Summer...to shave or not to shave?

[jeanfor]

I don't have much hair but I like smooth legs better. I am a runner and a biker (cycling) and shaved legs are much better.

[moonshadow]

Well... on this subject the inner hippie comes out in me. I may grow my hair out... put some flowers in it... I already wear a hillbilly style fedora everywhere. A simple t shirt and an ankle length skirt... covering yes... hairy legs. I like to sit outside on a bench with the hem hanging over my shins after a day of forging over streams, mud holes, and mountain sides. Proudly displaying the sandles with the dirt under my toenails that haven't been trimmed in months.... nod my head and smile and people walk by.

That's the style I like to project..... That Im happy in my own skin. Even if its hairy.

[skipper5551]

I clip & shave the hair on my legs fairly regular. Shaved legs maximizes the feel of being touched when my wife gets frisky. I think shaved legs look better with a skirt.

[Gordon]

Hairless legs just feel so much better. I've recently been putting body/hand lotion on my legs daily. They are so much softer and smoother feeling now. I like it!

[Jetblasted]

About 15 years ago I was dating a sexual Dynamo, and joking around about shaving she suggested I shave my legs. Well, she fell in love with it and I shaved for her for a couple of years. We broke up over something I still regret to this day, but I continued to shave my legs for another couple of years. That was many many years ago & I doubt I'll ever shave again. But back then the leap to going out in public at first horrified me, but after a few trips out with her, it became normal & I was hair free in public from then on with no qualms. The daily drudge of shaving started to get to me, and I quit.

[Regular Guy]

I have shaved waist to toes for about 8 years now and will keep on until I get too old to care about it . No time soon I hope!!

A few nights ago I went out to dinner with wife in a kilt after a fresh shave. Wow what a great feeling of smooth legs sliding against the fabric.

That alone is worth shaving my legs. And gives a new meaning to the saying " i shaved my legs for This?" Answer is a resounding YES !!
RG

[Kirbstone]

I live in a near-Neanderthal body which has a healthy penumbra of sun-blocking hairs more or less all over.
From choice I shave my face only, but under duress from Am-Dram directors 40 years ago I agreed to shave my legs for an impersonation of Marlene Dietrich as part of a 20s-30s-40s show. 'She' (I) appeared in a slinky fitting dress slit up to the hip, Fur wrap up top, long cigarette holder in hand, lit from above, in front of the curtains while they changed scenery behind, and I sang a husky-voiced 'Lily Marlene'

Never again!

Tom

[dillon]

I live in a near-Neanderthal body which has a healthy penumbra of sun-blocking hairs more or less all over.
From choice I shave my face only, but under duress from Am-Dram directors 40 years ago I agreed to shave my legs for an impersonation of Marlene Dietrich as part of a 20s-30s-40s show. 'She' (I) appeared in a slinky fitting dress slit up to the hip, Fur wrap up top, long cigarette holder in hand, lit from above, in front of the curtains while they changed scenery behind, and I sang a husky-voiced 'Lily Marlene'

Never again!

Tom

That must have been quite the sight, and too bad it was in the day before everything could be committed to digital video. I'm sure it would be a You Tube hit. You seem no worse for the wear, so I'm guessing you had a big time with the performance!

[dillon]

I have shaved waist to toes for about 8 years now and will keep on until I get too old to care about it . No time soon I hope!!

A few nights ago I went out to dinner with wife in a kilt after a fresh shave. Wow what a great feeling of smooth legs sliding against the fabric.

That alone is worth shaving my legs. And gives a new meaning to the saying " i shaved my legs for This?" Answer is a resounding YES !!
RG

I shave my legs more than my mostly bearded face, for both the feel and look. I especially like a golden brown tan on them in the summer. I don't like the time required for this maintenance which takes a two day shave cycle in summer and a four day cycle in winter. Wishing I could afford laser depilation.

[moonshadow]

Well, I shall have to backpedal a little tonight.

Although I will admit I have considered shaving my legs from time to time over the years, I always talked myself out of it for various reasons. To be clear, I didn't mind the way my hairy legs looked in skirts, however at the dinner table tonight, The idea of shaving legs came up, and both my wife and my daughter encouraged me to give it a go! I figured... what the heck, if it's a disaster, I just wear long skirts and pants for a few week until it grows back. So why not?

Without hesitation, (in my marriage, you strike while the iron is HOT) after dinner, I retreated to the shower and whacked off 34 years of leg hair. Granted, it has never been enormously thick at any rate, but it still ran the water heater cold before I was done, I'm sure the water bill will be slightly high this month as a result, and I also went through three razors.

But I suppose hence forth as long as I stay on top of it, this shouldn't be a really big deal. I am satisfied with the result, and even more pleased that no blood was drawn, which surprised me, especially towards the end as I sensed the water turning cold and I attempted to speed things up a little.

It is a rather bizarre feeling. I don't feel like I'm in my normal skin tonight. It's pleasant, don't get me wrong, it's just.... strange. I had to run a late night call tonight and slipped on my work pants after the fact, what a weird sensation. It must admit, it is somewhat erotic. The look really goes with the knee length skirts I have.

On a slightly humorous, although somewhat annoying note.... I have somehow managed to get one of these hair legs in my right eye. How? I have no idea. I can't see it, and it's starting to get on my nerves.

[crfriend]

It is a rather bizarre feeling. I don't feel like I'm in my normal skin tonight. It's pleasant, don't get me wrong, it's just.... strange. I had to run a late night call tonight and slipped on my work pants after the fact, what a weird sensation. It must admit, it is somewhat erotic. The look really goes with the knee length skirts I have.

Whilst the notion of shaving one's legs has been broached from time to time here, one thing I which I believe has not been mentioned is the immediate internal response to the act. We humans are creatures of habit, and in the case of our bodies, sometimes those habits can span not just years but decades. Changing something as fundamental as what covers (or doesn't) a large portion of our bodies produces an enormous sensory input which can sometimes border on overload.

It may not look like much, but shaving one's legs is a huge change to an existing "system" that one has grown acclimated to; this causes more than a bit of a shock to the larger "system" (both tactile and visual) that one must re-acclimate to -- and this takes time. You, yourself, may not know whether you like the change or not for several days or even weeks yet. In short, it "feels funny", and it "looks funny" (as in "odd", not humourous) to you. These sensations will pass in time as you grow accustomed to them. The not-so-subtle hint here is that you have to "stay with it" long enough for that re-acclimatisation to occur; you need to give it time and not just cave to the immediate, "Oh my god, what have I done?" response and immediately let it grow back in. Give it time, say two or three months, and then pass judgement on the endeavour.

Now comes the other question: "What did your wife and daughter think?" Aside from the initial giggles, that is. This is going to take time for them to get used to as well, and you can use that as a foil for humour if you wish which defuses many uncomfortable situations.

As you mention, the worst that can possibly happen is that everybody hates the outcome, and the answer to that it long garments that cover the affected part of your anatomy. I will warn, however, that shaved legs under trousers are immediately noticeable (to you) and can be quite distracting until one is used to it!

I've been shaving my legs for 20+ years, but still recall the sense of shock that happened when I did it for the first time. I was aghast. It took a while to get used to it -- and this happened before I started wearing skirts. Nowadays, it's just part of normal periodic maintenance and I use an electric razor for it and don't think twice about it.

The upshot is is that it's a grooming choice, is perfectly acceptable for guys, and is down to the individual man in question as to whether he feels like doing it or not. Done.

[hydroman47]

I found shaving my legs made me feel cooler in the hot Texas summers.

[partlyscot]

I like looking and feeling smooth, I find it a bit of a chore sometimes keeping it up, but it is worth it for me. I would like to have a wax job, or even laser, but can't afford it. I have hopes that there will be a permanent, or semi permanent, topical cream treatment. I find my legs tan easier without the hair. Some time ago, I switched to an Alum deodorant, Crystal stick is brand name for that, though you can find generics in a lot of places. Advantages are that it lasts years, does not cause any staining or damage to clothing, doesn't have any scent, so you don't seem to be a walking AXE body spray advertisement. It is extremely effective against BO. Downside is that it doesn't have any antiperspirant function, that is, you sweat. I found shaving my arm pits, helped tremendously, you still sweat, but it dries so fast on bare skin that I don't get sopping wet fabric under my arms. Better generally than regular antiperspirant with unshaved pits.

I have had hardly any comments about body shaving, and nobody has given me any grief or complaints.

[moonshadow]

On the shaved legs: I'm really enjoying the feel of it under the skirts, and even trousers. It feels very "clean".

On the pits: I didn't mention it, but that too is something I took care of yesterday, which is also something I had been considering for a few years now, as I've never liked to look of hairy arm pits, only not until I became comfortable with wearing (women's) skirts have I allowed myself to give it a go. That summer Macabi experiment has really opened up a lot of doors I've been debating on for years.

On deodorant, I stopped wearing antiperspirant about a year ago and switched to regular deodorant. There is a school of thought that suggest that antiperspirant increases your cancer risk, I'm not an expert on the subject, however one of my co-workers has a very convincing argument with statistics that was enough for me to switch to ordinary deodorant. Granted, I still sweat, but I don't stink. He however wears nothing, which I will confess I did try for about a week.... I could do it no more.

[Caultron]

I've always preferred shaved legs, for both the look and feel of it. And as I've grown older, I need to do it less and less often.

And smooth legs on men are probably more common than you think. Without fixating or being obvious, just check out the legs of men you see wearing shorts. There are probably more, "smoothies," than you think, some natural and some shaved.

The feel is a shock at first, but I'm sure you'll get used to it and eventually find it enjoyable.