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Original poster

Is 8 too young for waxed legs and eyebrows?

51 replies

nappyaddict · 03/04/2010 01:11

I was just noseying at a friend's friend's photos and was shocked to see one of her DD aged 8 after her "waxing session"

Now I can understand letting them use hair removal cream at that age if they are being teased about being hairy and they want to do it but waxing seems a bit brutal and grown up, or is that a bit arse about face of me as it's not the actual removal of hair I think 8 is too young for.

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WidowWadman · 03/04/2010 18:15

"Interesting that people would let their dd's remove leg hair because other kids are teasing them at aged 8. "

Interesting that some people would deny their child the wish to remove body hair despite others teasing them at age 8.

I'd go for a razor rather than wax or cream.

FabIsGettingThere · 03/04/2010 18:16

Don't be ridiculous WW. My point is why let other kids dictate what you do with your own child.

AnnieLobeseder · 03/04/2010 18:33

8? No way, no how, unless they had some very serious hair growth problem. And I certainly wouldn't let anyone know about it.

Meglet · 03/04/2010 18:45

Almost 30 years ago I was being bullied by the age of 8 for being so hairy, long before air brushing and and glossy celebs came along. I pinched my mums razor to do my legs and arms. Although I didn't start getting waxed until I was 15, but I never did PE as I was so ashamed and got picked on for not being pretty like everyone else.

If she was being badly bullied then that might be the only way out of it. Sadly I think gangs of girls are pretty ruthless when it comes to stuff like this . But putting it on FB is beyond stupid.

Rumpel · 03/04/2010 18:51

I would say 8 is too young for waxing however I would say shaving at that age is her life was being made a misery due to superfuous hair.

I would start her waxing at about 12 - it's more effective the longer you have it done as it distorts the hair follicles and very often the hair becomes finer, softer and less noticeable. This provides a much better outcome than shaving long term.

Hair creams I always think - if it's dissolving the hair what is it doing to your skin? Yes wax may contain chemicals but generally it is mostly beeswax with possibly added essential oils these days eg lavender or aloe vera etc. Sugaring is great too - it's just caramalised sugar.

BarefootShirl · 03/04/2010 19:28

Would only consider this if DD was exceptionally hairy - let them be children FFS!

pigletmania · 03/04/2010 21:13

Yanbu its far too young.

missmoopy · 03/04/2010 21:22

Way way way TOO young!

lolapoppins · 03/04/2010 23:12

when I was 9, I cut my legs to ribbons trying to shave them myself with a stanley knife after a year or so of merciless bullying due to being hairy.

I would rather wax/shave my daughter than have her go through years of torment (was never allowed to remove hair again) like I did.

Cherrybaby · 04/04/2010 00:19

Im in two minds here. My instinctive, protective reaction would be no way, 8 is far far FAR too young for anything got to do with hair removal.

HOWEVER...my husbands cousins daughter is 8, and shes rather hairy...and I know how much teasing she gets from school, how she hides in leggings and jeans in the hot summer days, how she refuses to go swimming, and how she runs and hides and cries if someones turns up at her hosue unexpectedly and shes not covered her legs. it really is quite heartbreaking.

What would I do if this happened to my daughter?

I really dont know.

ChippingIn · 04/04/2010 06:13

Cherrybaby - in that situation I would enable her to solve the problem, after all, it is something quite easily solved isn't it - it's not like major surgery. Why go through the rest of her childhood/puberty in this misery, until she is of an age where 'we' deem it appropriate. Of course it would be nice if children didn't tease other children - but that isn't going to change. To me, it's no different than say a child who needs glasses being bought the nicest ones available.

As for the method of removal - can anyone who has said they would allow/help her to use a razor/creams etc but not allow her to have them waxed explain why? )Genuinely curious). I would allow her to choose, trying each if she wanted - I would explain how much waxing fucking hurts first though! To me, it would be the lesser of the evils if she wanted to do it though.

cory · 04/04/2010 11:06

I am quite relaxed about what my dd is allowed to do, but if she had been teased about hair at age 8, I would have been straight into school and demanded to see their anti-bullying policy. Children don't have to tease each other, about hair or whatever.

ChippingIn · 04/04/2010 13:06

Cory - LOL - seriously - 'children don't have to tease each other' no-one's been able to stop the 'gingernut' '4 eyes' 'fatty' for the last billion years - how do you think that going to the school, to ask about their anti-bullying policy, is going to achieve that?

lolapoppins · 04/04/2010 13:34

Cory - take it from someone who was bullied in varois forms and for various reasons from the day I walked into reception to the glorious day last day of term when i was 16 and ran fir the hills - demanding to see an anti bullying policy would do jack shit.

Most of the time bullying goes undetected. Teachers don't see it. Often the child being bullied tells no one (I just learned to get on with it), most of the time other kids will see but won't want to get involved and won't tell.

You cant stop kids being nasty to each other, but you can help your child address issues (such as body hair) which are making them bear the brunt. If I had been allwed to shave my legs etc, it would have been one less thing for the nasty girls at school to tease me over.

Mouseface · 04/04/2010 13:41

DD started getting under arm hair just as she hit 10. She became very self aware, especially as she went swimming with school. So, we talked and SHE decided that she'd try cream. Works fine for her, every 10 days or so I helped her do it. She's 11 now and is sprouting alot more than underarm hair. Bless.

I think if it happened at 8, I'd do the same. "Growing up" is hard enough without being stared at/picked on for being more developed than others.

babyjane67 · 04/04/2010 14:06

8yrs old is way2young!!!
but if my dd had a hair problem&getting badly bullied about it then id have2seriously think about&talk with her about ways we could deal with it&id see the head about trying2sort the bullying
hopefully its something i wont have2face

longbay · 04/04/2010 19:35

Need i say more?!

brummiemummie · 04/04/2010 23:07

Weird that her mum has put it on FB, but not overly early at 8 imho, think my DDs had all started removing their body hair at around the age of 9?

Those of you who are saying that 8 is far too young, at what age WOULD you be comfortable with it??

mrspnut · 04/04/2010 23:16

I didn't put it on facebook but my DD1 started getting waxed when she was about 9, she was very developed and had already begun her periods and I get waxed by someone who comes to the house so it was just as easy for her to have it done at the same time.

It only hurts the first time and she had some pain killer beforehand in case it was too bad. If she hadn't been able to carry on with it then we would have stopped but not every person has a low pain threshold.

ChippingIn · 05/04/2010 01:53

mrspnut - it only hurts the first time - consider yourself bloody lucky, for me every visit is pure agony!!

cory · 05/04/2010 09:17

lolapoppins Sun 04-Apr-10 13:34:26
"Cory - take it from someone who was bullied in varois forms and for various reasons from the day I walked into reception to the glorious day last day of term when i was 16 and ran fir the hills - demanding to see an anti bullying policy would do jack shit.

Most of the time bullying goes undetected. Teachers don't see it. Often the child being bullied tells no one (I just learned to get on with it), most of the time other kids will see but won't want to get involved and won't tell."

That depends on the school, lolapoppins. I was also bullied at school because, as you say, teachers saw nothing and children didn't want to get involved.

Culture in my dcs school is totally different: children have been brought up from infants to think that they must get involved if someone is getting hurt or upset, teachers have strategies for dealing with it, they will look out for any problem they've been warned of. Whenever there's been a problem and the school has been told, they've dealt with it immediately.

Of course, there are still crap schools who won't take responsibility, but now that I've seen that schools don't have to be crap in this area, I wouldn't accept it. As a child I thought it was inevitable; now I realise it is not. And fwiw, I grew up in a "nicer", more middle-class area than we live in now. But it's the attitude of the schools that make the difference.

I was too scared of bullying to wear glasses at school. My dd got away with being incontinent. Difference in culture.

lotster · 05/04/2010 10:12

So so wrong. Far too young.

Why would her mum want to parade the pictures on facebook? Ugh. Perhaps the next stop is pagaenting?

And why anyone uses removal cream is beyond me. so to be fair I would go for waxing first (but not on an 8 year old child!) Anything you put on your skin is in your liver 20 mins later. I shudder to think of the times I used to use that crap.

Back to my coldy, bad mood!

cumbria81 · 05/04/2010 11:45

I think on the surface it is wrong and far, far too young to remove hair for vanity reasons.

BUT, if my DD was being bullied for being hairy (and genuinely was hairy) I might consider it, even if I would be uncomfortable with it.

callmemamma · 05/04/2010 11:50

I just take the whole discussion as a joke otherwise it's more than a

Original poster
nappyaddict · 05/04/2010 13:27

mrspnut Was it just her legs she got waxed or underarms/eyebrows as well?

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