Pubic hair trimming 101

October 13, 2021 12:54 AM

I am a woman with a vulva and pubic hair that I would like to trim. I've never done this before. How do I learn and what tools do I want?

I'm not interested in shaving all my hair off, just trimming it short-ish.

posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (14 answers total)

I got a standard beard trimmer off amazon, set it to short and use it about once a month.

Autostraddle has a good article (NSFW) with links about this from a few years ago. Might be handy for you.
posted by Braeburn at 2:38 AM on October 13, 2021 [6 favorites]

Honestly, sometimes when the mood took me I just used scissors.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:09 AM on October 13, 2021 [6 favorites]

Honestly if all you're doing is a light trim, you can just use scissors. I use hairdressing scissors I bought to cut my bangs, but have in the past just used regular old office scissors. I trim in the shower, when everything is already wet, again much like how I cut my bangs. My shower has grab bars so I just sort of lean on them, pull each curl straight and trim to an inch or so long. A bit shorter at the bikini line, but not by much. I cut in careful, short snips well away from the skin. For the bits that are harder to reach I just pull gently so I can see what I'm doing, but a mirror might be handy if your anatomy isn't as forgiving. Wet hair sticks to the scissors and I wipe off onto a bit of toilet tissue, or the hair is long I just rinse and retrieve it from the plug hole - we have a drain guard. If you want to buy special scissors just for this purpose, something like these nose hair scissors are good.

You learn by doing, in this case. It grows back pretty quickly.
posted by Jilder at 4:21 AM on October 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

I like the Schick TrimStyle. It’s a cheap (~$12) battery powered razor with a small head and a guard so that it trims short rather than shaving off. It can be used in the shower. Lasts years on one battery. I use a different manual razor for shaving (not a fan of the wires on the Schick razor heads), but it’s still worth the purchase for me. You’re not going to do anything artistic with it, but it is perfect for a short, quick, consistent trim.
posted by Kriesa at 4:46 AM on October 13, 2021 [3 favorites]

You might want to try curved facial hair scissors like these . I find the blunt tip and slightly curved (outwards!) angle gives me greater confidence that it's not going to go horribly awry.
posted by nkknkk at 4:58 AM on October 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

I am someone who has had it go horribly awry using straight-tip nail scissors. A cut became infected, which eventually led to surgical intervention and a month off work. So I would always caution against using any old scissors and choose a pair made for safety like the curved facial hair scissors nkknkk mentions, or some kind of small electric trimmer.
posted by guessthis at 5:16 AM on October 13, 2021 [3 favorites]

You definitely want an electric trimmer, they can be used in the shower and are the safest option!

I've tried several brands/styles of trimmers in the past 15 years. My hands down favourite is now getting harder and harder to find, but it is the Philips Bodygroom 1100 .

My long comb for the 1100 had broken a few times (they don't sell replacements) so after my third trimmer I tried a Philips OneBlade Hybrid Trimmer. This one sucked!

I now have a Philips BikiniGenie. I reluctantly recommend it because the guard is firm (not soft like the 1100) so it won't break AND the narrow head is better for trimming around a vulva. BUT it is less comfortable to use (because of the firmer guard), and the blade is coarser than the 1100 so it doesn't trim as well either! Honestly, the Genie feels insulting because it is not as high quality as the 1100 but costs more because it is "for women".

I'm still looking for something to beat my 1100. And honestly I would suggest you try that! AFAIK it is $19.95 on Amazon.
posted by dazedandconfused at 5:50 AM on October 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

Okay, don’t laugh, but I’m a person with a vulva and I use the Manscaped trimmer and I love it. Fits in the hand nicely, fully waterproof, super easy to use, and basically impossible to cut yourself with. It comes with a few plastic comb attachments to set the length. And of course the branding is all targeted at men which doesn’t bother me, but YMMV.

It does look like the price has gone up a bit since I bought mine though (I paid $56 CAD for the previous generation). So it’s a little bit on the pricier side.

I also use blunt-tipped beauty scissors like the ones nkknkk linked to when I just need to trim a few hairs that I missed. I used to trim everything with the scissors, but it’s super time-consuming and doesn’t look very good. The clippers are a 100x better experience.
posted by mekily at 6:27 AM on October 13, 2021

Small blunt-tipped scissors (sometimes you can find them advertised as eyebrow scissors) to get the volume down, then a Venus bikini trimmer ($20) for the in-close work.
posted by praemunire at 8:55 AM on October 13, 2021

By the way, if you haven't really done this (if you come from a conservative upbringing, this is not the kind of thing they encourage you to do as a young woman), I recommend getting a small hand mirror with a prop and sitting on a towel and just...scoping everything out beforehand. Getting comfortable with the terrain, so to speak.
posted by praemunire at 8:59 AM on October 13, 2021 [3 favorites]

+1 I have had close calls with scissors and they take forever, do not recommend.

I got a $12 rechargeable electric trimmer from Target 3-4 years ago and it works great. Prefer to use it with the trimmer part out vs. the foil to avoid ingrowns. Also great for other body hair maintenance. I use it held away from my body to get a longer length and it's still faster and gives better results than scissors.
posted by momus_window at 9:36 AM on October 13, 2021

Definitely electric trimmer with a guard. I used to use scissors, but when I got pregnant that was no longer feasible as I couldn't see what I was doing and it's really awkward to hold a mirror while actually working. With the trimmer, it's basically impossible to cut yourself even if you're just blundering about because you're uncoordinated and can't see anything. I don't think you need to use scissors at all - regardless of the volume, a good trimmer can handle it.
posted by epanalepsis at 10:41 AM on October 13, 2021

I can highly recommend the Panasonic Slim Line Body Groomer. I have had precisely zero nicks over many many months, it is rechargeable, and the angle of the head is perfect for the job. I also recommend using a mirror, with a base, that you can angle as needed. You will want to have good lighting as well! If you have a bath tub to do this in, that makes for easy cleanup, otherwise a towel under you also makes for easy enough cleanup.
posted by nukacherry at 6:45 PM on October 13, 2021

I use a wahl peanut, sit on the edge of the tub and cut straight into a wastebasket. Seems to trim closer than my husband’s Panasonic shower shaver, but still not as close as I would like.
posted by toodleydoodley at 8:09 PM on October 14, 2021