Hair Removal for a 12/13 year old

[Bettyj69]

Help please Mums. My 12 year old (13 in Aug) has asked can she 'shave' her legs. She doesn't want to shave them, having had a few horror stories from friends who have cut themselves shaving.

Any recommendations as to what is the best form of hair removal for ones so young?

Much appreciated.

but hairy legs aren't unclean, you know.

My DD is only 2 and a half but I imagine if she was feeling self conscious about her leg hair in senior school and asked if she could shave/ veet it, I'd say yes. As school kids can be so mean, I wouldn't want her to feel embarrassed or run the risk of being teased about it if very hairy

I just started to borrow my elder brothers razor when bathing in senior school myself He never knew and I never asked my mum. LOL. She didn't actually notice, but I am blonde I suppose.

Let them try both methods and decide. Waxing at a young age, seems a bit to me.

I find it quite that there are people refusing to allow their teenage dd to remove hair from her own body. It's a normal part of personal grooming for most females in the UK and girls will obviously know this. I cannot fathom why it might be considered a problem, or why some mums think it's not a decision an 12 / 13 year old can make. In a few years they'll be able to get a tattoo. Maybe it would be more helpful to stop micro-managing their lives now so they'll be able to make better decisions when they could legally make permanent changes to their bodies.

OP, Does you dd have much knowledge about non-shaving options? See what she likes the sound of most. It might be a good idea to let her try out a few options before the summer gets here and she will want to be wearing shorts.

Those people who mentioned that fuzz is all 11 year old girls have are being very unreasonable, try being a girl with coarse, dark hair where even the roots show through the skin.

Imagine having pubic hair down your inner thighs and having to swim with the school!!

If you can't then i don't feel you are qualified to comment on this thread, there is body hair and there is the forest of hell that some girls have to deal with.

Most girls are more advanced than boys at that age and can have lots more body hair to deal with and while it may not be unclean it looks bloody horrible.

i don't think the OP has clarified whether or not it's fuzz or dark hair that she wants to shave, has she?

and NEWSFLASH, it's not 'just grooming' for a lot of women. you've been sold that by companies making heaps of cash out of you.

if my child was mortified by terribly dark hair then of course i would let her shave the night before swimming, but that is it. tbh covering up hairy legs might be no bad way to encourage a bit of modesty.

Sorry, another vote for waxing.

At 12ish I was a tinsy bit hairy and remember HATING that. In fact I think I became aware of it when I was around 8 or 9. That was 20 years ago, so nothing's changed much.

When I was 13 or so my mum started taking me to get waxed, which is probably the only remotely spa-like thing we'd ever do together, so you don't have to be a Katie Price type to do it. In fact it was probably because she remembers hating being hairy as a teenager, so that's nearly 40 years ago.

I went to a girls school, don't think a boy SAW my legs until I was about 17, and was a Naomi-Wolf-reading type of teenager. Depilating your legs doesn't have to mean sexualising girls too young, it can just mean that they can get a little bit of control over their own teenager body.

Wax using NADS - specially dsigned by a mum for her daughters.

I use it and of all the waxes I've used in my time NADS is the best. Terrible name though

Of course I'll let my DD wax her legs if she likes - shaving IMO just grows back all stubbly and strong, and cremes can be absorbed into thebody if used over large areas.

My DD is a hairy monkey, just like me - I was bullied for being hairy at school - I really liked sports, but have dark hair - go figure.
This isn't a sexualisation issue for me - it's grooming innit?

LesSing.....Heaps of companies have made money out of me for washing my hair and buying shampoo or companies have made money out of me for cleaning my teeth and using toothpaste. I really don't care if hair removing manufactures money out of me. It doesn't cost that much to buy a Bic razor but I feel so much better than if I hadn't.

DD has been shaving her legs and armpits for about 6 months or so (she is 14). She is very blonde albeit very hairy - she started to shave after she noticed hairs glistening in the sunlight on the beach last year.

She just uses a razor in the bath and only bothers in the summer or when she goes swimming. I dn't see any point in recommending waxing or veet. What's the point?

She would not have considered it at all at the age of 11.

if a 12yo is bothered about hairy legs then she should be allowed to shave them!!! what if she was getting teased?

if she's not bothered though, then obviously don't make her do it. lots of my blonde friends didn't shave until they were older.

IMHO shaving is the least drastic option but as her mum you should show her how to do it properly with venus foam or whatever.

TBH am saddened at the thought of preventing a 12yo girl shaving. My mum said no so I had nobody to show me how - did it totally wrong several times, cut myself very badly and felt I couldn't tell mum (normally I tell her everything!). wrapped my legs in bandages under my trousers and was in immense pain. please take note of this horrible experience!

my DSDs (12) aren't bothered yet - they wear trousers to school) but when they are I'll show them how to do it, if their mum doesn't mind obviously. She probably won't care

once again, the hair on your body is not unclean, so it's not comparable to dirty hair and teeth.

I suppose with regard to grooming it's more comparable to brushing your hair and tidying up your appearance rather than a cleanliness issue.
Some people are bothered by it and some are not. Just as some people want their hair professionally cut regularly and others won't bother.

I never said it was unclean. I just don't like it being there on display especially in summer when I am wearing t shirts and dresses. My body, my choice in this case just, as it was when I was 12.

I don't look back and think 'Oh my god I made a mistake there' when I started to shave my legs. If anything I think thank God my mum told my dad to butt out when he found out. And thank you mum for getting me the razors when you did the monthly 'big' shop at Kwik Save!

Lesinge - would you refuse to let your ds shave his face if he had a little hair and wanted to? If your dd is using a roll on or stick deodorant then it won't work as effectivly if she isn't shaving.

i wouldn't let a child use an anti-perspirant deod in any case, and a crystal deodorant works fine with some underarm hair.

and lol, what boy do you know who wants to shave his face when he gets hair on it. they all want to grow it as much as possible, to demonstrate how mature they are.

i just can't believe how many of you buy into the 'hair is ugly' line. it's so... depressing. the reason kids feel ugly is because you do.

I shaved my legs when I was 10, I cut myself pretty badly I still have a scar! I wasn't very hairy, it was that light peachy fuzz.

With hindsight I wish I hadn't. I also wish I hadn't had my bikini line waxed when I was an older teen.. it grew back a lot worse than before and became messy, not tidy

I think try to encourage young girls to just be OK with what they've got, for as long as possible. Shaving creates a problem, really, once you start it needs to be done often. Creams do contain nasty chemicals. If anything I'd say encourage waxing over other options but only for summer months.

And not before 14 unless it's really really causing a big problem with self esteem

You seem to have missed that a 12 / 13 year old is not a child who can't make a minor decision like what type of deodorant to use or whether they want to remove their body hair. Would you allow a 12 or 13 year old to decide how long they want their hair, or what style, or which sports they want to do, what to read, what time of day to do homework? Hair removal isn't harmful and it's not irreversable - on what grounds is this a decision which a teenager can't make?

Waxing cannot be done in a salon until your daughter is 16, but you could talk to your daughter about sugaring.

It's much gentler, no chemicals, would easily manage the small amount of hair that she presumably has at that age, and you could do it for her, say once every 6 weeks.

Much easier than having her spend ages in the shower every day trying not to cut herself with a razor. Ultimately you would be doing her a massive favour, as she will eventually have less hair to deal with.

haven't read all the responses but have just seen

'it is really sad that at 11 little girls are concerned over body hair, have times really changed so much in 30 years?

I am 36. I started my periods when I was 9 years old, I had breasts by 10 and by 11 i was very hairy in my underarms and legs and would try to get out of swimming because of it, I was so embarrassed. I also developed pubic hair around then too. I cut myself many times from sneaking my mums razor and trying to get rid of it. When she finally found out she got me a razor of my own and showed me how to do it but I remember very well the embarrasment of being so much further developed that everyone else (or it felt like that).

If my daughter is anything like me I would have absolutely no problem with her getting rid of her hair when the time comes.

I agree that waxing is great for getting rid of it but I have been doing it for 20 years or so on and off and am still very hairy. My bikini line spreads out all over the top of my legs. it is disgusting. if I could afford it would get laser without a doubt.

Willowstar - have you spoken to a salon about sugaring? If you have very dark hair it might be a better option than waxing.

Waxing very stubborn hair can sometimes cause it to break, rather than actually taking it from the root like it does with finer hair. This leaves you no better off than using a cream of epilator (also break a lot of hairs).

It's a lot less painful than laser, and doesn't take as long (laser often takes weeks of treatment to get it smooth, and can grow back. Sugaring leaves you smooth straight away, but most will grow back). Should still grow back finer than if it has been broken by wax/shaving/epilator though.