with trimming it short then you stick with that, dont put yourself through the pain, expense and hassle that is shaving/waxing.
A good girlfriend would never demand anything like that of her man, she should love you the way you are. A hair free groin is not going to turn her on much more than you being trimmed down there, no girl ever looks at a man's groin and goes 'wow thats so hot' - that area of a man is not the prettiest and never will be, hair or no hair.
Do whatever you are comfortable with and dont put yourself through something like this just to please a girl, you are who you are and you should be comfortable - if she loves you she wont care about a bit of hair down below.
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A
female
reader, person12345 +, writes (22 August 2013):
 The only way to do a completely clean look is to wax. Otherwise there will be stubble.
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A
reader, anonymous, writes (22 August 2013): I used to have roughly the same problem when I started shaving like that.
The best things to do, I have found, are to:
-wash the area beforehand with something decently exfoliating (one of those bath poofs or something else very slightly abrasive) to get rid of any dead skin on the surface
-then shave WITH A NEW RAZOR against the grain. DON'T press hard, just use enough pressure to shave the hairs off. Use shaving cream/lotion/whatever. Shaving with just water will make the skin more prone to irritation afterwards.
- gently wash the area after you shave again to exfoliate some more
- in the next couple days when you're showering make sure to keep washing/exfoliating. Ingrown hairs happen when the hair turns around and grows back toward the skin. If you diligently exfoliate, it'll give the new hair growth more room to grow out straight, rather than turn back and become irritating
- i've found it's ok to use the same razor 3-4 times, but make sure you're aware of when it's getting dull and it's time to use a new one. if you use a new razor, it'll give you a smoother shave too and might avoid the "stubble"-like feeling you described.
Nair also works, but it's an abrasive chemical and it might irritate you. I tried waxing only once because i had the most horrendous ingrowns afterward, and they took literally more than a week to clear up.
If you have ingrowns already, just make sure you're keeping the area clean and free of dead skin cells. if you gently exfoliate hairs that have already ingrown, it might "tease" them back to growing out straight, and the irritation may clear up more quickly, but don't be too rough or you'll make it worse. if you have three days before you see your girlfriend, i'm willing to bet the majority of it will be gone by then. ...and if it's not and she points it out, just say point blank that you did it because you knew she liked it better that way, and if she decides to be superficial about it, it's her loss. She should be grateful that you considered her preferences in how you groom your body.
Good luck!
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (22 August 2013): okay so it could be down to a number of things:
1: Check the blade you used. Next time, use a fresh disposable blade. Rinse between every stroke, and go nice and slow.
2: Shave WITH the grain, or maybe at 90 deg, if you want a closer shave but for the love of the lord be careful.
3: This might sound disgusting, but do it in the shower. So much easier and no need for shaving creamy stuff, though you probably could use it down there, but CHECK THE LABEL ON THE BACK PLEASE DO THIS.
4: Use hot water, it will open out the hair follicles, making it easier.
as for the razor burn? see if you can get a decent soothing cream, live savlon or something. ingrown hairs? normal, in your case, but maybe you could use tweezers before they get too bad. Make sure to at least try and sterilize the tweezers first, like really hot water or over a flame or something. dont want an infection!
kudos to you for doing this for your girl though!
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