I just realized how much healthier my legs look and feel compared to when I used to pressure myself to shave. Not even mentioning ingrowns and general irritation, I used to feel like there was no point in moisturizing or exfoliating if my legs weren’t hairless because they would be ugly and/or unkept anyway. Maybe it was a bit of all or nothing thinking, but I would have a lot of trouble keeping up with shaving and therefore would hardly ever moisturize or take care of my skin. It was almost like punishing myself.

I just looked down at my legs and realized for the first time that I am in such a better self care routine since I stopped shaving and that I love to see my natural legs with my skin all happy and taken care of underneath. It’s crazy that I was ever in a mindset where I viewed trying to be hairless as a bigger priority than basic hygiene, comfort, and self care. I don’t know if this makes sense but I just made me happy to see how far I have come and thought maybe some people could relate :)

I’m a teacher so I usually wear pants or dresses/skirts to work. But today we had a field day!! It’s still warm where I live so I wore longer shorts. I was nervous about having all my leg hairs out as I’ve never done that at work before but it was obviously just fine. That’s all :)

I (21F) Have been shaving on and off for a couple of years now. Shaving gives me a lot of ingrown hairs, it's a lot of upkeep and I don't like that women are pressured to feel ashamed about something as natural as body hair, which is why i've decided to let it grow multiple times.

Sometimes i go back to shaving, partly because I like how it feels sensory wise when I'm 'smooth' and prefer how it looks so I am partly doing it for myself, but i think the main reason I keep coming back to shaving is because i just feel more confident and safer going outside. I have a lot of social anxiety and feelings of inadequacy and the thought of being judged or looked at for having leg hair makes me a lot more anxious going outside, so i prefer to fit into society's beauty standarts (somewhat) so i just don't stand out too much. For me personally the pain of shaving regularly doesn't outweigh the pro of feeling less anxious and vulnerable outside. Although i don't agree at all that it's unhygienic/ gross for women not to shave (and i think anyone who holds that opinion is honestly stupid and lacks common sense), I'm still scared of being perceived that way.

I know it's not great that i give into my anxiety and rebelling against it would be ideal/ brave, but this had me wonder, would you say it is valid for women to shave because the potential backlash and people judging you just feels like too much? Or is it going against feminism? I'd love to hear your opinions.

Just like the title says, I find myself not caring one bit about my leg hair. I sometimes notice them and I remember they're there. However my armpit hair make me a little self conscious. They're very long and I don't particularly like it. I don't shave them but I trim once in a while, just like "down there" because it's easier for menstruations.

Do you have the same "problem"?

My husband is so bummed that I no longer shave my legs or armpits. There have been times in the past where he would get mad at me if he touched my thigh and he felt hairs.

Tonight I told him I haven’t shaved in a while and I would appreciate him not making comments in front of our daughter and son. Well he was not very happy about it and said I’m neglecting “basic hygiene.”

Any advice?

The last couple special events I didn’t shave my legs but I did my pits. Besides that I rock both all the time. I’m still trying to figure out deodorant.

Hello everyone! I adore this sub and its mindset and feel that it's a force for good for womankind:)

It makes me think of the same sort of mindset which has made me be braless for nearly 10 years now. Despite this length of time, lately I've been feeling in need of support and advice considering issues surrounding it. I was searching for a community here, but all I could find were NSFW fetish subs, which just feels so extremely shitty. Really rubbing salt in the wound there.

Anyway, just wanted to rant a tiny bit about women's natural bodies being regarded as some taboo fetish item, and the prioritization of this over women helping each other out and having safe places to discuss their lives.

Sorry if it's too off-topic, I just knew you'd all understand where I'm coming from 😭

Hi everyone, I(22, F) have never shaved my armpits/body hair ever since I was a kid. I sweat a lot, like intensely but nobody has ever complained of any sort of body odour ever. Recently, I moved outside my country, and in my workplace, this has started to become an issue. There has been no change in my hygiene routine- I use deo and I take baths as usual. But people keep complaining and it's been so bad that its kind of making me a pariah. I don't understand what to do. Will shaving my armpit hair make any changes? Do I use any specific deo? It's kind of affecting my self confidence cause now whenever I am around people, I start to move away to avoid being an inconvenience. I have also heard that your diet can contribute to body odour(?), and I do consume a bit of garlic, but can that lead to something as severe as this?

I wasn’t really thinking much. But we have practical lessons where we are just in short pants. I am always the hairy girl and this time I noticed that one of my friends came also without shaving.

I’m almost sure that she just forgot or something with the way I know them but either way who knows right? 🤷‍♀️ I came over ran my finger through it and said it was pretty. I kind of have no brain to mouth filter so it’s really what I thought. ( Yes I secretly don’t like legs without hair, I always see scars from shaving, i grown hair or the skin feels so hard under the fingers whenever we do something for lessons or on patients bc it’s the cut hair…) She doesn’t really have dark ones but kind of mix of brown shade to blond and like I said it was pretty

Anyways… I just wanted to say this bc this is my first time I complimented someone like that - also bc it was my first opportunity to do so☺️ Since u know there aren’t many of us walking on this earth. Sorry for the long post but I wanted to get my thoughts out. And reminder: if u see someone like you, compliment them! Maybe it will make their day and courage stronger ☺️

Never fails to make my day. If this is the last warm day of the year, I can let it pass happy that it was a good one lol

I have natural pits and I like native deodorant, but it's gets clumped in the hair 🫠 has anyone tried Wild brand? Is it gonna get clumpy too??

Hi y'all! I'm not strictly razor free myself. I'll go months without it or have periods of time where I will shave, all depends on how I feel really. But I've never quite been able to find a deodorant that doesn't ball up and feel uncomfortable during times where I do grow it out. So, just out of curiosity what do you use/prefer personally and why? I use a spray on deodorant when I don't shave myself and it kinda prevents the weird balling up issue.

hello sorry for the question but does anyone else get itchy when wearing leggings or a tight longarm shirt maybe? I only have pretty short hair on my arms and legs but I noticed an unbearable itch wearing tight clothing and I was wondering if it's because I stopped shaving (like a year ago I think) or if it's more likely that it's a vitamin B12 deficiency (that's what google told me it might be). Could be sensory issues too but I don't remember having that particular itchy feeling like ants run over my body before

It happened y'all. I met a guy that absolutely adores my body hair!

We never really spoke about it. I didn't even anticipate anything escalating so soon. But we did the deed and I didn't feel nervous at all. Even though I'm in the middle of a break out and still shy about showing my body hair in public, he completely lost himself in kissing every. single. inch. of my body and... I'm at a loss for words.

No man or woman, had ever treated me with such admiration and passion when I was making every effort to be hairless.

I'm now riding this incredible high. I still can't believe it happened. The best part is that I only met this guy after 2 years of focusing all of my time and energy into loving my body, my hair, and being proud of it. I'm building up my self esteem by doing things for me and only me. I've also raised my standards to a ridiculous height thinking I'd just be single forever, and happy!

Even if things don't work out with him, I now know for a fact that people that like body hair exist.

Anywho, just wanted to share and remind everyone, including myself, that self-love begins and ends with YOU. This community really helped me in that journey.

Continue rocking your beautiful, luscious hair, you gorgeous gorgeous ladies!

Much love 💜💜💜

Long time lurker here. I've been razor free when it body hair for almost my whole life. Mostly because I take after my mom and have very little hair on my arms, underarms and legs. And whatever little hair I have is light in color. What I have been struggling with for years now is my chin and upper lip hair. It stared in my early 30s due to having a hysterectomy because of cancer. I try and let it go and not care like the rest of my body but it comes in so dark unlike the rest of my hair. I always end up caving and shaving it because of the looks I get. I don't have a full on men's type beard. It's ugly patches bracketing my chin and lip. Idk why I'm posting I guess to get some encouragement.

Nothing’s better than hot flame fanning the legs ❤️

Long time lurker, occasional commenter.. and I've run into something that I'm confused about

Often when people go razor free and proudly show their legs, (esp those who take more stereotypical aesthetic photos).. they seem to have no hair above their calves.

Knees and thighs look completely different in terms of hair density, colour.. honestly couldn't tell you if they'd half shaven.

While I know having thicker hair in some areas is a thing... is this common? If shaving wasn't a thing.. would many women just walk around with darker/thicker calf hair and invisible knee/thigh hair? How come it just.. stops

If they are half shaving, may I ask what the purpose is? (No shame). Is it sensory issues? Easing into fully razor free? Defying what the world expects of us, but not giving up comforts? And if so, how does that work? From personal experience, I've always had more issues from shaving higher rather than lower

PS - did try to add the tag Question but it said this would be an AMA post, so I assume the appropriate tag is advice?

No one said anything about it. No weird looks. The esthetician had no problem with my calf forests in full bloom. I felt weird at first but forgot about it by the time we got to the nail polish. Woot!

I stop shaving my calves about three months ago. I thought by now I would be comfortable with the new leg hair, but it is still bothering me because it is so much darker and coarser than my thigh hair. Whenever I am wearing shorts or taking a shower, I always stare at my legs and am bothered by the stark contrast between my thigh hair and my calf hair. I also don't like how stubbly the hair feels, despite the fact I stopped shaving it three months ago. Shaving my legs is constantly on my mind, but I really can't shave them now because the hair is so long and it will take forever. To add on, I am in college and live in a dorm with communal bathrooms, so it would be an inconvenience to others if I took an hour to shave my legs.

Using another hair removal option might not be the best choice right now. I have used Nair once and it barely worked. Waxing is messy and I will most likely burn myself. I haven't try epilating, but I heard it is time-consuming and painful.

I hate the task of shaving but I can't stand my leg hair. Should I shave or let it be?