Wednesday, October 13, 2010

A post in which I get a little inappropriate

I'm just going to put this out there:
I hate shaving my legs.

Not because I like being hairy.
Quite the opposite.
That's why I became an esthetician.
Because unnecessary body hair. must. die.

I'm in favor a shave-every-day kind of gal. In fact, I kind of need to be (the Italian/Irish double whammy, as I like to call it).
That is, if my skin could handle it.
You see, dear reader(s), my legs erupt into tiny, angry, red bumps every time I place a razor to them.
The only plausible solutions I've come up with in the past are to A). not shave for a whole week so that the hair is super-long when then allows removal to be less irritating, or B). let it grow out for a month and then wax it.
Neither of those things sound like roads I want to go down.

Apparently, this horribly sensitive skin syndrome is hereditary because my sister is also afflicted with it.
Generally, we commiserate over our misfortune whenever we spend time together. It's one of our favorite topics.
However while visiting the homestead this weekend, she enlightened me with her new leg-shaving-regimen that had yielded great personal success for her and her limbs.
So I tried it.
The verdict?
I'm glad I listened to my sister.
The whole thing is actually quite ingenious and as a professional and licensed skincare provider, I'm a little ashamed that I didn't come up with it.
Oh well.

These are the supplies one needs to create your personal hair-removal Nirvana:

1). A sharp razor. Janie prefers the Gillette Venus Embrace. I'm more of a Mach3 kind of girl. I've just found that it works better for me. Whatever your poison, make sure that you install a new blade every 2 to 3 shaves. It sounds expensive, I know, but all the ice cream you'll be eating after your boyfriend dumps you because your legs look like something scary from outer space? That'll be expensive too.

2). A pumice stone.

3). Neutrogena Body Clear body scrub. I'm sure an alternative exists somewhere on the planet, but it's probably seven billion dollars and made from imported sea kelp from India, or something. You can buy this stuff at Target.

4). A good shaving cream. Or gel. Whatever. Dr. Bronner's is choice numero uno in my book. It's really the best thing that I've found, and it's organic and vegan. So, how can you lose? That's right. You can't.

What I generally do is bust out my razor in the middle of my shower, after the steam and warm water have softened my skin a little and opened my pores. Using the pumice stone and the body scrub together, I exfoliate my legs (note: this should not feel like little feathers kissing your skin. It will feel scratchy, but not painful. Or, at least, it shouldn't). Rinse, followed by shaving gel application and hair removal.

Aaaaannnnd...voila!
Smooth, shiny, non itchy legs.

I highly recommend using a moisturizer after toweling off. That way your skin doesn't die. My favorite? Kiehl's Creme de Corps. They also have a lightweight version, for those of us who don't have skin that is constantly dehydrated. But that's not me.

So, do you have the same leg-shaving dilemmas?
If your answer is "yes", try my crazy-awesome-no-razor-burn method.
If your answer is "no", well I guess you just read a whole post about leg-shaving for nothing, didn't you?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

leg shaving is a suck fest in general.

I do not shave my legs that often. And in the winter, I don't shave above the knee much. Take that, husband!

But, I hate when blankets rub against leg stubble. It's itchy.