After puberty, most girls choose to remove their body hair (especially hands, legs & underarms) by some method or another. When I wanted to do the same, my mom gave me my first razor & taught me how to shave. I’ve tried almost every other form of hair removal in between, from creams to waxing & epilating, but I keep coming back to shaving for multiple reasons. It’s easy, economical, quick, painless & perhaps most importantly best for my skin!
If you’ve never tried shaving, the thought of picking up a razor for the first time can seem a bit intimidating. Additionally, there a lot of baseless myths surrounding shaving. So I thought I’d write a beginner’s guide to shaving, step by step & include a few tips as well.
You can safely shave any part of your body, regardless of gender be it your hands, legs, underarms or bikini region but in this post I’m going to cover arms + legs because these are probably the most common areas people remove hair from & the easiest regions to start with, too!
What You’ll Need
All you’ll really need to begin shaving is a razor & something to lubricate your skin for smooth shaving (because soap isn’t recommended – I’ll get to why soon). I use the Gillette Venus razor because it’s a razor designed especially for women, not only does it look good, it grips well, glides on your skin plus it has a handy blue strip to tell when you need to change your cartridge. I always have a pack of Gillette Venus Cartridges (blades) handy as well, so that when my cartridge goes blunt (the deep blue strip turns pale blue) I can replace it to always get a smooth shave.
Like most people I’ve been guilty of just shaving with whatever soap or shower gel I have on hand in the shower, but soap ends up drying your skin & sensitising it further. I think I first tried the Gillette Satin Care Shaving Gel about two years ago, without too many expectation, but it sort of blew my mind from the very first use. If you’ve shaved before but never used shaving gel, you really must try it because it’ll take your shaving experience to the next level (really).
If it’s your first time shaving, you can save a bunch of money & get all three products in this Gillette Venus Shaving Kit – you can thank me later!
Now let’s get to the actual shaving bit…
HOW TO SHAVE
Moisten your skin
Shaving must never, ever be done on dry skin! You’re much more likely to get jagged hair & even cut your skin, it’s a huge no-no. Always shave on wet skin – your bath or shower is the best place to do it because hot water softens your skin, making it even easier to get a smooth shave.
Lather Up
Now it’s time to put that Gillette Satin Care Shaving Gel to use. It comes out like an aqua blue gel & gives a rich foam in just a few seconds. It expands like crazy, so you don’t need a lot to cover your hand or leg. The foam also serves as a kind of guide, so you’ll know where you shaved & are less likely to miss spots. It’s formulated especially for sensitive skin, I find it nourishing & soothing, my skin is always left feeling smooth & hair free later, not irritated or stripped in any way.
Shave in the Right Direction
Always shave in a light but firm touch & never press down too hard. For your legs, shave legs from the ankle upwards. For your arms, move from your wrist to elbow, but for the upper arm go from your shoulder to elbow. For your underarms, shave from all angles-up, down and sideways. And for the bikini area, shave in the direction of hair growth first (inward) & then against for an extra close shave.
Make sure to go a bit slower on joints & knuckles like toes, knees, your wrist joint etc. to avoid any grazes or nicks. I know this sounds a teensy bit complicated at first but trust me, after a couple of times it becomes second nature!
Moisturize
Another really important step in the process is to use a good moisturizer after stepping out of the shower, & you’ll never have that dry or itchy feeling people complain about.
Don’t Forget to Exfoliate
Any form of hair removal can put you at ‘risk’ of getting ingrown hair. While they’re not particularly dangerous, they can be annoying & a bit unsightly. You can completely eliminate that risk by exfoliating regularly. You can choose to either use a milder, daily scrub everyday or use a body polisher (deeper exfoliant) like this or this once or twice a week. Be regular with this & you won’t see a single ingrown hair.
If you’ve been curious about shaving but never tried it, I hope you found this post useful. Feel free to leave any questions in the comment section below & even request guides for any other topic! x
