Summer manscape: Hairy chests come in from the cold
‘Poldark’ star Aidan Turner’s chest rug is driving a new interest in manscaping, writes
AS television’s most famous scythe-swisher, Aidan Turner is the definition of Poldark, and handsome.
The Irish actor returned to the small screen in season four of the BBC’s brooding period drama last Sunday.
But it wasn’t the eponymous captain’s tumultuous love affair with Demelza, nor the political rivalries raging in the background, that had fans waxing lyrical on Twitter — rather it was the 34-year-old’s historically accurate chest rug.
Clashing with ITV2 reality show Love Island, where the only thing more waxed than the contestants were the surfboards, as Poldark had his very own 18th century Daniel Craig moment in the opening scenes, over on social media the ‘mane’ attraction was clear.
“Y’all can keep #LoveIsland,” tweeted one fan definitively, “the only man on a beach I need is #Poldark coming out of the sea with a hairy chest and a scowl on his face.”
“Who needs #LoveIsland when we have #Poldark,” agreed another.
Even male viewers weren’t objecting to the objectification of the Dubliner: “As a proud owner of a hairy chest, I for one welcome the objectification of Poldark — I’ve had enough of these bare-chested Love Island type people being sexualised.”
From back waxing to the more extreme ‘Brozilian’, which removes all hair below the belt, the Ken doll look has been steadily growing since the noughties, with an entire grooming industry sprouting up to ensure men’s chests, among other parts, don’t.
Last year, a survey by Cosmopolitan found that nine out of 10 men aged 18-35 now conduct some kind of ‘manscaping’, with trimming the most popular choice.
Almost five decades after Burt Reynolds memorably posed naked for the magazine on a bearskin rug only slightly furrier than he was, then, could hairy — albeit somewhat more manicured — men finally be coming in from the (Pol)dark?
Although he offers waxing “from head to toe and everything in between”, Cork-based barber turned waxist William Anthony revealed how many millennials are now choosing to simply mow the lawn, as opposed to digging it up altogether, with his body hair trimming services ranging from €20 for a pubic trim right up to €80 for a full body trim.
“Body hair trimming is very popular among all age groups because it’s painless,” says the owner of WaxTech on Bridge St, which specialises in male hair removal. “As well as that, clients don’t look as if they have been groomed, they just look better.
“Around this time of year, we get a lot of men in their 30s who have a hairy chest, but they don’t want it all off, they just want it tidied up for the summer. While some might be tempted to go at the hair with a razor, the problem with wet-shaving is they have stubble back in the morning again.
“[With trimming], the length of the hair can be cut to a standard one, two, or three on an electric clipper, and you can come back whenever you want. A half-body trim is €50, while a chest and abdomen trim or back trim is €25.”
At Waxperts in Dublin, which offers face and body waxing for both men and women, the humble back wax (from €30) is likewise currently outstripping the more eye-watering ‘Manzilian’ (€65), which leaves a ‘landing strip’.
“There’s a big difference between being groomed and looking waxed,” says owner and chief ‘waxpert’ Ellen Kavanagh Jones. “We see up to 20 men, ranging from their late 20s to their late 60s and beyond, in our salon in Dun Laoghaire each week.
“The most popular treatment is back waxing, but the majority add in our famous trio tidy — nasal, brows, and ears (€30). You look tidy and no one can tell you’ve waxed.”
Not even the new poster boy for piliferousness, Aidan Turner, goes completely au natural, it seems, after promotional images for another, earlier BBC series called Being Human emerged showing the star sporting a much thicker chest carpet.
The Cosmopolitan study ALSO found more than half of men “feel more attractive” when their forest is under control, at least, but waxists here are unlikely to lose too much sleep.
It’s not just Poldark’s six pack-enhancing pelt that men, together with their partners, are after, according to personal trainer Jeff Caffola, who adds that the redcoat’s subtly shredded physique is in hot demand in gyms across the country too.
“Back in the early noughties, it was more body-building style,” explains the fitness expert of Zest Fitness on Dublin’s Baggot St, “really big, really muscular, oversized guys.
“In the last 10 years, the vast majority of guys are just looking to make sure they don’t have a beer belly, make sure they’ve got a bit of tone on the stomach, tone on the arms, [and] well-built shoulders, but nothing over the top. It’s that sort of lean, well-defined look.”
Certainly in the case of Turner, previously voted sexiest man alive by Glamour magazine, the hysteria is likely to be less about the actual body hair than the chiselled body it’s attached to.
In a flipping of the script, the show has been accused of promoting unrealistic beauty standards for men — something counselling psychologist Tracy O’Neill regularly has to get to the root of with male clients at her Dublin-based practice.
“I see a lot more women than I do men because men tend not to present for counselling as much as women,” says the Dublin-based professional. “But any men that I do see suffering from anxiety or depression would often have body issues. The early 30s [age] group would have very exacting bodily expectations.
“With the men, like the women, there’s usually a lot more going on than just the body issues. There’s a source to it — it could be childhood trauma or bullying. Others, it’s just a generalised anxiety disorder and they just look for any reason to feed it.
“When it comes to self-care, or even grooming, it that makes the person feel good, I would encourage it,” she continues, “provided it doesn’t become obsessional.
“If grooming is something that gives them confidence or makes them feel in control or gives them social confidence, then I would encourage it. I very rarely see men who are into the extreme end of male grooming.”
In Tinseltown, one person who’s sure to welcome the rise of the Poldark look is Steve Carell, who joked he got a “no waxing” clause written into his contract after famously having his chest hair ripped off for The 40 Year Old Virgin back in 2005.
“Having the chest waxed, that will never happen again,” the 55-year-old told RadioTimes.com.
“[Waxing] is a lot more painful for men because they have more hair,” says WaxTech’s William Anthony. “The back’s not so bad, but the chest can be painful.
“Plenty of Irish men are still willing to grin and bear it. If it’s too painful, well, then they can always just have it trimmed like Poldark!”
Waxing on
“I think a certain amount of manscaping is necessary. Personally, I’d only shave my chest for work purposes and I have never had waxing done. But I think it’s really up to the individual on what they prefer.”
“Contrary to popular belief around TG4, I’m fairly low-maintenance in the grooming department. With regards to waxing, I’m probably a bit chicken. Happily, I’m not too hairy by nature, so any hair that I do have I tend to flaunt it!”
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