Since you last heard from me, I’ve been very busy getting ready for LookinGood’s Fall Launch. And, oh, so much has happened.  Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died.  Enough said on both subjects, don’t you think? Sarah Palin quit, and the pundits are stumbling over one another to figure out what every self-respecting woman in America knows:  she quit because HER HAIR WAS FALLING OUT.   Ask yourself a question:  would you stay in a job that was making your hair fall out?  If the answer is yes, you’re sicker than I thought.  Call me right away.

The big news is that The New York Times admitted that I beat them to the “manscaping” story.  Okay, they didn’t admit it, but did you see it?  3 weeks after I broke the news to you, they ran a story about exactly the same thing.  I expect you to remember that in the future.   Yes, I know: Move on from the manscaping already.  I will, but with the Tour de France only days off the sports page, c’est impossible!  Watching all those cyclists from all over the world whizzing by day after day, LookinGood can’t help but wonder:  1) HOW they get their legs so smooth;  and  2) WHY?  Michelle did some research.  Here’s what she had to say:

Looking at those legs is completely demoralizing!  The only time mine have looked that smooth is when I had them waxed.  Judging from my research, men tend to wax their backs, but shave their legs.  Some of them only a couple of times a week. Which leads to a third question: Why do I have a stubbly 4 o’clock shadow the next day and these testosterone-fueled, Neanderthal-descended cyclists don’t?

It could be the products.  There is little information out there on what products the pros actually use but plenty from other cyclists and cycling coaches.  Ironically, many of them prefer the women’s razors, such as Gillette’s Venus, because of the moisture strip.

And why do they do it, anyway?  Hairy legs have no effect on aerodynamics, after all. First and foremost, they do it to look good, to be part of the peloton. Some will tell you it’s because when they crash, they get what they call “road rash,” where skin is scraped off, leaving wounds that heal easier without hair growing out of them, but the honest bikers say that’s bunk, too.  They also get a lot of  massages, these guys, and it’s easier to massage smooth skin.

So, for now, we’re done with manscaping, I guess. We have established that men are willing to put a razor to their throats, their nether regions and any other part of the body for many of the same reasons women do:  vanity. Welcome to the real race, boys.

• Tour de France for Dummies (there is one of these books for everything!)
• Beginner Triathlete has a video comparing products for removing the hair from men’s legs.  This guy went to alot of trouble to make this video.  He deserves to be watched.