About 85% of women in the US may be removing their hair regularly or even on a daily basis. The idea of shaving isn’t new, since women in ancient Egypt and Rome might have been already removing their body hair and considered keeping it uncivilized. But the times have changed and many women nowadays have decided to ditch shaving and keep their natural look.
We at Bright Side got curious about this current trend and decided to shed some light on the reasons why some women aren’t bothering to remove their body hair anymore.
Beauty standards and society may make women self-conscious about the way they look, and having body hair is a part of this. But some women have decided to put their own interests first and choose what’s best for their bodies, regardless of what other people expect from them. And it’s not about judging people who prefer to shave, but about your body and making decisions for yourself.
Dealing with body hair can be pretty overwhelming since women have to find time in their schedules to remove their hair in the right way to avoid any irritation. They also have to worry about keeping their skin smooth, since hair can grow back pretty fast. And there’s a bunch of beauty products like razors, shaving creams, exfoliators, and moisturizers that women have to use to get the best results and protect their skin from the damage that shaving may cause.
Some people think that shaving your hair reduces your body odor, but this turned out to not be completely true. Removing hair from your armpits helps the deodorant to get absorbed by the skin better, while hair might create a barrier that may prevent it. But this barrier also prevents the skin from getting damaged by friction. And while everybody’s body is different, for some women, not shaving brings more benefits than disadvantages:
Some women fight against these imposed beauty standards and are trying to show that we all are allowed to not have to hide our natural beauty. They want to prove that they themselves get to make the decisions about their bodies, have their own perception of “femininity,” and feel good about themselves without pressure from society.
Although shaving is painless in comparison with other ways of hair removal like waxing, many women still have to deal with unpleasant consequences. Razor burn and razor bumps bring a lot of discomfort and cause a red rash, tenderness, and skin inflammation. And since most women remove their hair pretty often, they have to deal with the side effects of this procedure on a regular basis.
For many women, having hair on their bodies doesn’t cause any problems in their lives and they may not even notice it. They don’t understand why they should spend their resources to get rid of something that’s natural just to try to please everybody else and forget about their own comfort.
Everybody is unique and the speed of the hair growth may vary from person to person. Shaving only helps get rid of the hair itself, without damaging the hair follicle, so this process doesn’t interfere with hair growth and you may see the first noticeable hair growing back pretty quickly, like in a day or 2.
Keep in mind that hair on different parts of our bodies has different growing cycles. That’s why you may notice that some parts of your body may get hairy faster than others.
How long have you ever gone without removing your body hair? How did you feel? We’d love to read about your personal experiences in the comments.
Weird to say this but once I stopped shaving my armpits just because, for no particular reason.
It was fine at the beginning but later on, when hair grew longer I noticed one thing - deodorants didn't work on me! No matter how much deo I sprayed on my armpits they got really sweaty in to time, and the smell was unbearable. After I shaver I never had such problems anymore
For m shaving is not a waste of time, but a chill activity while taking a warm bath an just simply relaxed. I feel renewed after all of this
Shaving shouldn't be a must for women. I just don't know who made that a "rule"
I tryed not shaving It felt freeing not to do something just to please others
I am fortunate being hypo-thyroid and therefore I have just about no body hair...... shave my legs from the knee down once a year and once a year I shall run the razor under my arms .... so very fortunate
