Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Shaving before swimming

199 replies

Frazzled2207 · 07/06/2021 21:03

Really have not had an exciting time during the pandemic but am going swimming later this week with the smalls for the first time in I can’t remember so careful to shave all appropriate bits as I always used to.

But it made me think- as I find it a sensitive area and quite difficult due to having an awkwardly located cyst - is it ever ok to go swimming and not shave underarms/legs/tops of legs? I don’t think I’ve ever really noticed what other people do which I suppose is a good thing and suggests we can all just do what we like. But until now I guess I thought it was some kind of unwritten rule. Is it?

OP posts:
NoBetterthanSheShouldBe · 07/06/2021 21:51

I swim everyday and shave maybe once a week, never legs above the knee or anywhere near the bikini line (not that I wear a bikini).

I do wear a swim hat and I’m clean - some people are smelly this summer! More noticeable in the pool than elsewhere.

SomethingNastyInTheBallPool · 07/06/2021 21:54

I don’t worry about it. I used to fret about escapee pubes but a switch to boyleg swimming costumes sorted that one.

PunishmentSnart · 07/06/2021 21:56

I ‘rough shave’ legs etc.

Underarms I constantly shave coz I think sweat/ smells may get trapped there

MeadowHay · 07/06/2021 22:04

I hardly ever go swimming even though I love it and it does mean DH takes the lead in taking our daughter. Partly it is because I can barely swim but then thats a lot due to lack of practice, and the lack of pool-going is basically entirely due to my issues with body hair. Its awful to admit but it's true. I have a big hang up about it but then don't have the time or energy to maintain the hair removal I did pre-DC. I also get it eczema the times I do. I do always wear swim shorts or boyleg style swimming costumes so I don't have to worry about pubic hair though. I wish I was brave enough to swim with stubbley legs nevermind hairy ones.

Crabapple04 · 07/06/2021 22:07

Loving that so many are saying they just don't shave or very little. I have very sensitive skin and beyond the occasional below the knee shave I don't worry about the rest, it's just too painful and uncomfortable to bother.

I recommend Decathlon for swimwear- shorts leg costumes lots to choose and swim leggings too. I cover up in the sea as I burn so easily it's easier to wear UV rash vest and leggings.

There was me thinking that the Naked Attraction look was the "norm" these days😆

Suffolkpunch345 · 07/06/2021 22:09

I would never go swimming with body hair poking out. Tbh I have an aversion to it on myself or anyone else.

ScottishNewbie · 07/06/2021 22:12

Meh. It's just hair. I think we are doing ourselves and other women a disservice by being so obsessed about it.

littlepattilou · 07/06/2021 22:12

@Frazzled2207

Just go! Don't shave. Don't upset that cyst!

No-one will care - or notice - that you have a bit of fluff! Grin

BaggoMcoys · 07/06/2021 22:15

The only hair I worry about showing when swimming is my pubes. I do shave other places occasionally but wouldnt bother just for swimming. I want to get some of the shorts now after reading this thread though.

TentTalk · 07/06/2021 22:15

I don't ever shave. I don't particularly enjoy swimming, but my body hair doesn't stop me doing it when the mood takes. I'm much less hairy than DH - he has a beard!

Allington · 07/06/2021 22:15

You really don't have to buy into the ridiculous 'it's disgusting' attitudes to women's hair. Men are allowed to have body hair, why is it so unacceptable for women?

Go for a swim, whatever your body hair.

Do whatever you want with your own hair.

Undersnatch · 07/06/2021 22:17

@ScottishNewbie

Meh. It's just hair. I think we are doing ourselves and other women a disservice by being so obsessed about it.
I agree. Will any of you who are really concerned about it lie on your deathbeds thinking back on your life that ‘I’m really proud of my well maintained bikini line’. Or ‘I regret that time that person I didn’t know looked at my armpit once and judged me’ ?
murbblurb · 07/06/2021 22:17

Like many people I need specs or contacts and can't wear them in the pool. I can see people but not their body hair. And if someone was close enough to see my body hair I'd give her a good kicking.

Why are women so bitchy?

FinallyHere · 07/06/2021 22:17

is it ever ok to go swimming and not shave underarms/legs/tops of legs?

How closely do you check anyone else? Do you even notice anyone else ? If you do notice anyone else, do you waste any time at all judging or evaluating their life choices?

Good. It's all personal choice. Why should anyone care what choices you make. How could it possibly matter to anyone?.

480Widdio · 07/06/2021 22:20

I swim everyday and don’t bother about my body hair,neither do I notice others.

The only person I ever notice is a thin elderly bearded man,he wears the most miniscule trunks I have ever seen,yuck,like the photo but without the body.

ForbiddenAppleEatingShits · 07/06/2021 22:22

@Octopuscrazy

Yes, I shave everything top to bottom and would judge you if you didn't especially if it was your pits or bits Envynot envy
Do men with normal body hair make you feel sick too or just women?
Shodan · 07/06/2021 22:23

These threads always remind of Smack The Pony... Grin

LST · 07/06/2021 22:24

@Suffolkpunch345

I would never go swimming with body hair poking out. Tbh I have an aversion to it on myself or anyone else.
What happens when you see it on someone else? Do you melt?
mangoontoast · 07/06/2021 22:27

@murbblurb

Like many people I need specs or contacts and can't wear them in the pool. I can see people but not their body hair. And if someone was close enough to see my body hair I'd give her a good kicking.

Why are women so bitchy?

I was starting to think I was I was only one. I'm so short sighted I can barely see other people's legs, let alone their leg hair! Judging by the amount if people that wear glasses, I'd say half the people at the pool can't see your armpit hair!
Sweetchocolatecandy · 07/06/2021 22:32

I always shave but I suffer from anxiety and I’m very self conscious in social situations so it just makes me feel a bit better about myself. I doubt anyone really notices though.

Vursayles · 07/06/2021 22:34

Honestly if I was close enough to another women’s crotch in the pool to be able to see her pubic hair status, I’d be so mortified I wouldn’t give a toss even if I did care about that sort of thing! I never notice, nor look at anyone else in the pool. I assume most other people are the same.

The men at my pool are all hairier than Cousin It. Any worry over an unshaven bikini line is frankly laughable.

MajesticWhine · 07/06/2021 22:36

I swim without shaving. I used to worry more about this sort of thing but it has dawned on me that I don't examine other people's bikini line or legs, so why would they look at mine? I tend to keep my under arms shaved anyway, just out of habit.

noirchatsdeux · 07/06/2021 22:39

I stopped shaving my bikini line about 15 years ago - so I was about 37, when my Dr told me to stop as I was getting very painful cysts and boils. I never liked high cut swimsuits anyway so it's never been a problem.
Stopped shaving my thighs at about the same time. Only do underarms now and even then only did it about 2 times shaving during lockdown.
After chemo the hair on the bottom half of my legs is very patchy and barely noticeable.

Not worth worrying about.

PawsQueen · 07/06/2021 22:41

I had to have surgery in my armpit that makes it difficult to shave due to the scarring
Wonder how the UGH people would cope with that Hmm
I mean I couldn't wash my armpit for weeks, let alone shave it. And no, it can't be waxed or laser due to the scarring so I run a trimmer over the bits I can but I don't really give a shit

StCharlotte · 07/06/2021 22:43

I remember as a little girl being slightly revolted by my mother's underarm hair. I wonder why, as I had no concept of style or beauty or societal "norms" at that age.