Let’s talk about body hair, shall we? We all have it, and yet some of us women choose to shave certain areas—legs, underarms, bikini line. After all, if you’re a woman and you’re not hair free, you’re definitely going to get some pretty odd glances.
But why? Why are we forced by society to shave certain parts of our bodies? After all, even famous free-spirit women such as Madonna and Drew Barrymore were known for not shaving their armpits. They might’ve gotten some flack about it, but hey, they were happy with it.
Yes, there’s a long history to why women started shaving their body hair in the first place, but have you ever considered just…stopping? Have you ever thought there could actually be benefits to not shaving anymore?
If you’re over shaving or waxing, or whatever you to do to get rid of the hair, we say you don’t have to! And we’ll give you four good reasons why.
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It takes so long.
Did you know that women spend 72 days shaving their legs over the course of a lifetime? That’s 1,728 hours of your life spent just removing your hair! To top it off, the same survey showed that shaving is one of women’s most hated beauty rituals – it’s certainly mine! – with 35 percent saying that shaving their legs was worse than doing any other beauty routine, like styling hair or tweezing their eyebrows. Uh yeah, maybe because it’s time wasted? Plus it just grows back anyway, which only perpetuates the vicious time-sucking cycle.
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Your skin might feel less irritated.
Whether you use a razor or wax, tweezers or electrolysis, removing hair is never going to do good for your skin. Shaving causes microscopic tears in the skin that can cause infection and rashes. Pubic hair is just one example of hair that’s there for protection—its function is simply to provide a cushion against friction that can hurt the skin, and getting rid of it can do the exact opposite. It also protects you from bacteria that could potentially get into that area.
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You’ll be in less pain.
It sounds weird, but hear us out: No more shaving means no more nicks, no more razor burn, and even fewer ingrown hairs. As we said, the more shaving, the more skin irritation that can occur. And that can lead to lots of painful ingrown hairs. Ingrown hairs are hairs that have grown back into your skin instead of sticking out of it like normal, causing a raised, red bump. And it’s just as painful as it sounds.
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Your bank account will be happy.
Real talk: Razors are not cheap (at least good razors that actually work). And think of how many you use throughout your lifetime and how many times they need to be replaced. And that doesn’t even include the costs of shaving cream and any other products you use to get rid of the hair. Think of all the money you’d save and what you could buy if you go bare!
Need even more incentive? Check out this video below for the four remaining reasons to ditch the razor.
What do you think of the concept of not shaving? Can you see the benefit to it? Do you think you’ll ever stop getting rid of body hair for good? Do you know anyone who already has?