So like most women, I rather enjoy having smooth legs. I’ll admit I didn’t always like them, and it wasn’t until my self conscious 14ish (yes picked a random age in the ballpark) younger self was asked why I didn’t shave did I start. Before that it had never occurred to me that I should. my mom and older sister didn’t so it just wasn’t a think that crossed my mind.

Now I was a stubborn soul and held out for a few months, but the question which I think was genuinely just curious nagged at me as I looked around at all the super model girls about me and I gave in due to my idiotic quest as a child to be beautiful. I say idiotic because my goals were unrealisitc with my body and my methods were ummmm, worthless at best and risked my health at most. (more stories there later on both ends)

I have long said I am the most ‘girly’ woman in my family, and if you know me that is saying a lot. I just shocked one of my newer co-workers the other day because I painted my nails. He didn’t think I was the type of girl to do that. I say that not as a dig at my mom and sister. They do or not do what they like for cosmetic appearance and more power to them for it, but what that does mean is I had no one to teach me. Youtube was just kinda catching on, and me being me researching it out on the internet didn’t really occur to me and there wasn’t any books lying around. I had seen my dad shave, but I was embarrassed to ask him (one of the things I wish I could tell my younger self to get over); so let’s just say my methods were not the best.

If you have ever shaved dry you probably know how that has a tendency to be uncomfortable and mess with your skin. Well, that’s what I did for quite some time, it did the job and I got used to the smooth(ish) feeling and rather liked it over my hairy legs hence my desire to keep it up even when no one will see them. That said my skin would be dry and flaky and a bit rough afterwards but it did the job and my ignorant self assumed that’s just how it was.

Fortunately I shared a hotel room with some girls who happened to see me shave and of course questioned my methods. I was just kinda like ‘yep, that’s how I do it.’ but I paid attention to their offhanded comment of how they did it.

Life lesson: don’t be afraid to ask questions, coming across dumb(which you aren’t if you’re learning) is nothing compared to being ignorant.

Younger me had not learned that, but I did start using shaving cream so point me. It help, a lot. Still there was a lot I didn’t know and continued to be ignorant of for many years. I constantly got the red bumps while shaving, especially on the upper thighs. (upside rarely wear short shorts) it wasn’t until last year and my journey of health and beauty did I look into how to properly shave, and goodness was I doing it wrong. (I’m still horrible, but getting better)

I don’t shave my privates, but when I got pintrest for work (by that I mean something to do while I wait the 10+ mins for the computer to load up) I quickly taught it I like beauty hacks and there were several strippers or ex-strippers who discussed shaving techniques for sensitive areas which I of course applied to my legs.

Exfoliation is apparently a big part of it, as is proper after care (still working on that but I know I should do it =P) but exfoliation apparently removes a lot of the old skin cells that like to hang around and get in the way and irritate your skin and hair stumps. I got myself a little exfoliator scrubber and honestly it just feels amazing. scratching my legs was never something I thought I would like until I got it, but it’s oddly satisfying. (TMI? sorry) between that and learning that if you shave with your hair growth before you shave against helps reduce the irritation my legs definitely started to look better but more importantly felt so much better.

Not going to lie, I’m not perfect at it, sometimes I got lazy and didn’t do the steps, or didn’t do it every other day. (yes past tense there)

I knowing my lazy self I looked for alternatives to shaving starting about a year ago. It wasn’t my first stop, but the hair removal cream did nothing except make my legs and hands burn. I didn’t trust myself to wax and I wasn’t paying someone for the rest of my life every month so I settled on Epilators.

Epilators, if you never tried them they are um…. interesting. They rip your hair out by the roots so you have a decent period of time before they grow back in. sounded like a good idea and I could do it myself so I tried it.

It was painful. shocking I know, but I would have been cool with that except for a few things.

It didn’t really work perfectly, I still had to shave afterwards anyway to get the stragglers.

I started getting ingrown hairs, a lot of them. so then I was digging them out of my skin, yay….

And if that wasn’t bad enough I had to wait until my hair grew back a fair amount before I could do it again. so I didn’t get the smooth legs I liked and was comfortable with for chunks of time.

Needless to say I ditched that idea. Not for me.

This year I have started trying something else. IPL, it’s a intense pulse of light that stops/slows or whatever hair growth. the one I got requires me to use it once a week for 12 weeks to make sure it gets all the hair as they cycle through their growth stages. (didn’t know that was a thing till recently.)

I have just finished week 4, and so far I’m liking the results. it’s a bit time consuming and I have to kennel my pup so he’s not staring into the light. (although it claims it’s safe.) I have special glasses just in case. Upside I get a few episodes of tv watched as there’s nothing else i can do.

Current update: I no longer feel the need to shave inbetween sessions. I shave once a week before I do it (the IPL works best if it’s freshly shaved) but during the week my hair has defiantly slowed it’s growth. After three weeks that’s pretty good in my book. And bonus it’s not really painful at all. mostly it’s just a little ‘snap’ every so often I’ll hit a tender spot that makes me flinch a bit like a bad static shock but nothing to bad at all.

It’s a bit of an investment up front, but it cost way less than a nintendo switch =P but so far I’m very happy I made it. I am definitely enjoying my legs a lot more.