Shaving legs question - am I wrong?

[Floralchickens]

So my 12 year old is going to start shaving, I’ve got her a nice razor and sensitive gel and will show her what to do, but I was going to get her to read a guide on it and the one online said you shave down the leg....I’ve always shaved up the leg (as shown in every shaving advert), have I been shaving wrong for years?

The usual advice is 'in direction of hair growth' .

I'm the same as you op, only ever done it up the leg

I always shave up.

I've always, like you, shaved against the grain, as it were.

I'm wondering if they mean just the bottom half of the leg: ie below the knee.
I only wonder this because my mother told me to only shave my shins and not my thighs (ended up looking like Mr Tumnus from Narnia for a while).

Curious to see what others do...

Googling would suggest about a 2:1 in favour of up:down

I've only ever done against the hair growth. The hair is so dark it wouldn't go otherwise.

First ever shave goes down, in direction of hair growth. Thereafter, go up, as you'll only be dealing with very slight stubble.

You're meant to be more likely to get ingrowing hairs if you shave against the growth, which is why the advice is usually shave in the direction of it.

I've been shaving up my legs for over 40 years and have never had an ingrowing hair.

Off topic but I’d recommend an electric razor - much easier for younger teens to manage.

Another vote for up. I have tried shaving down but the end result felt stubbly.

Shave up and exfoliate before shaving with a nice scrub to help minimise ingrown hairs

My dd and her friends use a bizarre up AND down sort of scrubbing action/method that I've never seen buy apparently it gets the smoothest finish

I believe TikTok is to blame

Up surely. How would down work?

@Palindromic yes, I’m looking into electric shavers as my daughter is worried about using razors....but we’re going away with friends and will be swimming so she wants to start removing hair (we have very dark hair and very white skin which means leg/armpits shows the hair clearly).

But when I was looking into it, I got confused with the advice to shave downwards

Thanks for the replies, I can’t believe I’ve got confused with something I’ve done for years!

Definitely up!

Sometimes I'll change direction in tricker areas around the ankle or knee but generally it's up. Even after a particularly lazy, hairy winter 🤣

@Chunkymenrock ah that’s interesting! So I should get her to to go downwards for the first shave...I’ll see if that works.

DD has asked about shaving her legs etc. currently using cream and would like to move on to razor but electric shaver sounds like a good compromise: are they any good? Does anyone own one...which brand?

Shaving up here. For 40 years. Not one ingrown hair. Ever. 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Daphnesmate05 does the cream work ok? I’m really unsure about how you go about showing my daughter how to remove hair, I was never shown and would just dry shave my legs with my dads disposal razor (shredding my legs in the process) and it wasn’t until I got married that my husband got me shaving gel and a razor

I’ve been very open about puberty with her since she was little do she talks a lot with me about things than I did with my mom, my daughter has mentioned using cream first but I didn’t know if it was any good.

Floralchickens Yes, the cream seems to do a good job...just a bit of a faff for her I think.

My 13yo uses veet as she was too nervous to shave.
I’ve always shaved up (Venus razor + gel) and never had any issues.