It’s not that you have to trim your eyebrows, nose hairs, and armpits. It’s all up to you how you manage your hirsute-ness. However, just like a barber can cut your hair to take out some bulk and nicely layer it into place, so too can you clean up these patches of hair around your body.

 

You might find it silly. It’s one of those things where you don’t really experience the benefits — that’s because you won’t experience the periodic side effects of neglecting these trimmings: The stray eyebrow, the unsightly nose hair or booger that appears on a date, or the side stares from beach goers who can’t believe how long your armpit hairs have managed to grow.

 

But it’s these tiny grooming details that help you feel more put together and more intentional about your self-care. Plus, no unsightly boogers or curious nose hairs making cameos on your dates—isn’t that enough of a selling point?

 

Let’s hope so. Here is a quick tutorial for each of these three steps: how to trim your eyebrows, nose hairs, and armpits.

 

How to trim your eyebrows

How you manicure your eyebrows is a total matter of preference, and that’s not what this quick tutorial will cover. Some people like ‘em big and bushy, some prefer a more tamed, artful arch. (Hey, we’re not even going to judge your unibrow. If you wear it confidently, then more power to ya).

 

However, regardless of how plucked or boundless your brows may be, you might still consider trimming out the bulk—the fullness, that is. It’s also a matter of preference (especially for those who simply let their brows grow wherever).

 

Think of it like this: You might like the shape your brows grow in naturally, but you may want to mind the borders, taming the longer hairs that grow outside of that shape and give the brows a bit of excess bushiness.

 

To trim the eyebrows:

1. Take a fine-tooth comb and run it vertically and away from the natural growth patterns of the eyebrow.
2. Take a tiny trimming scissor or a detailing trimmer with a small, manageable head (you don’t want a full trimmer head, which is far too wide for this task; it may also obscure your view of the brow). (Revlon’s kit is terrific since it includes both a miniature comb and scissor; so is Wahl’s detailing trimmer since it has various types of heads for fine tuning tasks).
3. Trim the ends of the hairs along the border of your eyebrow—or the shape you desire for it.
4. Comb everything back into place, then repeat the above steps for a spot-check, to catch any hairs that survived the first pass.
5. Splash some water or cleanse the face, to rinse away the clippings.

 

Other trimming devices (like Panasonic’s) have guard lengths on them, which allow you to mow over the entire brow and maintain a uniform hair length. Always start with the longest guard on these—it’s much easier to keep trimming shorter with each pass, than to start too short at the start and wait weeks as the hair grows back to your desired length.

 

How to trim your nose hairs

Your nose hairs are extremely functional, so you never want to pluck or get rid of them entirely. These hairs trap dust particles that you breathe in, and along with the mucus in your schnozz, they prevent you from inhaling these particles like a vacuum cleaner. Secondly, they give that mucus something to cling to; without the hairs you get all drippy and snotty.

 

That being said, it is entirely normal to want to trim these hairs—perhaps you’re getting too boogery too often, or even showcasing your longer, lower-nostril-dwelling hairs.

 

You can either use rounded-tip scissors (like Melwey’s) to avoid poking, and snip away at these longer ones midway along their shaft. Or, you can get a designated nose-trimming device and simply shove it into each nostril for an easy snip. Some are motorized like a beard trimmer (for example, Philips Norelco’s), while others are manual-squeeze like a nail clipper (Royal’s is a prime example). In both cases, they have a pre-set length that mows the hairs to a slightly shorter, but still entirely functional length.

 

Do this every couple of weeks—a simple insertion into each nostril—and you can maintain nose hairs in under five seconds.

 

If you feel like any hair is particularly creeping out of the nostril (as in, its follicle is nested too close to the outside edge), then you can go ahead and pluck that one, or snip it all the way to the base (since plucking in the nose hurts). But no plucking elsewhere in there!

 

How to trim your armpits

Just like your pubes, the armpit hairs can benefit from a bit of trimming, if only aesthetically. You can still preserve plenty of pit bush with a trim—by no means are we suggesting you shave them bare—again, a matter of preference.

 

On the one hand, you can take a scissors and spot-check the hairs, snipping away at anything larger than a half inch. That’s easy enough in terms of managing bulk. But there’s a separate (or additional) step you should follow, too.

 

Take your beard trimmer, detailer, or body groomer for this task. Raise your arm up above your head, and then bring it back down to your sides as if you are flapping your wings. So, don’t let them fall, you instead want to press them shut like the arms of a clock coming down towards the ‘6’ at bottom.

 

After doing this, keep the arm locked in place, and use your opposite hand to snip away any hairs that emerge from the pits and out onto the side of your chest. You’re just cleaning up the edges here; it might involve snipping some hairs all the way to the base, but it won’t be enough to cause chafing since it’s merely the perimeter.

 

Now, here are 7 manscaping tips to follow all year round and 10 grooming devices every guy should own.