Shaving only removes hair at the surface of the skin, so it doesn't have to grow much to resurface. Most women will find they have to shave every one to three days if they want to keep their skin smooth [source: Hirsch].
There's really no set rule or right or wrong answer for how often you need to shave. In general, shave every two to three days for a smooth feel and three to five days if you aren't worried about a prickly leg.
“Some girls start shaving their legs as early as age 10 or 11, some girls don't even think about shaving legs up to age 20 and others don't want to shave at all,” Dr.
In most Western countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, women typically shave their thighs if the hair is dark and noticeable. Women with lighter and less noticeable hairs are less likely to shave their thighs.
Straight up, there is no science to support a reason not to shave above the knee, says Dr Elizabeth Farrell, gynaecologist and medical director at Jean Hailes for Women's Health. Some women don't feel the need to because the hairs on their thighs are finer and thinner than those on the lower half of their leg.
Almost all female people grow body hair, and even healthy people may grow much more body hair than they believe to be desirable. In many mild cases, hair removal methods make it possible to quickly eliminate cosmetic concerns of excess hair growth.
It's important to remind your daughter there is nothing wrong with having body hair and shaving is entirely her choice. Let her know you are there to teach her if and when she wants to start shaving.
Most Americans (59%) say that it's unattractive for a woman to have hair on her legs. About three in 10 (31%) say it is neither attractive nor unattractive, and just 5% believe it's attractive. People are less inclined to have strong opinions on men's leg hair.
Conversely, just 5% say it's unattractive for a man to have hairy legs. A quarter (26%) find men's hairy legs attractive (21% of men and 30% of women said this). Among 16-24-year-old women, 57% – a rate significantly more than any other age/gender group – say hairy legs on women are neither attractive nor unattractive.
Recent figures from a research study by Mintel reported that the percentage of young women aged between 18-24 shaving their underarm hair fell from 95% in 2013 to 77% in 2016. Leg-shaving is experiencing a decline too, having fallen from 92% in 2012, to 85% in 2016.
Many tweens and teens want to shave, and there are no health reasons for them to wait. It's reasonable to allow them to shave when they think they're ready to do so. On the other hand, some tweens and teens will not be interested in shaving at all, and that is fine.
Choosing whether or not to shave your body hair is a very personal decision, and there may be pros and cons to each choice. There are some benefits to not shaving like better sex, a reduced chance for skin infections, and a more regulated body temperature.
Oh, and if you notice that your legs feel prickly a day or two after shaving, know that it's normal. Generally, that's just your hair growing back. Because shaving causes hairs to have a blunt end, the tip might feel coarser or more stubbled as it first sprouts back out, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Shaving exfoliates by removing the dead cells every time the razor glides across the surface of the skin. Nazarian says that if you stop shaving, you will accumulate a layer of skin at the top of the epidermis, making it a little tougher for products like moisturizers to penetrate and be effective.
"Shaving is much more problematic [than not] because of its risk of causing micro-breaks in the tissue and increasing your risk of infection." If you rely on your shaving habit to slough off dead skin cells, know that Dr. Nazarian considers shaving to be a "cheat" exfoliant.
On top of that, the most important confirmation of my research is that men do indeed prefer women without body hair, no matter if it's located in the leg and/or armpit.
The more hair you have, the more surface area bacteria has to cling to, which keeps the smell so pungent, says Bowe.
Chinese women didn't bother to remove their leg or armpit hair, as hair was just part of your body and nothing to be ashamed about. Body hair is considered completely natural. Hair removal methods (for those mostly in big cities) use depilatory creams or shaving.
Pubis Shaving
For many years, people never cared about shaving their pubic hair until the birth of bikini in 1946. Between the 1960s and 1970s, trimming took a different twist, and women were discouraged from trimming. In the 1980s, they were now encouraged on trimming and even to do a thorough shave.
Another fascinating thing about pubic hair is its unusual texture and composition compared to the rest of the hair on our bodies and heads. You can't quite use it to floss with, but pubic hair is considerably thicker than either axillary* (underarm) hair or that on our legs, chests (for some, backs) and scalps.
In general, pubic hair in females naturally covers the labia majora (outer lips) to the inner thighs and form a triangle-like shape up to the pubic bone. Some women will naturally grow thicker or thinner hair than others, so typically there's no cause for alarm when there's slight variation.
Pubic hair removal is common — approximately 80 percent of women ages 18 to 65 report they remove some or all of their pubic hair.
It's Not About Age, It's About Your Child
There's no "magical" age that girls should start shaving, but the general consensus is that most girls start at some point between the ages of 11 and 14.