Should a man shave his armpits?

Simple question.

And not an odd question if you think about it.

Half the population (women) already shave their armpits.

So shouldn't men shave their armpit hair as well?

Doesn't a shaved armpit have benefits?

I mean – if it didn't, why would women go through the ritual daily?

Before we get started with the scientific reasoning behind shaving armpit hair – yes, there are experiments to prove my point – let’s begin with understanding why a man would ask such a question in the first place.

Click Here To Watch The YouTube Video Should Men Shave Their Armpits



Why Would A Man Want To Shave His Armpit Hair?

Armpit Hair And Sweat. There is circumstantial and somewhat vague evidence suggesting that shaving your armpit hair reduces sweating. While shaving your underarms won’t make your armpits cooler – or produce less sweat – the sweat stains on your clothes will be less pronounced.

Underarm Hair And Hygiene. The odor from sweat is caused by bacteria and the bacteria can multiply in the damp area of armpit hair – shaving the armpits results in less space for bacteria to breed. And increased effectiveness from your natural anti-perspirant deodorant products.

The Aesthetics Of A Shaved Armpit: If you are an athlete or an underwear model – shaving your armpit hair would be of a professional advantage to you. Even if you are a regular guy – no one likes to see hair poking out from under your arms.

The Connection With Smell: There are widely circulated opinions that shaving armpit hair actually helps reduce a man’s body odor. Other studies show that a man’s confidence is lowered when he is aware of his own body odor.

Which brings me back to my original question – Should a man shave his armpits to reduce body odor.

There have been two studies carried out on axillary (armpit) hair and how the lack of it either creates or diminishes a man’s attractiveness.

The First Study On Shaved Armpits And Body Odor For Men

In the early 1950s – a research study found that the odor of the armpit was significantly reduced when men shaved their underarm hair.

The effects of shaving on smell lasted for 24 hours after shaving the armpits of the male participants. The odor returned as the hair grew back.

The scientists suggested that since bacteria trapped in the armpit hair played a role in creating odor – shaving axillary (armpit) hair naturally reduced the smell.

The uncontested conclusion was that armpit hair was a cause for unattractive body odor. A shaved underarm would therefore reduce the unappealing body odor of a man.

Well… that was the case until a group of Czech scientists decided to revisit the burning question of whether shaving a man’s armpit would improve his body smell rather than just eliminating unpleasant odor.

The Second Study – Does Shaving A Man’s Armpit Hair Improve His Smell?

A man’s odor sends out signals about the health of their immune system, their hormone levels, social status and nutrition choices. Important signals that a women pick up subconsciously.

In 2011- a different group of researchers in the Czech Republic decided to test the findings of the original research carried out in the 1950s.

Their argument was based on recent studies that show the positive effects of a man’s body odor – particularly in the sphere of attracting women.

Over the course of four experiments, the researchers got groups of men to be odor donors.

Some of the men had never shaved their armpits, and some of them shaved their armpits regularly.

The participants were given specific instructions on shaving their armpit hair:

A portion of the men were asked to shave just one armpit. Some others were asked to shave both armpits every other day. The rest of the odor donors were instructed to shave their armpits once and then let the hair grow normally over a period of time.

The participants were asked to avoid the following activities at least 2 days before odor samples were collected: sex, alcohol, smoking, perfumes and deodorants, food with intense flavors and close contact with pets.

Odor samples were collected by wearing cotton pads in the armpits for 24 hours. The cotton pads were presented to a group of women who volunteered to rate the odor of the men. Yes, that's right – they volunteered!

These brave women washed their hands with unscented soap in a ventilated room and proceeded with the unenviable task of smelling each cotton pad. They rated the odor samples on intensity, pleasantness and attractiveness.

The Results Of The Four Armpit Odor Experiments

In three out of the four experiments – researchers found that the ratings given for shaved and unshaved armpits were about the same.

Only in one experiment – the first one – was the shaved armpit group voted as more pleasant, more attractive and less intense than unshaved armpits.

What Does All This Armpit Research Mean?

How could they find a significant correlation between shaved armpits and improved body smell in the first experiment but nothing of note in the other experiments?

The researchers provided the following explanations:

Perhaps the participants from the first experiment had a stronger body odor than the rest of the group.

The results of the first experiment could have been a coincidence.

The baseline results indicated that shaving armpit hair did have an effect on body odor – but it was minimal and not as overblown as the 1950s research suggested.

There is insufficient evidence that shaving armpit hair improves a man’s body odor.

There’s a possibility that there’s a slight improvement in body smell – but I wouldn’t put razor to armpit based on that possibility.

More likely, other factors will affect how you smell to a much greater degree than whether you have hair in your armpits – your grooming routine, the food you eat, the beverages you consume, the regularity of your showers….



In Conclusion – I Won't Be Shaving My Armpits Anytime Soon.

Right now the evidence doesn't seem to support the benefits of shaved armpits.

I recently spoke with a team of researchers who felt shaving actually helped better clean the skin and thus that reduced odor, but I feel they needed a larger population and should repeat the experiment multiple times to be sure.