Hair removal for 11 year olds - any recommendations?

[SJane48S]

My 11 year old DD starts secondary school next week. She's going to a performing arts school where they will be wearing leotards for dance. She has a small amount of underarm hair she finds embarrassing and makes her self conscious and she's worrying herself about this showing in dance class. I'm not sure how I feel about hair removal at 11 - seems a bit young! Can anyone recommend a gentle friendly razor though as on balance i think for her confidence she'll feel better getting rid of it?

I would start her off with a hair removal cream x

Just get her a women's razor. I started my DD shaving her legs at 10 - she had very dark hairy legs and hated it. I don't think their age is relevant - if they don't like the hair, we should help them to deal with it.

My dd is 11 and also self conscious of underarm hair. I got her a Venus razor called spa breeze which has some sort of 'moisture bar' around the blade so it goes on the skin before and after the blade in one sweep. She has only used it a couple of times but seemed to find it easy enough to use and was pleased with it. I'm putting her off doing her legs though, she is quite blonde with sensitive skin and I think the stubble will drive her mad!

If she wants to remove it, get her some own brand men's razors with the moisture strip. Women's razors are such a ripoff.

Hair removal cream is less fuss..but it's probably too late to try it out to ensure she does not have an allergic reaction

Most razors are ok..but I found them a bit fiddly at first and got lots of scratches

I think hair removal cream is a lot MORE fuss. It’s messy, smelly and always takes longer than it states on the bottle. Just buy her a good razor

I arranged for my daughter to get hers waxed and she didn’t find it painful at all. Had that done twice and now she just used my epilator! Think if you can avoid shaving, I would recommend it

Don’t shave! It’s high maintenance and she’ll have to do it daily. I would recommend waxing if she can do it. Underarms are very quick and easy to wax then they’ll be hair free for weeks.

Wax. Quick, easy and long lasting.

Poor thing. I was in in dance when I was young. Not your daughter's issue, but I remember when my period began and having to use tampons and the pain and infections I got from trying to learn this. I also started shaving young. I'm sad that I felt I needed to, and I remember so so many knicked ankle bones for what could only have been fluff. I don't have any advice, just my sympathies that she's having to worry about this.

My daughter has a little electric razor which is really quick and easy for her to use and doesn't seem quite as harsh as a blade.

Don’t shave! It’s high maintenance

I timed myself last night. 4 seconds each armpit, every few days. I wouldnt say that's high maintenance

My parents were really strict with me about hair removal around the age of about 12. I had really dark hair and was so embarrassed. I was so desperate to get rid of it that one day I stole my dads razor and attempted to remove it. As I had no idea what I was doing I cut my ankle so badly that I needed to go to a&e!

My parents felt so guilty and when my sister was around that age they invested a lot of time in helping and showing her different methods.

I think its best to be really open about this and show her different ways in which she can remove it to avoid what happened to me!

Thanks all for your advice! I agree waxing would be the best option but she is a complete painophobe so I think maybe something to consider when she’s older! There really isn’t much hair and it’s very light so we purchased a Venus spa breeze yesterday (ta to the PP who recommended it). While she does have leg hair, it’s light so not something that’s bothering her at the moment - to the PPs with DCs with lots of very dark body hair I sympathise, I was that child and just don’t tell them this gets worse with age!

@dudsville god, hadn’t thought about the potential period issue yet! As pads as much thinner than in our days hopefully this will be ok! The dance uniform is leotard and tights so very body fitting. We’ve had the period talk obviously and she has the kit but hadn’t anticipated introducing tampons till 15 ish.

@WinnieRose1 oh no! If it makes you feel better, I’m very dark haired and shaved my moustache off about age 15, cut my lip and my sister went round telling everyone about my shaving accident. She stills thinks it’s really funny!