Eat the Damn Cake

bad at shaving my legs

42 Responses to “bad at shaving my legs”

1. Melanie responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 3:12 pm #

   I have tried oh so many razor types. I finally settled on a triple blad from Target. Cheap and disposable. Environment be damned I’m using what makes my legs the smoothest! I also learned that if I get my legs waxed once a year, the hair grows back slower and my legs can stay smooth a whole day rather than having a 5 o’ clock leg shadow. I’m Greek. We be hairy.

   Best shaving story: I was in a claw foot tub with one leg up on the side shaving my left leg. My right leg came out from under me and I flew out of the tub, and hit the pedestal sink on the way down. I stood up and was fine, until I noticed that my front two teeth were broken. I didn’t care that my nose was obviously broke and bleeding AND that I had split my lip so bad you could fit a finger in it. I cared that I had two broken teeth. I also looked like Carrie at the prom. Absolutely covered in blood from my face wounds. I went to the ER and looked so bad that people literally said, “Let her go first.” I have since gotten the lip stitched up and the teeth fixed of course, but to this day I shave in the tiny shower in my bedroom, ’cause I can’t put my leg up on the side of a tub. I still haven’t bought the stickies for the bottom of my shower. You think I would’ve done that right after it happened.

2. Frankie responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 3:14 pm #

   Oh my goodness! Butterfly clips- I remember those. I think I still have some in the drawer of my vanity. I probably shouldn’t admit that but it’s true. The ones that actually kind of moved a little when you walked. They were springy and sort of fluttered like a butterfly would. And in junior high, it was all about how many you fit in your hair. So funny!

   I don’t have any good leg shaving stories. I actually love my leg-hair-folicles, they make shaving my legs really easy, however I can relate to your story because my bikini line folicles are not so cooperative. I’ve given up all hope of ever enjoying having to wear a bathing suit ever again.

3. katilda responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 3:21 pm #

   i shaved my legs for the first time in 7th grade so i would look good in my knee socks and short plaid skort. (yes, skort.) (and yes, knee socks.) my favorite hairstyle that year also happened to involved slicking my hair back into a tight bun and covering every inch of said bun with plastic butterfly clips. it’s cringe-worthy, looking back, but at least at the time i thought i had it going on…

4. Kate responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 3:37 pm #

   @Melanie
   That is a horror story! Sheeeeesh. So sorry. I’ve always been afraid of something like that happening when I shaved with one leg up on the tub. Now I’m sure my fears were well founded.

5. Kate responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 3:37 pm #

   @Frankie
   YES. They were springy. I LOVED that about them.

6. Kate responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 3:38 pm #

   @Katilda
   I love that image– your bun being attacked by a flock of starving butterflies. Yup, that’s where my mind went.

7. Also Kate responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 3:44 pm #

   When I was a teenager studying karate, the women at my dojo used to only shave our legs up to four inches above the ankle – just high enough that if you were doing some kind of partner kicking or stretching drill, your partner would never know you hadn’t shaved. (And you wouldn’t poke their eyes out with your leg hair.)

   The rest of the leg hair didn’t matter to me, and I LOVED the idea that we had all of the men in the dojo totally fooled – that we were this secret sisterhood of women who only shaved their ankles. It was fun, especially as a 13/14/15-year-old, to have this common bond with some of the other women training there, who were in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and yes, even 60s. Like we were pretending to be nice, society-appeasing gentlewomen by shaving just those few inches, but then kicking ass and taking names with the rest of our legs.

   I wish I still did something awesome like that, but I shave to the knee now, year round (the thigh hair is too blond to bother with, even though none of my other body or head hair is blond. Huh). I like skirts and dresses now, and I do not like nylons. I have, however, discovered men’s razors and also men’s shaving cream, which (thank all that is good and holy) will not make you smell like a glistening pear or whatever crap they have decided women should smell like.

8. Kate responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 3:47 pm #

   @Also Kate
   Love it.

   Also, that reminds me, I forgot to mention that I use guy shaving cream, too, of course. 🙂

9. Aurora responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 3:49 pm #

   For most of my leg-shaving years, I used crappy bulk-packaging three-blade razors. Not even the decent kind, but the random sunny-colored ones you get in packs of 5-10. They got the hair off, but I was curious as to how “better” razors performed, so I decided, once, on a whim, to get a 5-blade razor. It was one of the really crazy technical ones with the funky name. I was actually a bit excited, because if the crap razors worked so well, this must be some kind of heavenly gift. Maybe it would make my legs softer and magically catch the patches I occasionally missed or something.

   It sucked. The thing was so dull that it barely got rid of any hair. It didn’t even rust up and die — it just didn’t shave. I was utterly confused. I checked my old orange three-blade again, tried to take some hair off, and boom, no hair. No effort. It was totally weird.

   I’m convinced that different people’s legs have different reactions to certain razors. Those insane five-blade types wouldn’t sell if someone didn’t want to use them. I guess my legs just want the generically-gendered bargain-bin crappy razors. They work like a charm. Hell, the only razor I’ve ever used that was worse than those techie-razors was a one-blade BIC razor for less than a dollar.

   So it makes perfect sense, to me, that the women’s razors might work for some but not for others. Keep going with your men’s razor, if it works for you!

10. Kate responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 3:52 pm #

    @Aurora
    I wish my legs were more like yours. It might be cheaper.

11. Katie responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 4:24 pm #

    When I was 15/16-ish, while shaving my armpits (so, sorry, this one’s not about legs, but I totally hear you on the goose bumps thing!), I slipped in the shower, jolting my arm, which resulted in me nicking my NIPPLE with my razor. Let me tell you, it’s little, but good holy lord. It hurt like hell, and it bled like I was dying. Also, coincidentally, I was in that just-letting-a-boy-go-under-my-shirt-for-the-first-time phase, so I had to make up some excuse about why he couldn’t because I didn’t want him to shove his hand up there and realize that I had a bandaid on my boob and have to tell him that I’d cut it shaving. Mortifying.
    Ah, the worries of youth.

12. Kate responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 4:28 pm #

    @Katie
    AAAAHHHHH!!!! eep.

13. Mary responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 4:30 pm #

    I loved butterfly clips. I still have a small one that I wear occasionally for kicks.

    I also use a men’s razor because I have the same problem as you. However, I’m married now and I still don’t shave regularly. I shave when the world might see my legs, for their benefit, not mine. Otherwise I like my leg fur, keeps me warm in winter and my legs aren’t dry and sandpapery.

14. Edonil responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 4:49 pm #

    I have problems with shaving, to the point that my last boyfriend asked about the scars around my ankles. 🙂 Then last summer, on the advice of a friend, I switched to an epilator. The first time I used it, it hurt like woah, but now it’s just a gentle pinching, and best of all, no blood! So much nicer than slicing myself open all the time. (Having something that’s not disposable is nice, too.)

    One thing that did freak me out about was the first time I did my armpits- all the hair follicles started bleeding! Apparently that’s normal, and it hasn’t happened since, but it was quite worrying the first time!

15. Avery responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 5:15 pm #

    once i did a downward stroke and but my calve open. it seemed like i soaked up a washcloth full of blood. I thought i was dying. but i wasn’t. i almost fainted for nothing. still have a scar, though.

16. San D responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 6:15 pm #

    If I shaved 15 times in my whole 62 year old life, that was alot. My sister in a her way thought I ought to shave more even gave me an electric razor for my high school graduation (which by the way I still have, and it qualifies as an antique). When I taught, I was the queen of tights, so no one knew whether I shaved or not, and I never went sleeveless. Then came cancer and harsh drugs, and voila, 24 years later still no hair on my legs or arms or underarms. Part of my philosophy is that it was a standard set by magazines, not by me, and that somehow “defurring” myself seemed more odd to me than not. Of course I was the odd woman out in my house, my sister and mother were the high priestesses to all things “womanly” from waxing to wearing short skirts and tight sweaters. Not my style. Now before you all get gorilla images in your heads about what I look like, I venture to say, I never offended, and unless you were in an intimate situation with me, you would have never known. And THOSE in intimate proximity to me, weren’t complaining. *blush*

17. Ceci responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 6:24 pm #

    That was my favorite thing about going to an all girls school–there was little pressure to shave. During the winter, when we would all be wearing pants or tights or knee socks with our skirts, most of my classmates would stop shaving entirely. We would even have fun contests, growing out our “winter coats” and seeing whose legs were furrier. I’m glad that I had that experience, because as a result I have never been too concerned with how smooth my legs look, even during the summer.

    But I hear you on the goosebumps thing. I feel like every time I shave my legs, I end up shaving the raised skin around my hair follicles as well as the hair, and have tiny little red dots running up and down my shins to prove it. Turning up the water temperature definitely doesn’t help. Not fun. Why won’t you cooperate with me, hair follicles?

18. Caitlin responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 6:49 pm #

    It was a bonding experience to not shave our legs during swim season in high school – something to boast about, check each other’s compliance, etc. I loved that it was celebrated like that, during a time when social pressure to have smooth legs was at the highest I’ve ever experienced. Oh, and men’s razors work so much better than wimpy women’s razors. They have more blades and are built for a closer shave. Screw little pink razors, they’re completely useless.

19. Sooz responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 7:16 pm #

    I like winter b/c it means no need to shave my legs and its kinda nice to be a wild and woolly woman for awhile. 🙂 Great post, Kate!

20. Erin responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 7:25 pm #

    I soooo relate to being terrible at shaving. My legs just don’t handle it well. Fortunately, my leg hair is blonde and I can get away with a significant amount of stubble. Anytime I’m freshly shaven, it’s like my pores rebel and half of them turn into angry red bumps, while the other half seem to darken into dark polka dots. The day after is always a better look than freshly shaven.

    My boyfriend and I started sharing his m5 Magnum (hurr hurr) because it was simply the best razor either of us had ever used. When we could no longer find the refills, we switched to a vintage Gillette safety razor that we found at a flea market. It takes actual razor blades (I’ve found the best ones are made in Israel) and it makes me feel incredibly badass to use. Like, “Oh, your razor has five blades wrapped in tiny wires? How cute. I slice my leg hair off with a razor blade with a steel handle.” And I also use men’s shaving cream. It just works better.

    So yeah, it’s not just you 🙂

21. Kate responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 8:07 pm #

    I am also a poor shaver…I often leave large patches of hair that are suddenly half an inch long before I notice.

    But! The best thing I’ve done re: shaving recently is to buy an old style safety razor. It only uses one blade, but it’s so effective! And, since the blades are just razor blades, they are super cheap. I admit it was a bit scary at first, but I love it now. Also, I don’t shave my knees or thighs so there’s no knobbly bits to worry about. Totally recommend it.

22. Heather responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 8:19 pm #

    The other areas on my body get much more angry than my legs after being shaved, so I can’t complain too much about the legs, and honestly I really like the way that shaved legs feel when the rub against something, like jumping under the sheets right after your shower. I’ve gotten much better at not cutting my legs as I’ve gotten older, BUT I have cut my nails open while shaving (multiple times) and that is painful- I tend to keep my hand pretty close to the razor to check whether I need to go over a patch again and shower without glasses/ contacts, so I guess it’s a just a mixture of bad eyesight and a propensity for awkward injuries.

23. bethany actually responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 10:22 pm #

    I am with you on the goosebumpy legs. I’m always missing patches on the backs of my knees, too. I tend to go a lot longer between shaves in the winter just because shaving is kind of a pain. That said, however…

    the BEST thing I’ve ever used to shave my legs are those women’s razors that have strips of a sort of solid shaving gel ON THE BLADE. (Venus ProSkin is one brand; there are a couple of others.) They’re completely awesome because you are supposed to stand right under the hot shower while you’re shaving to keep your legs wet, so no goosebumps! I’ve even shaved in the bath before, keeping my legs completely underwater, and it works perfectly. They’re definitely more expensive than typical razors, but not that much more than razors plus shaving gel, and they work beautifully.

24. Ioana responded on 06 Jan 2012 at 11:35 pm #

    Meh. Legs are ok.

    Bikini lines are where the hurt is. One day I’ll realize how women can wear bathingsuits.

25. Sasha responded on 07 Jan 2012 at 2:18 am #

    @Ioana

    Right??

26. Lynellekw responded on 07 Jan 2012 at 5:47 am #

    Shaving and I don’t get along. My mother discouraged me from even attempting shaving until I was in my later teenage years (at 14 I almost drowned myself by attempting to swim a race in our school swimming carnival while wearing a shirt, because I was mortified to expose the little bit of fuzz under my arms), and when she came around to the idea, encouraged me to wax instead. At some stage I came across the lady razors with little guard wires over the blades to prevent inadvertantly cutting yourself, and used them for years under my arms & for emergency leg-shaving. A few years ago I bought an epilator, and never looked back. I’m on my second one now – a waterproof one I can use in the bath/shower and it is FABULOUS. I use it all over – legs, underarms, bikini line, arms, moustache. I’m not game to attempt eyebrows with it, though. I was on some medication a few years ago that caused hair growth – everything from long curly eyelashes to sideburns to the back of my neck & shoulders. I felt like Wolverine, but without the cool blades in my hands or super healing powers or yellow lycra uniform. And other drugs I was on at the same time made my skin too fragile to wax or shave – I attempted it once, and bled from tiny pinpricks all over my cheekbones & top lip (truth be told, I was lucky not to rip great holes in my skin). Fortunately most of the extra facial hair went away after I stopped the medications, or with repeated waxing over the years that followed.

    But most of the time I wear tights or trousers and go hairy. I don’t do nuthin’ to any body parts that are under cover.

27. Sonja responded on 07 Jan 2012 at 6:12 am #

    I stopped shaving my legs this summer (until then, I’d usually use cheap men’s razors since they seemed to work much better than lady razors). I’ve never been very good at shaving or at shaving often enough to be stubble-free even most of the time, so it was a relief to finally decide to leave my legs alone. It was an adjustment, and I do sometimes feel self-conscious about my hairiness, but I even kept my leg hair when we went to a wedding this fall (I sort of copped out and wore a long dress).
    What surprised me was this moment I had, when I was sitting on a playground bench waiting for my friend to come back to so we could continue our conversation, and I looked at my legs and my leg hair was shimmering in the sunlight, and I was struck by how beautiful it was.

28. Orual responded on 07 Jan 2012 at 8:02 am #

    My parents told me I could start shaving if I took over doing all the laundry for our family of 9. I wanted to shave so badly that I fell for it, something that still annoys me. Do you have any idea how much laundry a family of that size creates?

29. dee responded on 07 Jan 2012 at 1:21 pm #

    @ san d glad you are well now and still unhairy – good side to many things
    personally i never had a hair issue – when i was 17 my legs looked sandy – the extent of the hairiness but i eventually started shaving using the daisy razors that came in pink and purple – remember those? i never cut myself because i am freakishly afraid of sharp things and have always been extremely careful and since i have so little hair anyway never had to shave often. now that i am old it’s maybe every 3 months or so or maybe even 6 months. lucky me!

30. Spelling responded on 07 Jan 2012 at 3:30 pm #

    Yeah, I’ve been going through a faze lately where I don’t shave unless absolutely necessary. (Maybe it’s that it’s the middle of winter, I’ve stopped running, and I haven’t been wearing shorts?) I’m pretty sure it’s been about a month since the last time I shaved…

    I’m with you on the girly razor thing. Girl razors are laaaaaame! If you think about it, guys’ razors (and shaving cream) are so much better because guys are using them on their face instead of on their legs (where would you rather be cut?).

    Btw… I hate razorburn! So if you get razorburn, you should slather antibacterial (first-aid) cream all over your legs after you get out of the bathtub (razorburn is caused by bacteria that is transfered from your razor and gets in your hair follicles – or something like that). Also, I’ve found that putting aloe vera gel and lotion on my legs keeps them from getting irritated + it makes them super smooth.

31. Deanna responded on 07 Jan 2012 at 3:50 pm #

    I wax and have been doing so for years.

    My legs were not a big problem but my bikini was. I used to honestly think I was the only woman on the planet who had …how to say this delicately?…. hair that extended beyond the area it was supposed to be in. I used to ask other girls or women how they managed to wear bikinis or short shorts without bristly hair issues and they all looked at me as if I were crazy. No one I knew anywhere had this problem

    Waxing was not available in the States until the late 80s. Even now most women don’t do it as much as they do in Europe. I hated to shave there because it would grow back way too quickly. I was so self-conscious of this area that I would not wear bathing suits even though I had a very nice figure. I was once invited to the Hamptons for a bit party and I didn’t go because I was embarrassed and thought everyone would be wearing bikinis with no ‘issues’.

    Anyway, as it turns out, lots of women have hair that extends beyond the bikini area. Now when I wax I am told that I have very little compared to other women. Either I have a lot less than I used to, women today have more than they used to, or everyone else was lying to me.

    Anyway, I am a strong believer in waxing. It’s expensive although with so many Groupon deals out there it isn’t like it used to be.

32. Danielle responded on 07 Jan 2012 at 7:02 pm #

    I can never get smoothy smooth. I’ve just adopted the philosophy that if I walk really fast and be rather charming no one will notice!

33. Kate responded on 07 Jan 2012 at 7:04 pm #

    @Danielle
    HA!

34. Kate responded on 07 Jan 2012 at 7:05 pm #

    @Orual
    I can only imagine…laundry for just Bear and me is annoying enough…I dread laundry days.

35. Kate responded on 07 Jan 2012 at 7:05 pm #

    @Ioana
    Oh, god. Don’t even get me started…

36. Kate responded on 07 Jan 2012 at 7:06 pm #

    Actually, apparently, I’ve already started. Here’s a post about pubic hair: http://www.eatthedamncake.com/2011/08/19/why-arent-we-supposed-to-have-pubic-hair/

37. P Flooers responded on 07 Jan 2012 at 7:26 pm #

    Girl, get yourself some clippers and just clip your leg (or underarm) hair. Its the most freeing thing on earth. No, its not as close as a razor shave. But who cares? Its so fast and easy, you could clip your legs every day, if you had a mind to. And then you can also clip Bear’s head, saving haircut money.

38. Lexie responded on 08 Jan 2012 at 6:06 am #

    The things I have done with razors….I remember asking my mum one night that I should start shaving. I felt so embarrassed at school (I was only 12) because everyone else was doing it, and I had this strange hair that stood up on end like I was continuously being electrocuted. So I did it…then somebody made a rude comment on how weird my arm hair was, so I went home that night and angrily shaved that all off too. (I wish I hadn’t. In fact sometimes I wish I lived on pluto so I could walk around in granny underwear and un-made-up-face and furry limbs. And let zits and pimples run their course.

    On the upside, I’ve never, ever had armhair. Thank you lord.

    I’ve never tried mens razors; but I’m charging down to the store and demanding for one tomorrow. I wonder if it will cure my uneven-law-mowing-skills ( I always had the same tuft of skin that I can never get, and it annoys the heck out of me. Waxing sounds so much easier. But oh so painful.)

    Beauty is ridiculous. The end.

39. Eat the Damn Cake » Little Victories: perfect dress responded on 07 Mar 2012 at 1:06 pm #

    […] And then I wore jeans and cute, plain shirts for the next three years, when I found myself caring more about fitting in. Except for one slip up which involved a burnished orange skirt with tiny bells on it and a red suede vest. I put the thought of dresses out of my mind. I gave my old ones away. The only dresses girls on campus wore were tiny and booby and sporty. There was this beautiful, petite Asian girl in my bio class who sat with her flip-flopped, pedicured feet up on the seat in front of her and her head thrown back. She once wore a lime green strappy, beachy dress, without a bra. It just grazed her mid thighs. Her legs were tan and shiny. Lumbering guys who might or might not have played on the football team loomed over her, cracking effortful jokes after class. I couldn’t compete with that. I was too awkward to take my bra off, and my legs always had razor burn. […]

40. contrary kiwi responded on 07 Mar 2012 at 6:27 pm #

    This is only a few months late, but this is a topic dear to my heart, because I haven’t shaved my legs in over two years. I’m 20 and I regularly wear shorts and skirts and flash my legs around like they are everybody’s business (not my upper thighs, though. I like my modesty) and I have never had anyone comment on my leg hair without my mentioning it first. The only comments I have ever had are “oh, you’re so brave, I wish I could”, “I like to have smooth legs” and “but your hair is blonde, so you can hardly tell”. I’ve never had anyone tell me that my hairy legs bother them, including the boyfriend I had last year.

    I still shave my armpits because I love to wear sleeveless tops but I work at a high school and teenagers are cruel. When I stop working there I might stop shaving, but I’ll give myself time. I know I’ll get there.

    I decided to stop because no one has ever told me that my arm hair is disgusting or should be removed, so I figured that since leg hair is the exact same thing, nobody could tell me that it needed to be removed. And if someone wants to stroke smooth skin of mine, they can leave my legs alone and stroke my face!

41. Nanna responded on 13 Mar 2012 at 7:13 am #

    Scandinavian solution: sugaring.
    Or if you want to keep shaving at home, proper use of body peeling cream on legs before shaving and Decubal Clinic Cream afterwards (and every time after shower) will work wonders.

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