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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Do you shave your armpits?

258 replies

ShavenUnderarmHaven · 08/08/2023 23:37

Have just done mine for the first time since last summer. I don't care what it looks like, but the humidity where I live has been a killer lately and I will try anything if it makes me feel less sweaty/ makes my antiperspirant work more effectively.

I have not shaved regularly for quite a few years now. In my twenties I pretty much always did though.

What's normal for you?

Is there less pressure on women to shave their underarms now compared to 20 years ago?

OP posts:
PomBearsAndTea · 09/08/2023 02:46

I hardly get any armpit hair, but when a hair or two appear, I shave them off!

Mothership4two · 09/08/2023 02:55

Would love to go au naturel with my armpits but I don't like how it looks on me so keep them shaved,, but am a bit more relaxed in the Winter.

Seems like there is more pressure for everyone to be hairless everywhere nowadays.

Augustus40 · 09/08/2023 06:14

I shave armpits legs and lady garden weekly.

Tartareistasty · 09/08/2023 06:23

Yes, every few days. Hot, humid and sweating. There is a bacteria which thrives on hair in certain body places and mine seems to be very hard working😂
Perspirex is magic btw if anyone nees REALLY good antiperspirant.
Legs sporadically

Natsku · 09/08/2023 06:27

Yeah, twice a week. I do feel the pressure to not have hairy armpits, though also think my stick deodorant probably wouldn't work as well with hairs there, and I don't like spray deodorant.

IncompleteSenten · 09/08/2023 06:27

Sometimes

Tartareistasty · 09/08/2023 06:28

Re face fuzz. My friend with very light hair does it and swears her make up sits on better. I wouldn't but I understand why some women with dark fuzz do! I had friend who waxed her arms because she genuinely had hairy men hair. Genes and in her case probably hormones as well?

AuntieMarys · 09/08/2023 06:29

I have no armpit hair!! It never grew thank god

maddiemookins16mum · 09/08/2023 06:31

I never shave my legs or underarms unless they will be on ‘display’, so strappy tops or sleeveless and shorts or short dresses. I live in trousers most of the year. It’s great. However I’m at a wedding this weekend so have purchased a bumper pack of razors as wearing a knee length, sleeveless dress.

DaisyWaldron · 09/08/2023 06:36

I prefer the look of hair on other people, but every time I try to grow mine out I give up after a month or so when I just have a weedy pale sparse growth of hair that is the armpit equivalent of a teenage boy's embarrassing attempt at a beard.

I might make a commitment to go from September to Christmas without shaving and see if I have any luck.

handlion · 09/08/2023 06:37

Daily, I'm very pale with very dark hair so any fuzz is quickly noticeable! I've got friends who don't shave at all and I'd love to just not bother, but I find hair on my legs or underarms uncomfortable - can't even bear waiting for it to get long enough to wax or epilate. Really want to get a laser hair removal thing, not sure if it'd be worth it though!

Happyhappyeveryday · 09/08/2023 07:56

No. I gave up when it started feeling sore and itchy, then DD told me she thought people with unshaven armpits looked cooler, so I’ve basked in that since! Lol. I hate that society still expects it of women, so I’m rebelling in my 50s - finally.

dikwad · 09/08/2023 07:59

I shave my legs and armpits everyday and have a full Hollywood wax every time it sprouts back not because of societal pressures but because I want to and think it looks horrendous when I haven't!

JorisBonson · 09/08/2023 08:00

Every day thanks to PCOS!

loveandpoprockz · 09/08/2023 08:02

Not this again 🥱

Tereseta · 09/08/2023 08:03

Don't shave underarms unless going on holiday

Anotherchristianmama · 09/08/2023 08:06

Never shave my legs or under my arms. I have a very hairy face and do shave that, which I will admit is entirely down to social pressure.

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 09/08/2023 08:07

Generally sporadically when I feel like it, and always if I'm going to be wearing something sleeveless. I prefer the look of shaved armpits. I'm aware that this is not an personal preference uninfluenced by society's expectations!

Anotherchristianmama · 09/08/2023 08:07

dikwad · 09/08/2023 07:59

I shave my legs and armpits everyday and have a full Hollywood wax every time it sprouts back not because of societal pressures but because I want to and think it looks horrendous when I haven't!

You didn't learn to think that in a vacuum though.

dudsville · 09/08/2023 08:07

At my age the growth is less and it's a little more sparse, but like many i stopped shaving regularly with the pandemic. Nowadays i shave once every 6 to 12 weeks probably, less in winter. I'm not anxious about being seen with armpit hair, it's about sweat. If i didn't live in fear of the regrowth I'd do the same with pubic hair, but a few experiments in my youth went badly and put a stop to that!

Smoky1107 · 09/08/2023 08:09

Yes and legs every day. It's a habit I can't remember when it started but I hate the feel of any hair there

Threenow · 09/08/2023 08:16

I shave once a week. but I think the hair growth has almost stopped now. It takes seconds, and I've never found it scratchy or had stubble rash (I use shaving cream).

flutterby1 · 09/08/2023 08:17

Not in the winter when I can hide them

Maddy70 · 09/08/2023 08:24

I shave mine every day in the shower anti perspirent doesn't work on me unless it's clean shaven

LammasEve · 09/08/2023 08:25

In summer, I shave every couple of weeks, more often if it's hot. From autumn to early summer, I don't shave at all. Good to see I'm not alone.