Leg hair and arm hair developed to help prevent chafing so we could move around without causing friction.
Overall, the benefits of shaving body hair have as much to do with appearances and personal preference as they do hygiene. However, with proper shaving technique, getting rid of your body hair will reduce your difficulties with sweat and body odor as well as make you look and feel better.
There are some benefits to not shaving like better sex, a reduced chance for skin infections, and a more regulated body temperature. Ultimately, you should go with whatever style makes you feel comfortable.
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.
If you feel like you have a lot of body hair, it might be serious. Body hair is normal, and it exists for an evolutionary reason: To keep us warm. But too much of a good thing can be a sign that something else is going on in your body.
“There is no right or certain age to start shaving,” said Rashell Orey, a licensed master social worker at Banner Health. “Some may be eager to start very early, while for others, this could be a scary thought.
Like most everyday health habits, there's really no set rule for how often you need to shave. First of all, it depends on whether you prefer to have completely bare, slightly stubbly, or all natural non-shaven legs. There's no right or wrong answer, and it's up to your preference. According to Dr.
Armpit Hair Protects Your Skin
In the case of your underarms, it helps reduce skin-on-skin friction when you swing your arms as you walk or run. Armpit hair can save you from unnecessary chafing, irritation, or even heat rash, which can happen when sweat and abrasion mix.
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.
“[Body hair] keeps mammals warm. It protects their skin from a lot of external influences, from abrasion, from water, from chemical attack, all sorts of things,” she says. “Hair is really, really useful.” Most mammals, including our closest relatives, the bonobo and the chimpanzee, are covered in hair.
If you would prefer to remove your armpit hair, there are plenty of different options available. However, removing the hair only removes the 'house' for the bacteria. The bacteria themselves remain, so if you have no armpit hair but don't wash your armpits, you're still going to have odor.
It is theorized that chest hair was a positive physical attribute thousands of years ago that helped keep your body warm. Chest hair also made it easier to visually spot fleas on the body. It's also believed the reason men have chest hair to this day is due to sexual selection.
However, the raters indicated only whether they were able to smell any odor; their judgments on odor intensity and change from baseline were not recorded. In another study, the axillary odor of shaved armpits was rated as significantly less intense and more pleasant than the odor of unshaved armpits.
Some reap the benefits of shaving every day: it makes them look fresher, neater and more professional. Others gain confidence by letting their facial hair transform their looks adding sophistication, charm and creativity to their grooming routine.
Never Dry Shave
According to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), before picking up a razor, you should wet your skin and hair to help soften it. By doing this, you rid your body of excess oil and dead skin cells that can potentially clog your pores — which is something you want to avoid.
Like everything else dealing with your body, it's your choice whether or not to shave your legs. Body and facial hair is so personal and can be an important way of expressing yourself. But grooming can take forever and you just have to do it over and over again if you want to keep the results.
Leg, chest and back hair
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.
Our underarm hair traps the moisture on our skin, giving bacteria more time to produce the bad smells that you want to avoid. Shaving your armpit hair can help maximise the effectiveness of the antiperspirants that you use.
Body hair exacerbates the unpleasant aroma in a couple ways. First, it provides extra surface area for bacteria to cling to, creating more opportunities for a nasty stench to develop. Second, it absorbs the foul odor, allowing the smell to stick around long after it should have packed it in and gone home.
Firstly, the sac from which the hair grows (the 'follicle') is oval in shape, compared to straight hair's more circular follicle. Next, curly hair exits the skin's surface at more of an angle than straight hair, causing it to curve as it grows.
Shaving can cause inflamed hair follicles, itching, ingrown hairs and razor burn. Results only last 1 to 3 days. Dull blades can cause irritation and cuts.
In the 1920s, the new fashion for sleeveless tops and short dresses meant that the legs and armpits of American women were now visible in social situations, and advertisers seized the opportunity to encourage women to shave their legs and their armpits.
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.
“The ethnicity with the least amount of terminal hair is Asian, whereas people of Hispanic and Middle Eastern descent typically have the most. Other ethnicities fall somewhere in between. So what's normal, hair-wise, for you might not be normal for someone of a different ethnic background.”