What is a good age to let your daughters shave their legs?

[bigbelle]

Advice! Thanks!!

[TheReturnoftheSmartArse]

Mine both started in year 7 - aged 12. But I wax their legs for them, rather than shaving.

[BadTasteFlump]

I don't think something like this is a case of 'letting'; more helping her make the choice of how to remove the hair once she's decided she wants to.

And as others have said, shaving is not something you're stuck with once you've started. One session with waxing or depilatory cream gets rid of the shaved off blunt ends and you're back to square one... All more hassle than shaving though. I think when the time comes I will be buying my DD a good electric shaver.

[Ormirian]

It wouldn't occur to me to stop her if she chose to. I'd rather she didn't at all I guess but as I do i can't really complain if she does. Actually what I mean is I'd rather she didn't feel the need to shave them. But if it stops at shaving her legs I'll be happy.

[NotJustKangaskhan]

I would say that when she asks, she's ready to discuss hair removal choices and care for the stuff that goes with it.

And shaving doesn't make it darker, though the colour can change due to hormones and other body changes. As someone who no longer shaves, I notice my hair gets darker in pregnancy and goes back to light soon afterwards so I guess the darkening common in teenagers that is attributed to shaving is likely due more due to their hormones than hair removal methods.

[Blindcavesalamander]

I wouldn't like my DD to use hair removal creams because of all the chemicals. If it was unavoidable due to teasing/bullying I would let her have hers waxed. She's only 10 but worries about dark hairs (they look absolutely fine to me, silky and not thick) and i told her she was lovely and looks beautiful and she is too young at the moment. I will keep it in mind though. I wouldn't want her to have prickly stubble, it's so much worse than soft, natural hair. I feel that once she starts and it's prickly it's sort of hard to stop.
She will be trapped in the hair removal pattern for ever and become a victim of the cosmetics industry and pressure to conform to "Female Eunuch" type attractiveness. Is it a losing battle in this commercially driven world where young girls are encouraged to wear 'sexy' clothes and make up. I don't want her to feel awkward or embarrassed, but I don't want her to swap her natural beauty for something so much more plastic, conformist and lemming like. She has to decide for herself obviously, but at her age her parents do have the responsibility for deciding so much for her.

[TransatlanticCityGirl]

My mother allowed me when I got my first period (aged 11).

I was first to start puberty in my class, and I got teased a lot about my hairy legs!

[bigbelle]

Went on holiday & missed all these good replies, thanks! I like the ladies electric shaver idea. The first time I shaved I looked like the victim of a lawn mower incident. White bits of paper all over to stop the bleeding etc. Not so into the cream, all those chemicals with 14 syllables that one can't even pronounce. Can't be good!

[Eglu]

This is something I will now have to deal with as I have just had a DD after 2 DSes. She seems to have my colouring so is probably going to be pretty hairy. I will absolutley let her start whenever she wants as I was v. embarassaed by my hairy legs at school.

[mrsravelstein]

i did mine for the first time with one of those weird sandpapery mitt things (it was the 70s, i don't even know if they still make them) when i was about 8 i think... i was very hairy-legged by then. my odd mother thought i shouldn't be shaving them til i was 14 or something, so i ended up having to do it with crappy bic razors and doing a very bad job of it. so i would agree with several of the others that you let them do it at the point where they feel the need to, whatever age that is.