13 year old daughter wants to shave her legs

[Peachblue]

Hey first time posting here 😬 my 13 year old wants to shave her legs and I’m ok with this but my question is before she does anything is there a better option then shaving? If I could turn back time I know I would have gone a different route then shaving now I’m older and a little wiser and there seems to be way more choice of products/techniques then there was in the 90s What is the best route to go down i.e creams, strips, wax although I’m aware waxing does hurt but I’m just throwing examples. Advise apreciated thank you x

Thank you ! Your mum new lol apreciate this comment as was kind of looking for a first hand experience like this

I first took my daughter to get her legs waxed when she was 12 and she’s never shaved at nearly 15. Her hair grows back slowly and finer than it was so she doesn’t need it doing that often.

I like the venus razor that has the cream bae attached to the blade. No need for additional shaving foam and give a nice clean cut smooth finish. Wish I had a mum like you at 13. I used to sneak my dads razor and then he would cut his face to pieces but my mum never talked to me about it :(

Beauty tax 😂

The epilator is most painful done on hairy legs. If you take her for one session of waxing and then she does maintenance epilation before there’s much regrowth it won’t hurt so much.

My 11yo wanted to shave her legs as she loves to go barelegged and had quite long, albeit very pale, leg hair. So I let her use an electric shaver - worked quite well and certainly satisfied her, and the regrowth isn't too stubbly, unlike wet shaving. I'll be OK with her wet shaving later but this just seems better for now (and is very quick/convenient).

My teen DD uses an epilator, it works really well for her. As @SupposesRoses says, it's most painful on hairy legs, so it's ideal to start at age 13 when she probably doesn't have much hair and get used to it.

What do you do with your legs ? Shaving is fine for young teenagers by the time she is 15/16 she might want to move onto waxing.

I meant to say get her an electric razor she can run over her legs easily.

You’ve done well to have avoided this dilemma until 13! 😂 My DD asked at 9 but she did do a lot of swimming.

Honestly, just get her an electric wet/dry shaver to start with as they are nice and safe. My DD asked to wet shave after about 2 years when she couldn’t get her armpits as smooth as she wanted so I taught her how to do that them and bought her a.nice razor of her own. Now she uses a mixture of both depending on what she’s doing and how much time she has. I think waxing or laser could come later.

Sorry OP hope you don’t mind me piggy backing …

My DD 16 is also very pale with very dark hair that grows quickly and very thickly in places. She shaves armpits and lower legs but has her bikini area, top thighs and below tummy button waxed twice yearly but lord it grows back so so quickly 😳

Regards the Lumea thing … I’ve read she wiiis need to shave and not wax the areas first which isn’t a problem for most areas except I’m wary of her trying to shave her bikini area. Does anyone know of an alternative?

Im happy to spend on the device if it’s really going to make it easier for her and eventually kill the hair but she’s a bit cack handed which worried me with prep!

I’ve always shaved and don’t think there have been any negative consequences. A lot depends on your hair type. I had reasonably hairy legs but of the fine blonde type. In my 20s I experimented with waxing but I had so many ingrown hairs. Not the pimply type but hair growing along just under the skin. They were too fine to push through. I used to have to use a needle to pick them out then pluck them. Too much hassle, back to shaving I went.

My DD18 has similar hair to me. She shaves her legs and underarms, uses depilatory cream on bikini line and gets her eyebrows waxed.

Electric shavers are great, less risk of cuts too.

I could never understand waxing as a teen because you obviously had to have some regrowth between waxes and having a single mm of hair on your legs when I was at school was social suicide🙄

I used veet. It used to be called another name. Creams are not messy. I put the cream on my legs in the bathroom. After 5 mins, I take it off with damp tissues. I put the tissues into a small plastic bag in the bin. Then I give the legs a final rub with a damp face towel. I finish off by having a shower.

It all takes less than half an hour and lasts for a few weeks. The shaving is quick but must be done every day or two.

Does the lumea actually work?

i shave and wish I’d been able to laser it off young. It depends on the type of hair she has/you think she’ll have - if it’s fine and not obvious then shaving is fine. But it’s a pain and I literally don’t care what anyone says, it spreads the hair and makes it thicker.

I have also always shaved i don't remember any issues. Ive had my legs waxed once or twice, it was too faffy for me.

I recommend a phillips lady shave. Rechargeable and can be used wet or dry

This is what I wonder too. I was a shaver as a teen and starting waxing in my early 20’s. Iv always suffered with a bit of eczema and i think shaving exasperated it so I always had red bumpy legs. I’m now mid 30’s and have very little leg hair. It grows in so fine and I have a lot of patches without hair. If I could do it again, I would have waxed from the start. I get my legs and bikini done professionally every 4/5 weeks but occasionally if I can’t get an appt I do my lower half myself. I bought a wax pot heater and a tub of wax rather than using the strips. My dd isn’t yet at the age of shaving but I think il encourage her down the waxing route. It’s never as sore as the first time.

I would just stick with shaving. It’s quick, easy and pain free. Creams and expensive, smelly and can irritate the skin if left on too long (a risk with scatty young teenagers). I always hated applying the cream then having to stand with legs apart like a loon until I could wash it all off! And it didn’t last any longer than shaving. Waxing I’ve never tried but seems painful (especially for a kid). Epilators, again aren’t they better for small areas?

For me it’s not so much the method it’s more the routine. Might sound obvious but make sure she knows to exfoliate before, moisturise after etc. I think shaving is the best place to start personally.

Shaving or hair removal cream is easy and cheap. When she is older she can book laser if she wants. I shaved all my life and then got laser at around 26 years old which i didnt complete the course as got pregnant. But now the hairs are so light i hardly need to shave even ten years on from that. So ai would say shaving is ok as other options can be used later anyway. Also shaving is easy and quick.

I’m sure you will, but please supervise her the first time she shaves. I’m 50 and still have a scar on my shin from the first time I tried it. Completely overestimated how hard you have to press. Let’s just say it wasn’t nice!

My 13yo dd shaves her legs and armpits and finds it quick and easy. I do the same and it works for me. We are fair so regrowth isn’t noticeable really - in the peak of summer I’d do my legs once a week max.

When I started shaving my legs my mum was always banging on that I should wax instead as it would eventually make the hair follicles die so less waxing/shaving required. At the time she would have been about 45. Shes now in her mid 70s and guess what? Still has to wax whenever she wants smooth legs. I carried on shaving and do the same as her I.e shave when needed. So yeah it might lessen the regrowth but you still have to do it regularly to keep smooth legs. And it hurts and takes much longer. I say let her shave!

Shaving is fine for a youngster. I tried home waxing just a little bit older than her and it left the most horrendous bruising.