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DD2 has inherited my dark, thick hair and she already has dark hair on her legs and upper lip. We are extremely fair of complexion so this really stands out. I was teased alot at school and it made me very depressed. My mom only let me start shaving when I was 12 and by then my self confidence was shattered. So when do I let DD start shaving? She is only 3 atm so I know I'm thinking about this early, but I just want to be prepared.
I was 13 - no one else really shaved their legs in my age group before then so there was no pressure. I didn't have very hairy legs though.
I will be watching this thread with interested because my 13 yo DD has just asked about this for the first time, I'm not sure how to proceed.
I wasnt allowed until I hit highschool so 13 but I was teased over it, I think it would have been easier on me if my parents let me when all the other girls started about yr 5-6. Mum had her reasons though she wanted me not to get the dark itchy hairs so quickly and she had to shave regually so I guess she was trying to save me the effort. Definatly positives to both sides.
I first shaved when I was 12 - I was quite hairy, but blonde hairs, not dark. I did have a mustache though, and wasn't allowed to wax til I was 15. That caused me more anxiety than the legs, at least they were blonde yknow?
I reckon from 11 as kids can be so cruel about stuff like that.
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I was 12 and got picked on before that because of it.
I think if she comes to you asking, maybe discuss the pros and cons with her and let her make her own decision.
I still resent my mum a bit, for not letting me shave.
I started myself without permission from 13yrs old. By the time your DD get's to shaving age you could even consider IPL. Especially for the upper lip.
When she starts to ask if she can, I would start the conversation and go from there.
I have done SPL for my neck, underarms and upper lip. I can live with shaving the legs as it is so expensive to do SPL or IPL on the legs. I really don't think my hair has become courser or thicker due to shaving and I have been shaving for 20 year now. So what difference will it make if you start shaving at 10 or 13? I bleached my upper lip until I heard about SPL so I might give her that option when she is old enough.
mine never let me. I think I started when I was about 18... after I had an AVO on my Mum and my Dad moved interstate!
I am still scarred from not being allowed to shave my legs till I was 15!!! :shakehead:
I used to try and sneakily do it but Mum started checking my legs so I couldnt get away with it. I HATED IT!
I got teased so much because I went to an all girls school, teenage girls are the cruelest species and I was the only one out of all my friends who didnt shave. To be fair although were very fair hairs and even now (when I do shave :lol:) I only have to go to just below my knee because there is nothing above that.
I will be letting DD whenever she asks (within reason im thinking 11 or 12) because I refuse to be as mean as my mum!
I really don't think it makes any difference with the leg area as I remember at age 12-13 I was shaved as soon as stubble appeared. I don't shave my legs now, I use a cream which works great. In fact, I wish they had been around when I was starting to shave my legs :)
I know the theory is shaving is supposed to make hair coarser and thicker, I just never let mine get long enough to find out.
ETA: I am not a very hair person, I am fair with red hair. I do remember my GF's who had dark hair never had hair on their legs as they shaved very regularly, almost every few days.
We had the opposite kind of peer pressure. There was a whole gang of us in Grade 10 who had held out on the leg shaving and every time someone buckled and did the shave we would tease them mercilessly. All in good humour of course. I still remember the day I came to school for the first time after shaving and my friend handed me a note with a picture of stubbly legs, and arrow and the word "traitor". LOL
I had to shave every day in summer. In winter we wore long socks so no need.
Underarms= 8 years
Legs=10 years
I was bullied. No regrets, except not soon enough. X
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- On the West Coast beach using DP's iPhone :-)
I shaved in grade 6. Well mum would only let me use hair removal cream. I remember being embarrassed by my hairy legs because I have dark hair and fair skin. My arm hair is very light though, but my legs I had to shave every day (but I hate stubble!)
I now wax my legs, when i can be bothered.:D
My mum told me to shave me legs when I was in year 6. Prior to that I had not really noticed them. I have shaved them since, with the odd wax. I actually had one waxer who did not believe that I mostly shaved them. I am quite hairy, but if I let leave my legs alone for a winter, the hairs have a chance to lose the blunt ends which give the appearance that shaving makes the hair thicker.
I will let the girls shave when it becomes an issue. I am more concerned about DD1's mono brow than her legs. Might look at laser removal for that.
i'm interested in the answers to this one as well. I was about 12, I think.
what is IPL and SPL stand for?
My mum pretty much forbid me to shave my legs because she said it was unnecessary and she had always regretted starting. So I didn't until I was 16 or so. My armpits are virtually hairless so I didn't do them until I was over 20. Ironically I only shaved for a couple of years before the rational side of me kicked in and I started to question why society required women to be hairless. (I mean really, why???) After that I didn't shave anything for almost 20 years. I started doing it occasionally a couple years ago out of boredom :lol:
I have never waxed anything except brows.
I will try to dissuade my own DD but ultimately, when she gets old enough, it will be up to her.
I was 13 and so was my DD, but we are both very fair and have fine body hair so it was not so noticeable.
I was never teased about it (lack of BB's till 16 now that is another story :lol:)
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high school....
I never asked... I just stole my dad's razor in the shower and started when I was about 13.
There was a few comments that his blades were getting blunter, quicker... but no one was the wiser...
Been addicted to shaving them ever since
i think i only did it once or twice, cos i HATED lying in bed at night, and the STUBBLE irritated me so much, it kept me awake. the leg hair was very blonde and fine for many years. Decades later, the hair on the front of the leg (shin) is a bit darker now, sometimes i wish i could make that go away without pain (wax), stubble (shaving), chemicals (that cream that really smells harsh to me). Other parts of the leg are hairless, i have no idea why.
The feel JUST AFTER shaving, is very nice, so smooth. If only it lasted. I think i'm just too lazy to keep doing such a high maintenance thing (apart from under arms).
There seems to be a huge industry right now, very intent on convincing everyone that being hairless is the only way to be (ker ching). They haven't convinced me. But to each their own (I'm sure each person's opinion is coloured by various factors, such as the colour and coarseness of their leg hair, and how much they have). i think i will get my DD to investigate all the options, how much they cost, what they involve, pain levels, and let her make up her own mind. I won't be able to pay for any of it, so if waxing is still the craze by the time she asks, she'll have to wait until she gets a part time job.
I have 4 girls, 3 of them are blonde, 1 has dark hair
3 of them have quite dark leg and arm hair so go figure? 2 of them have fine but dark back hair, they are petite builds, with fine features, i am freaked to think what that might look like with a moustashe, i think thats when you know you are going to have real trouble???? shaving will be an option from whenever they need to and it will be open to discussion, I don't want anyone shaving their lip hair off!!!!! Your topic reminded me of my school............................................ ............ days.............................................. .................................................. .................................................. .............................................I went to a Catholic girls school, it was a non issue..lol as you can imagine there was alot of hairy girls. mostly Greek and Italian, i do remember thinking i was glad it was'nt me, but never would have teased anybody about it. I don't remember any bullying but maybe I was unaware of it???
In saying that times have changed and i say protect her and let shaving start as soon as you get a whiff of trouble,the last thing you need is a child who is being picked on for reasons that can be avoided.
I never asked, I just used my mum's razor and tore great chunks out of my shin. I was probably in year 5.
I would just wait until your daughter has issues and go from there, and definitely consider whatever other hair removal techniques are available especially for the moustache.
I have an over-zealous bikini line and growing up I always got terrible ingrown hairs when I shaved making shaving almost pointless, so I gave up swimming in my teen years through early 20s. I would not like the same experience for my daughter. I'll endeavour to help her any way I can when the time comes.
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My DD is 9 (10 in feb) and she has been waxing her lip hair for almost a year (shes probably waxed it a total of 5 times) but she was being teased as it was really dark and long. As for her legs, I am thinking maybe in a year or 2 - or when she asks about it.
I never asked permission - I shaved at 10. I had LONG BLACK hairy white chicken legs :lol:
I was 15 or 16 before I bothered, never got teased though... think my Mum actually helped me do it the first time I asked because I was so worried about cutting myself haha then she refused the next time, said I could manage myself so I didn't bother for ages, I'm hopeless! Still hate having to do straight up my shins so don't really get around to doing them much but I'm a paranoid weirdo.
I just turned 12 when I started shaving mine but I had very fair (white) hair. I didnt actually get underarm hair until I was about 14.
I had a number of surgeries on my feet and legs starting when i was around 10 and had plaster on them, and when the plaster came off the hair had grown and so i just started shaving then. I didn't ask anyone for permission, and wouldn't expect my kids to.
I have quite fair hair so it wasn't a really big deal ... my sister (much darker hair) started using Nair with our parents' permission from maybe 14 years old.
Other girls at my school started shaving or waxing by grade 4-6. Most were by year 7.
By the time arm pit hair came in, basically everyone shaved or waxed both!
And quite a few girls were doing their bikini line by year 8 or 9.
Gees i feel like the lazy slack behind one lol.
I first tryed to shave my legs when I was in year 8 or 9 (13 or 14 years) and used dads razors and cut myself a few times, my mum told me off and said I didn't need to shave and got me these glove things that were like sand paper and took FOREVER!! SO then she got me cream but I hated the smell bleh yuck. SO was all too much hassle and I kind of couldn't be bothered and wasn't to bad.
Underarms I rekon I was at uni before I did them, as no one else seemed to bother or care. And of course was by this stage shaving legs but was always an effort so didnt bother much just avoided wearing shorts!
I started getting legs waxed about 11 years ago and have never since shaved legs! Underarms still shave as waxing them hurts to much!
Is it wrong that i enjoy waxing my underarms? But i don't like waxing my legs cos don't want to wait for them to get long enough- and the one time i did it hurt way more than underarms - and not in a good way.