Virus610

I tried shaving 'em for the first time recently. I'm aware that it's almost Winter, I'm doing this to get the whole process all figured out before bare-leg weather returns. I figure using all of Winter to perfect it is a decent idea.

My disposable razor is about a year and a half old now, and still works fine when I hack away at my face, and the first attempt on my legs went well too, but my legs did not appreciate the maintenance quite so much.

I ended up getting lots of tugging, which resulted in lots of lifting and subsequent shaving of bits of skin, finally followed by lots of little bleeding holes in my legs.

I was already distraught by the fact that I got pretty uncomfortable stubble after as little as 4 hours, meaning I'd probably have to maintain that forest daily to keep the discomfort to a relative minimum.

For your entertainment, I've got a before and after photo for my first time shaving. That is... Before the painful maintenance began.



So that was nice and all, but I have a hard time even shaving my face daily, the legs take me a fairly long time in comparison. While I'm told a blunt razor is largely responsible for the time it takes, I rashly decided I'd go with something that (they say) will cause the hair to grow back finer, thinner, and all that jazz. Yes, I went with the nightmare machine they call an epilator. For anybody fortunate enough never to have met one of these face to frightening face, the functional bit looks like this:



A spinny, teeth-filled, hair-rippingly ferocious monster. That's right, I tried shaving my legs like 3 times and said to myself "I'm going to go with a relatively inexpensive, and considerably more painful method." I would be an enlightening decision, if nothing else. Well, I spent about an hour trying to get every single hair on one leg. This was a day after my last shaving attempt, so most hairs were not long enough to be savagely uprooted.

Realizing that my first experience with an epilator was on a leg with only about 25% of the hairs actually removable, it occurred to me that I was kind of cheating. I wasn't feeling the real pain that I was warned about. As punishment, I would put myself into a situation where I have a fraction of all my leg hairs growing daily, bringing me back to the razor dilemma. I decided I would continue on this road with my right leg, and let the left one grow out for about a week. The typical outcome for my right, easy-mode leg looked like this:



A good number of unpleasant red bumps, a bunch of hairs just too short for the artifact of terror to rip out. It's certainly not ideal, but I had no idea what I was about to put myself through by letting the left leg grow out. I felt all manly because I didn't have to stop epilating my right leg because of excessive pain more than a couple of times. A couple of hours ago, I did it. I took the epilator to my left leg, which I did not enjoy at all. I found myself stalling a lot, trying to find other things to epilate. Anything not to have to do a few particular areas. My knee was without a doubt the most sensitive part of my leg. I didn't know this would be the case, so that was a nice learning experience. Anyway, as for the outcome...



Instead of the iron-deficient yellow glow that I've grown accustomed to, my skin is very very full of redness. Yes, it feels like it looks. It was a terrible 90 minute long experience that I don't look forward to enduring again. I've read in countless places that after a few torture sessions, you grow accustomed to the pain. Also, the plucking apparently kills/damages follicles, causing fewer, finer victims to sprout in subsequent sessions. Every person I've spoken to about this says otherwise, that the pain is always constant, and it's never worth it. All of these people have epilators that they've not touched in years. I feel obligated to outdo them by actually achieving the mythical results I've only read about.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share that story with you guys. It's probably entertaining or something.

tl;dr: Ouch.

Matt Gaunt

Burn City. I feel your pain. Though probably not as much as you do.

Buy a decent replaceable-blade razor and have done with it. Some light moisturiser will see you well, too.

All the best for your recovery.

JaceK

One word:

Wax

WCSting

One phrase:

Let it grow

sci_femme

With all the money saved on disposable razors you could have booked a professional waxing appointment (cue Steve Carell in 40-year Old Virgin). No sedation or epidural needed. Really.

rdubbz

you need to use clippers first, chewbacca. then shave with a razor in the shower and follow that up with a good amount of lotion.

Machka 

1. Bic disposable razor

2. Hair conditioner

3. Hot shower

Shower, lather your legs up with hair conditioner, and shave. And you're done.

Yes, it does take time and yes, you've got to maintain it. We women are expected to do this every day. Any wonder why we give it up for winter?? It's a hassle.

jdon

Nair. Leave it on for oh.. an hour or so. You will soon forget the pain caused by your dull blade adventure.

pdedes

shaved when i raced. just use clippers now, it's close enough. mine have titanium blades.

Da Sherm

After a few months of starting leg shaving I still get red bumps, I feel your pain young grasshopper. My legs looked like that at first. Over time though, your skin "gets used to it"

banerjek

If you're going to use blades that old, you may as well try shaving with steak knives.

ahsposo 

thump55

I am so glad I will never have to start a post about the first time I shaved my legs.

Spookeay Bird

I love these first time leg shaving story's. Some of you guys make it sound like a major chore.
Entertaining as it is, spend a few bucks on a bag of good 3 or 4 blade disposables, do it in the shower and it should take about 45 seconds and no pain.
Tad of lotion after your done if you tend to have dryer skin in the winter.

eippo1

I usually use a disposable w/ soap to help keep the bumps down. Then it puts the lotion on its skin afterwards. I use a double-edge razor on my face and occasionally for my legs, but you have to be very, very careful with it. Once I'm cut down, though, I'll use the Phillips Bodygroom for maintenance. Less bumps and I use the trimmer part to keep my beard looking good.

jdon

45 seconds? I am slow. Takes me about 4 minutes, but I am fussy. Sharp razor (Mach 3), I just rub on some Johnsons Baby Shampoo in a hot shower and scrape away. No rash, no bumps.

mmmdonuts

The dumbass is strong in this one...

popeye

Did you guys all meet in band camp?

Virus610

Yes, I'm aware that using a really old disposable razor is not considered intelligent, but until now I've been able to get by with just that, and still get a smooth shave on my face with no razor burn.

As for waxing, I would have an issue dropping trou for someone I've never met, and then paying like $50+ for something that'll last maybe a week or two. For those who say shaving isn't a chore and it only takes 45 seconds, I imagine that you have perfected your technique over the years, and that you didn't start up taking 45 seconds, but perhaps much longer. Not to mention I have quite a lot of leg, and being enlightened about new vulnerable and blind spots (eg: Behind the knee) means I feel the need to take it quite slowly.

I've heard really mixed reviews about things like Nair. Some people say it works well, some say it burns nothing but the skin. I feel uneasy about spending any amount of money on something that may not work at all, considering my income (Very low).

As for the epilator, it certainly did hurt, but I've read that prolonged use will result in less hair growth. I figure I'll see some results if I stick to it right through the winter. Plus, the pain from plucking 0-42 hairs per revolution causes a rush of heat that keeps me warm on these cool autumn days!

Nachoman

Wow. You're going to keep at it? Yikes!

urbanknight

That's a really good way to get a staph infection.

caphits

Lol. Just buy a new razor and some shave gel. Once you have the majority of the hairs off (you do now...) it is really easy to shave. One swipe up the whole leg, and you are hairless in that area. You don't have to hack away it you only have 1/10 inch of hair. It comes off really easy.

DO NOT USE NAIR! I used the Nair Shower Power - for men, and it only took off 3/4 of hair. It also left a terrible rash/sore on the back of my knee. It took over 2 weeks to heal, and it hurt like crap. DO NOT USE NAIR!

You also don't have to shave every day. If you shave every few day, maybe twice a week (or even once a week), it is no problem. Get rid of that instrument of pain (The epilator...and the old razor). Shaving is easy, fast (relatively), and pain FREE.

urbanknight

NAIR also burns, enough to make me wonder what kind of harsh chemicals I was putting on my body.

Caymem

:-)

bonz50

the shaving stories get a chuckle out of me... but i do have a question to ask about it... how far up do you go?? how far around back do you go?? specially you sasquatch types... do you need to pull your junk outta the way to get in there real good or what??