Extreme Shaving

28 December 2005 06:40 Renée memory lane, that's life!

The first time I shaved my legs I was eleven or twelve. I didn’t really need to shave them, but you couldn’t have convinced me of that for a million dollars.

Because neither my mom nor dad used straight razors, I used my mom’s electric razor. It was dull and I remember being thoroughly disappointed because instead of the silky smooth skin that I was hoping for, I ended up with nothing more than slightly-shorter-stubble.

When I told Mom I was going buy some straight razors and shaving cream, she showed me a scar on her ankle that explained why she used an electric razor. Let’s just say that I was sufficiently traumatized enough by it that it wasn’t until I was fourteen that I braved shaving with a straight razor for the first time.

I am lucky enough that as a natural blonde the hair on my legs is not easily seen even when it is long and as a result, over the years my shaving pattern has varied wildly. Those first few years I only shaved when “necessary” and then during my most extreme shaving phase in my early 20s I shaved nearly every other day.

When I went to Europe the first time, I thought that I might abandon shaving altogether as a cultural assimilation exercise. However, when I learned that, contrary to popular American opinion, European women shave too I was more than a little bit relieved that I wouldn’t have to suffer through that “need-to-shave” itchy leg syndrome one day longer.

These days I still shave, but laziness has whittled my shaving routine down to approximately once a week… or whenever I can’t stand the “need-to-shave” itchy leg syndrome anymore. And as a result, I have noticed some things that my mom tried to tell me (but I purposefully ignored) when I was eleven. The less I shave…

1.) … the longer I can go without shaving.
2.) … the softer and finer the hair on my legs is.
3.) … the less lotion I need to re-moisturize my skin.

I have not yet become “green” and I don’t think all of the hair on my body will ever reach the point that it is the same length, but I have to admit that I enjoy the liberty that such infrequent shaving has given me and if someday I don’t feel the need to shave my legs anymore at all, then dammit, I won’t!

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