Manscaping trending among blokes

Manscaping has become more popular than ever as today's woman love men with clean torsos, a new study has revealed.

The first study of hair removal practices in New Zealand has untangled some surprising new trends, with male hair removal going through a period of rapid change, Stuff.co.nz reported.

And when it comes to female grooming, there are signs that "bush is back".

In line with the increasingly "metrosexual" tendencies of the modern male, the research out of the University of Auckland and the Open University in the UK, found that young Kiwi blokes are removing hair from multiple areas of their bodies.

Of the 584 participants aged 18-35 in the survey-based study, 64 percent thought it was socially acceptable for men to remove body hair and 99 percent of men had removed hair before.

Changing norms for male attractiveness could be seen in the hair display of actors who have played Bond.

While Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan often had clean-shaven faces, these were offset by hairy chests.

This was in contrast to the hairless body but often stubbled face of current Bond Daniel Craig, researchers said.

Waxnlaser owner Roger Thomas said more men were coming in for brazilians, body waxes and laser treatment as less hair was considered more attractive.

The To let hair be, or to not let hair be? study found hair removal was still heavily gender-based, with only 11 percent saying it was OK for women to be au-naturale, compared with 81 percent for men.

Women's hair removal was a strongly "socially policed" activity - and those who did not remove hair risked negative reactions.

Only 34 per cent said a hairy back was OK on men.

Researchers also found the perception of many women that men liked the "brazilian" wax appeared unfounded, with almost three-quarters of men saying pubic hair was desirable.

However, it was unclear whether this meant a natural amount of hair, or some trimming, or bikini-line waxing.

More research was need to unravel whether "bush is back", the authors said.