The changing landscape of male grooming…

Assistant editor Suzanne Braithwaite takes a look at the new male grooming craze…manscaping

Male grooming is part and parcel of our industry. A recent survey from male grooming brand Braun revealed that out of 2,000 British men polled, 42% admitted that they spend more time body grooming than ten years ago. This doesn’t really shock us, but what’s more interesting is that 62% of 25-45 year olds have taken to a new trend called “manscaping”.

According to the survey, men, this age, manscape (shave their chest hair into shapes) on average 2.5 times per month, typically spending 21 minutes and 24 seconds per week grooming their body hair. 

I’m all for a bit of chest hair as long as it’s trimmed (hairs poking above the shirt collar is not a good look guys). And it seems that most women agree, as 70% prefer men with groomed bodies.

The men surveyed, cited that manscaping helped them feel clean (46%), and more confident (26%), with 15% saying if made them feel sexy and another 15% saying it was to please their partner. While 9% said they did it to enhance the appearance of their muscles.

With manscaping taking the nation by storm, Braun commissioned celebrity hair artist Daniel Johnson to take manscaping a step further.

Following the #chesthairbikini social trend which appeared on social media over the summer, Johnson created intricate landscapes on the chests of willing British men.

The New York skyline...

The designs, created by using a variety of shavers, are pretty inventive and include scenes from the New York skyline to the Egyptian Pyramids, and Sydney Harbour to Stonehenge.

Johnson said: “Creating such intricate designs on men’s chests was certainly a challenge, due to how the hair is formed and how it reacts to even the most precise shavers. I set out to achieve something that made people consider the possibilities of grooming and style.”

Stonehenge...

So what do you think of the male body hair art trend? Will it catch on and become part of the male grooming treatment menu? And more importantly what landscape would you manscape…?

Braun has now tasked Brits to share their own intricate body hair designs using #BraunManscapes. Husbands, boyfriends, partners beware…