Help me with my hirsute shoulders!

September 5, 2008 7:23 PM

Shoulder hairs. I hate 'em. But I'm getting older and I'm getting more of them. Is there any easy way to get rid of them?

Shaving my shoulders (more specifically, the upper portion of my back between my shoulders blades) seems like a recipe for disaster. But, what to do? Plucking is what I do now, but that's tedious. A piece of tape? A very patient GF with tweezers? ZOMG help me before I turn into a cave-man!

posted by bardic to clothing, beauty, & fashion (10 comments total)

I've had shoulder hair since late middle-school. Shaving is easy, and they make a razor on a stick which makes it even easier. I haven't had any problems doing this, and it doesn't take long.
posted by Loto at 7:27 PM on September 5, 2008

Have you tried a home wax kit?
posted by December at 7:28 PM on September 5, 2008

I hear ya buddy. I have never been particularly hairy, but I'm about 6 months from buying one of these.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 7:34 PM on September 5, 2008

Oh, meanwhile I use this. It's small, but does a good job. Just requires some patience and limber arms.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 7:44 PM on September 5, 2008

I just use a regular beard trimmer with the guard taken off. No mess, no ingrown hairs/awkard shaving angle, and gets the hair down close enough to be invisible. You could make a second pass with a foil shaver if the very slight amount of stubble bothers you.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 7:50 PM on September 5, 2008

Shaving, waxing, etc... They do the job, but lasers.... frickin lasers... Supposedly they do too, but I could only ever afford the 1 session ;-) To do it right, probably 4-5 sessions...
(I don't mind hair growing any(every)where else, but hate it on my back.)
posted by jkaczor at 8:21 PM on September 5, 2008

Stubble isn't as big a deal as you would expect on the shoulders as the hair is softer and finer than facial hair so shaving or trimming is certainly feasible. But yeah, a home wax kit will clean it up nicely. My boyfriend actually uses Nads instead of wax because it washes off better than the cheap disposable wax strips he tried first (sticky bits of wax around your neck will catch on your clothes and be painful), and the pot he bought several years ago will last for several more years yet.

It's probably easier to get someone else to do it but will take that very patient GF a lot less time to use wax or similar than it will with tweezers. The trick is to stretch the skin tight (generally by tilting your head), lay the strip down then rub along the grain (not against, that hurts), then pull off against the grain in one quick motion. Probably about 98% come out first time, the rest can be ignored or tweezered. Takes me about ten minutes total to dehair his neck and shoulders, the redness is gone in another ten and clean up is easy (both for you and for the disturbingly hairy strips) as long as you use a product that is water soluble. We tore up an old sheet to make more fabric strips rather than paying for the fancy cotton ones, but either way it's not terribly expensive.
posted by shelleycat at 8:29 PM on September 5, 2008

It's probably easier to get someone else to do it but will take that very patient GF a lot less time to use wax or similar than it will with tweezers

Um, I meant besides yourself not besides your girlfriend. I think that sentence was a bit ambiguous and badly written, sorry!
posted by shelleycat at 8:31 PM on September 5, 2008

My partner has a smattering of hairs and I pluck them for him- it satisfies the very focused, detail-oriented part of my brain and is suprisingly soothing (I know, it sounds strange). It is almost a grooming ritual for the two of us, sitting in the bath- me smoothing my fingers across his back and shoulders and occasionally tweaking out a stray hair.

If he had more of an, erm, carpet
Shaving is gross, imo. If you have a girlfriend, and she snuggles with you, she will likely agree- I'd much rather wax/tweeze than have stubble scratching my face.

If the hair is dark and coarse, and your skin is on the lighter side, why not get a few laser hair removal treatments? I know people going through a course of treatments right now and while they require an up-front investment they are having suprisingly good results at hair annihilation.
posted by arnicae at 9:53 PM on September 5, 2008

Is embracing your newly acquired hairy ape status an option? It's a bit like embracing baldness. It's hard at first, but it simplifies your life afterwards. And you can take a certain pride in it. I'm just saying. It's easier than fighting a losing battle (unless you can/want to afford laser treatments).
posted by wheat at 4:27 AM on September 6, 2008