No Shave November- For Women! And Why YOU Should Avoid The Razor

You’ve all heard about No Shave November, but for women? Yes, ma’am! No shave November is not just for men anymore.
Find out why you should avoid the razor this winter.

No Shave November- For Women! And Why YOU Should Avoid The Razor

Before you start shaking your head, squishing your nose or begin saying gross, follow me for a minute and allow me to explain my point.
I was just like you. Since I started shaving (at the young age of eleven-years-old), I too thought that female body hair was gross.
In fact, I harshly judged those who didn’t shave and classified them as being lazy or a hippy. I mean, who doesn’t have five minutes to shave? Am I right?

Believe it or not, it wasn’t until recently that my viewpoint on this subject changed, and I owe all the thanks to my teen daughter.

What Is The Purpose Of Body Hair?

Every hair has a purpose. In addition to helping our bodies regulate our internal temperature it aids in: protecting our skin from insects and injury, and it provides protection from sun exposure.

Hair is actually a modified type of skin. Hair grows everywhere on the human body except the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, and lips. Body Hair grows more quickly in summer than winter, and more slowly at night than during the day.

Our body hair plays an important role in maintaining our health, so why do we purposely shave it?  If we weren’t meant to have hair, then why do we have it in the first place?

When Did We Start Shaving Body Hair?

Back in the Victorian Era, they believed many parts of our body were useless such as the tail bone, the prostate gland, the appendix, and body hair.
I mean, if they can’t find a use for it, get rid of it- right?
In the early 1920s, women started wearing short sleeve shirts, thus they were soon “required” to remove objectionable body hair.
By the 1940s the objectionable body hair included a lot more real estate such as the legs and thighs.
Now over 80% of women (and men) participate in the barbaric ritual of taking sharp razor blades to one’s skin.

The Dangers Of Shaving

Outside of the constant nicking of the sharp razor blades on your sensitive skin, shaving can introduce bacteria into your bloodstream and can cause skin irritations.
How many times have you walked around with those little white pieces of tissue paper on your body?

In addition to painful cuts, shaving private areas can also make you susceptible to infectious diseases.

According to Dr Vanessa Mackay, who is a member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, pubic hair is vital for preventing pathogens from entering the vagina. “Pubic hair offers a natural barrier to keep things clean, to decrease contact with viruses and bacteria, and to protect the tender skin of the area,”

Razor burns, bumps, dry, and itchy skin are also little side effects we get from shaving. Sign me up!

The History of No-Shave November

In my personal life, the trend of not shaving in the fall started back when I was a child. When my dad started growing a beard, it always meant hunting season was close.

However, in 2009 eight children of the Hill family lost their father to colon cancer and decided to do something about it. They campaigned for No-Shave November and asked participants to not shave for the month of November and donate the money they would spend on shaving products, waxing appointments, etc and give them to cancer research and prevention. This family is raising awareness to help fight cancer as well as raising money for St Judes Children’s Research Hospital, Fight Colorectal Cancer, and the American Cancer Society. 

“No-Shave November is a web-based, non-profit organization devoted to growing cancer awareness and raising funds to support cancer prevention, research, and education.” 

Thanks to social media, their cause spread quickly and now thousands are giving up the razor and a clean-shaven body to help grow awareness. I can’t think of a better reason to not shave!

If you would like to participate in No-Shave November to help the cancer foundation, you can learn more here. 

No-Shave November- What Changed My Way of Thinking

A while ago I was talking to my teen daughter who constantly complained about pain in her underarms from shaving.
We tried everything- coconut oil, lotions, herbs, no deodorant, natural deodorant. Nothing helped her irritation.
When No Shave November rolled around she claimed: “I’m doing it.”

Because of the stigma associated with female body hair, all of the family members were hesitantly supportive.
For a while, it became the family joke and she would tease her older brother by scaring him with her armpit hair- which would always chase him out of the room.

Unfortunately, this world accepts everything these days EXCEPT body hair on women.
She found that her female peers were more supportive than her male peers by her new winter coat.
Despite the fact they too have underarm hair, they found it to be off-putting.

The Upside of Not Shaving

In addition to finding relief from the constant pain, our daughter spent a lot less time in the shower.
We were very happy to see a reduction in our water bill!
We also discovered that not shaving our armpits reduced our body odor. You read that right, REDUCED.
The soft longer hair was extremely comfortable and added a smooth feeling under our arms compared to the short prickly stubbles of shaved hair.

Still Not Convinced?

I get it, I do. We’ve all been programmed for so long (probably for most, if not all of our lives) that it will take time. Baby steps.
If you’re not ready to give up the razor, take care of your skin with these helpful tips.

• Soak your skin in water for a minute or so to soften the hair
• Never shave dry skin
• Use a soothing shaving soap
• Make sure your skin is tight by gently pulling sagging skin taut
• Use your own razor- never share razors with someone
• Don’t shave with a dull razor blade
• Follow up your shave with a nourishing lotion like our All-Natural Goat Milk Lotion

Take it a step further and make your OWN All-Natural Skin Care Products. We share four amazing recipes here. 

Where do you stand with shaving?

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