Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Ahhh...  Shaving.  I can still remember when I first started shaving...  It was in the 7th grade, when I was feeling self-conscious about gym class and those blasted short-shorts, and there was a lot of pressure to be cute and girly.  But recently I realized that I might have GID and might want to transition, and that shaving might not be so important anymore.

But still, I shave my pits probably every two days.  I just don't let them get hairy AT ALL.  Hairy pits bother me.  But I haven't shaved my legs in a few weeks, and quite frankly, I don't really want to shave my legs anymore.  >.>  Only very very occasionally do I shave "down there."  As in, only when it gets unmanageable.

So what about you guys?  Do you still shave your pits or legs?  I know after T some of you probably shave your faces, too.  And on a side note, does shaving even matter?  Discuss...

(Woohoo, first topic...)

I shave my armpits because it's a habit, and it's kinda... cleaner that way.
If I could afford it I would have all of my body hair removed permanently. I know I'm a touch weird in that way, but I just don't "like" being a hairy bear.
Not that I am one... yet... being pre-T and all.

I do shave some though mostly trim "down there". This is because I've got the astounding fortune in my misfortune of being rather well endowed for a pre-T guy (a full 3.2 centemeters!.. hehehehe) and if I let the whole area become unruly, well, then the little guy gets completely buried in the mess. I want to be able to see it tyvm.

I shave my face even if I'm pre-T. As much as I will probably curse my genes and complain about shaving my face in a couple of years, I loathe the girly "peach-fuzz" even more and would rather be without it.
So I shave.

I don't feel more like me than after shaving, showering, and putting a nice after-shave lotion on the jaw.
And then I bounce out of the bathroom like a fairy and my partner calls me a twink. ^^

I stopped shaving my ampits much later then I did my legs, like Miniar said it felt cleaner but since I stopped I love having hairy armpits. I'm looking forward to getting body hair and facial hair on T though.

I'm thinking of shaving off the few long hairs and the peachy fuzz hair from my face, but I'm really clinging to the few long hairs that I have even though it looks stupid.

Legs, armpits? I'd rather not. I did for years during spring/summer, when it was too unbearably hot to wear pants anymore, just so people (like my mother) wouldn't give me crap about how I 'had no personal hygiene skills'.  >:(

Scissors for pubic hair, to stay clean; and however nature dictates for the rest of me. No more ridiculously uncomfortable ingrown hair makes for a much happier me.

I do shave my jawline and neck, despite being pre-t, because the peach fuzz (which is thick and very soft... ugh) really puts me off.

Armpit shaving I can understand, but no leg shaving. But, I just go natural.

I never caught onto shaving my armpits or my legs. Or trimming the...uh... nethers. Judging by my peach fuzz happy trail, I think I'm going to be fairly hairy around there anyway, but that's not too bad. I do shave the peach fuzz on my face, though. Shaving my face calms me.

I used to dread the thought of getting hairy on T, but now I like the idea.

Hahhaa I shave my face like any other man and Im not even on t. I dont shave my legs anymore and I only shave my pits every once in a while to get all the excess hair out.

I am very unhairy, so I don't shave or armpits and nobody notices, even if I wear shorts, which I generally don't.  I have no peach fuzz to speak of, so the face is free as well.  As for down there, I would NOT want to accidentally cut myself or get razor burn, so no thanks, at most I'll trim.

well seeing as ive managed to grow a pretty decent moustache and can even manage a designer stubble look if i try despite being pre t no i don't shave. can't remember the last time  my legs or pits saw a razor either. part of the joys of living in trousers and shirts all the time

Tested the shaving pits and legs one time in jr. high. Never again.  It looked and felt so stupid and wrong. I do shave my face except for the sideburns tho. Mustache I have some times and other times not, it all depends on my mood.

When I was a teenager, I really really REALLY did not want to shave legs or pits. My mother used to watch me like a hawk, though, and make remarks when I didn't shave.

She used to tell me that I was "in for a rude awakening," as if, by not shaving, I was inviting the wrath of the gods to rain down on me in a storm of hailstones or a bolt of lightning or something.

I stopped shaving my body years and years ago. Before I went back into the closet, I used to shave my face to get rid of the peach fuzz. When I came out of the closet, I started shaving my face again. But I don't shave anything else. I like my body hair. I might like it less if I start to get really furry like my father, but for now I'm hoping for more.

I shave my face and nothing else. I'm a little surprised at how common face shaving is. I also cannot tolerate the look of "peach fuzz". It makes your face look softer... pfft... Like I need that.

I don't "manscape" either. Preening is just not something I enjoy - I'll avoid it if at all possible.

I really used to have to force myself to shave. I'd often forget, get annnoyed with the upkeep and end up hairy anyway. I always got a hard time from my family for that.... so for a while I only shaved the first 15 cm up my legs to shut them up :laugh:.

"Manscaping," huh?  Well there's something else I don't want to give up:  Plucking/tweezing my eyebrows.  I don't really shape them too much, I just make sure that I don't grow a unibrow.  Haha...

i quit shaving almost a year ago, arm pts nd legs. "Dosn there" i used to keep completely shaven most of the time but then it grow out when..that "time" came nd that was the only time  let it grow out, though my g.f likes to play with my pub's so i leave em a nice trimd length. i shave my face every few days jus cuz the day after i like the fee; of the "stubble" even f its jus peach fuzz nd shows show or make a difference

I dont shave legs or armpits. I do shave down there with a little trail of trimmed hair, I'm trying to get the happy trail look. And I do shave my face for the look and to try and grow stronger thicker hair, (I know it "doesn't" work but I'll still try)

I've off and on cultivated my 'hair gardens' but I've gone full tilt anti-shave since 2 months or so ago.  I no longer get deoderant-preventing razorburn in my pits, yay!  Legs look pretty male, which has helped me pass in swimming pools and such.  My face I shave to get rid of the peach fuzz and cos it feels so, well, male. ;D And down south I manscape just enough to keep it under control.

I don't care if I end up a hairy gorilla on T, I will welcome the maleness it affords me  :D

Quote from: Between Names on September 25, 2009, 11:26:24 PM
"Manscaping," huh?  Well there's something else I don't want to give up:  Plucking/tweezing my eyebrows.  I don't really shape them too much, I just make sure that I don't grow a unibrow.  Haha...

No unibrow for me either.

I shave my face.

I trim my hair down below and my armpits and I very occasionally sort out my eyebrows.

Jay

At this point I don't shave anything. I did shave my face but am now letting it grow to see what kind of facial hair I can get. DO plug the wild chin hairs if needed to keep it neat.
Myles

I shave my face, nothing else.

I'm probaby going to end up needing to shave more on T than off it, because I'm already decently hairy...and I dslike hairy armpits, so I bounce back and forth on that.

When I was about 8 years old and my brother was 3, he received a pretend shaving kit for his birthday. It was just a can of shaving foam and a plastic "blade" on the razor, which just gently scraped the shaving foam off the skin making it look like you're shaving.

I was so immensely jealous that my 3 year old little brother got to "shave" and I didn't. I asked my mom if it would be okay if I tried it just once, and she said "okay, go put some shorts on and you can sit on the edge of the bathtub". I was like "why do I need shorts on, and also, I won't be able to see in the mirror from there!" And of course my mom is like "well girls shave their legs, not their faces". I was ashamed and felt like it was wrong that I wanted to shave my face, and I also felt that it seemed wrong that I was "a girl" but my mom said I was, so she must be right, it must be *me* who was wrong.

I can't remember what I said, but I know I didn't shave my legs with the toy razor. I just let it be. I remember the whole rest of the time that he had that toy (pretty much just until the can of shaving foam ran out) every time I saw it sitting on the edge of the tub I felt jealous, ashamed, and angry. I often thought "maybe I'll just shave my face with it and not tell anyone, I'll just try it once" and I'd get all excited, but every single time, I chickened out before I even picked up the can of foam. I didn't want to get in trouble, but even worse, I didn't want to be "weird" for being a "girl" and getting caught shaving my face.

In junior high I started shaving my legs and pits because I was desperate to fit in and I was already really hairy by then. I didn't necessarily enjoy shaving (I kind of resented it actually), but I wanted to "do well" at being a "girl", and fit in. By the time I was an adult I absolutely hated shaving, and would rather wear pants in summer than to have to shave. When it would get really bad, I'd break down and shave, usually at the prodding of my significant other at the time.

In the past year or so, I gave up shaving my legs pretty much entirely. I even wore shorts with unshaven legs, because I'd finally gotten to a point where I just didn't give a flip what people thought. I still shaved my pits "for hygiene", but I was finally *free* from the pressure to shave my legs.

When I came out to myself (and my current partner) as trans, I at first said "I don't want to shave my legs, but I'll still shave my pits. It might not be forever, but I'm still comfortable doing it for now". A couple months later, I just stopped shaving them. I didn't really think it out or announce that I'm not shaving them anymore, I just kind of "forgot" to shave them, and then just figured "yeah, I think I'm done with that".

Shortly thereafter I started shaving my face. I tell ya, the first time I shaved my face, I got teary after. It was such a fulfilling moment, to watch as I dragged the razor over my foam-covered face, to wash the residue off and feel the smoothness of the skin without peach fuzz all over it, to put on aftershave that feels soothing and smells masculine. And then a couple of days later to feel that "baby stubble" feeling of the peach fuzz growing back... It was amazing. I know it's not going to give me more/thicker/darker facial hair. I know that it's hard on my skin which hasn't been toughened by T like when men (and transmen on T) shave. But the act of shaving my face, the feeling afterwards and the resulting "baby stubble" are all TOTALLY worth it.

Quote from: NES_junkie_James on October 07, 2009, 01:12:13 PM
In junior high I started shaving my legs and pits because I was desperate to fit in and I was already really hairy by then. I didn't necessarily enjoy shaving (I kind of resented it actually), but I wanted to "do well" at being a "girl", and fit in.

That's pretty much exactly how I was in junior high.  I really wanted to do well at being a girl too...

I don't shave.

Used to shave armpits and legs.  Pretty much didn't do it except in summer.  Stopped completely before I transitioned.  Used to shave peach fuzz. Now don't shave, just use the beard trimmer occasionally.


Jay

Quote from: LucienOctopus on October 07, 2009, 02:06:56 PMThat's pretty much exactly how I was in junior high.  I really wanted to do well at being a girl too...

I didn't start shaving until everyone was yelling and complaining about my leg and armpit hair. Ironically I did sometimes shave my face, even when young. It made me feel better and manly.

I quit shaving my legs this year. My mom didn't quite get it. 2 or 3 times after I told her she'd see my legs and go wow, they're very hairy... you quit shaving?! ... why?!

I shave my face pretty regularly, though I haven't been shaving my mustache as much. gonna see how well it grows out. :P

does shaving with shaving cream and a real razor make anyone else here break out hard core?  it does horrible horrible things to my face.  >_<

i use an electric razor.

Quote from: Josh on October 07, 2009, 08:03:27 PM
does shaving with shaving cream and a real razor make anyone else here break out hard core?  it does horrible horrible things to my face.  >_<

i use an electric razor.

It seems to make me break out when the razor's getting too dull I think. I'll have to test the theory a bit more to tell if that's truly the correlation, but for now that's my theory.

Quote from: Josh on October 07, 2009, 08:03:27 PM
does shaving with shaving cream and a real razor make anyone else here break out hard core?  it does horrible horrible things to my face.  >_<

i use an electric razor.

Try changing shaving creams. I'd actually suggest a shaving gel instead of cream. Also there are some non-scented, sensitive skin shaving gels available.

But yeah, electric razors are good too I kinda alternate between them. depending on how much time I wanna spend. :P

>_<  i think i may be screwed.  lol i used a brand new razor with sensitive skin shaving gel.  this leads me to believe that its not the dullness or scent/harsh chemicals that are bothering my face.

oh well.  my BFs brother has problems like that too.

I use sensitive skin shaving gel too. But it's not non-scented. I wonder if that's the difference that might help?

Like I said, I don't know for sure if my issue is when the blade gets dull, that's my theory, but I haven't tested it enough times to say for sure that it's the cause.

Quote from: NES_junkie_James on October 07, 2009, 01:12:13 PM
When I was about 8 years old and my brother was 3, he received a pretend shaving kit for his birthday. It was just a can of shaving foam and a plastic "blade" on the razor, which just gently scraped the shaving foam off the skin making it look like you're shaving.

I was so immensely jealous that my 3 year old little brother got to "shave" and I didn't. I asked my mom if it would be okay if I tried it just once, and she said "okay, go put some shorts on and you can sit on the edge of the bathtub". I was like "why do I need shorts on, and also, I won't be able to see in the mirror from there!" And of course my mom is like "well girls shave their legs, not their faces". I was ashamed and felt like it was wrong that I wanted to shave my face, and I also felt that it seemed wrong that I was "a girl" but my mom said I was, so she must be right, it must be *me* who was wrong.

I remember my mother having her razor and shaving cream sitting on the edge of the bathtub and trying to shave my face a couple times with it. I pretty much had to be forced into shaving once I hit an age where I was expected to.

I shave my armpits whenever they get too hairy for my liking. I don't shave my legs often because it's a hassle since my electric razor broke. And I shave "down there" more than anywhere else. I feel cleaner with no hair

And I used to pretend shave with my dad all the time when I was around four or five years old. I used to pretend to shave my face

Quote from: Josh on October 07, 2009, 08:03:27 PM
does shaving with shaving cream and a real razor make anyone else here break out hard core?  it does horrible horrible things to my face.  >_<

i use an electric razor.

I hope you guys don't mind my jumping in here, it was a lot of fun reading your POVs on shaving. It's quite interesting the role reversals.

I did want to comment on Josh's question though. What kind of electric razor are you using? Most are not made for use with shave creams or gels. I had been an electric user for years and very often suffered razor burns. I had bought one that was made to use with shave gels and even using sensitive gels, I would still get razor burns. The thing with the electrics is that the blades create a lot of friction and heat and if you go over too many times, you end up burning the skin. I have switched to triple blade manual razors several years ago and it makes a world of difference. Never again will I go electric (well except for the epilator, but I'll save that for the girls :))

I hope this helps, carry on, I'll just slip back to my side now.

Deanna

Quote from: Deanna_Renee on October 07, 2009, 10:35:26 PM
I hope you guys don't mind my jumping in here, it was a lot of fun reading your POVs on shaving. It's quite interesting the role reversals.

I did want to comment on Josh's question though. What kind of electric razor are you using? Most are not made for use with shave creams or gels. I had been an electric user for years and very often suffered razor burns. I had bought one that was made to use with shave gels and even using sensitive gels, I would still get razor burns. The thing with the electrics is that the blades create a lot of friction and heat and if you go over too many times, you end up burning the skin. I have switched to triple blade manual razors several years ago and it makes a world of difference. Never again will I go electric (well except for the epilator, but I'll save that for the girls :))

I hope this helps, carry on, I'll just slip back to my side now.

Deanna

i used a new manual bladed razor with shave gel.  i now use an electric shaver because it doesnt irritate my face like gel and a blade did.

In junior high I didn't care until this girl kept talking about how I should shave my legs. So being afraid of the razor, I tried waxing them a few times.

At this point I don't care. Don't shave my pits either (mother hassles me for it though). I pluck my unibrow though. I will accept being a hairy man, but not a hairy man-beast. And I trim pubic hair because it itches (tmi?)

SilverFang

I use some kind of cheapo Bic that lasts forever and Barbasol.

For pits and pubes, no shaving for me! But trimming is necessary. A little battery powered beard and moustache trimmer type deal works great for that.

I just shave my pits and face. The only reason I shave my pits is because I'm not passing in college right now because I don't have enough male clothes. (It's not fun doing laundry so often.. not fun at all) I'm slooowly building up my wardrobe... Thank heaven for thrift stores!

I haven't had any razor burn from shaving my face, though. And, I even shave it dry when I'm in a rush, so, I guess maybe I'm just a special case?

My GF who's MTF said that lady shaving gel makes her face break out, I think it's cuz it's scented.

I'm trying not to startle the gals at the gym too much, so no facial or much pit hair for now.

a little off the thread topic, but Alex, that's an epic avatar!

I think yours with the "toilet mode edit" is too, I dare ya to use it!

you're on!

You're on too! On the toilet!

Shaving? What's that?

I am a girl's worst nightmare... I do NOT shave. It's not that I'm opposed to doing so, per se, but after being hassled by my ex-wife, when she was my wife, for two years about any little hair anywhere on my body, I got fed up with it. I trim my facial hair, but have been sporting the House look for a few weeks now (nice layer of untamed stubble), and quite enjoy it. Shaving my face, regardless of whether I use a manual or electric razor, just stings, and I only end up with stubble three hours later, anyway. I've accepted the fact that I'm an excessively hairy boy, and shaving my back, stomach, chest, legs, arms, and whatever else I left out, just doesn't appeal to me. Now, if only some of that hair would migrate to my head... but I am, slowly but surely, losing my hair. All of it, it seems. Time for Rogaine to the rescue! (I hope, anyway). Too each his own, though. I see nothing wrong with dudes shaving their pits... it just isn't for me. I did it through high school, but never again.

SD

I came out as trans around 15, in high school, and by that time I was shaving... Well, everything. Face, underarms, legs, pubes, eyebrows. I went through a phase where I did elaborate theatrical makeup(people couldn't make up their minds on whether I was a 'boy or a girl', anyway...) pretty often and was hairless. And then when I hit 16-17, I stopped shaving my legs but continued to shave my underarms, as all of my ladyfriends insisted I do. (Urr, they didn't know I was female. And they were obsessed with twinks. They wanted a 'cute, hairless guy' around and they'd hassle me endlessly if I didn't just comply and 'be hygienic' for them. XP) 

Over the last six months or so, my legs just got so incredibly hairy, and I'm pretty happy with it, shaving them always sucked. Itching, razor burn, ingrown hairs... No more! I still shaved my pits, until I forgot for a while... And when my boyfriend noticed it, he mentioned I shouldn't bother shaving it. 'I mean, if you really want to. I just want you to know it really doesn't bother me, it's not like you expect me to shave mine'. So I figured... 'Huh. I'll leave it.' And now my armpits are hairy as HELL. I shave my peachfuzz off when I remember. I shave a patch out of my pubes pretty regularly because I need to, to glue on my prosthetic. There is also a patch of wiry black terminal hairs below my navel(angry wannabe happytrail) that I get rid of when I remember.

I haven't shaved in like 2yrs except for 'that' area. I do prefer being shaved there, but legs and pits? nah.  I'm pre-T but even so have some heavy whiskers on my chin.  I don't shave my face as of yet.

I'll shave my face occasionally just because it makes me feel better, but I shaved yesterday to shave alot of long neck hair I didn't notice. Yay! :D

I don't understand why people think armpit hair is unsanitary. I see no problem with it. ???

So, everyone seems intent on shaving away that peach fuzz. I can see how it might make you look female, but I think it works for me. Besides, I have terrible fears about shaving my face.  :P I considered doing it, but after seeing my friend Jorge with his peach fuzz and light mexican-mustache I decided against it. He is indeed gay, but he does look enough like a man. I pass anyway!

I stopped shaving my legs in middle school and did several times throughout the rest of high school. I don't remember the last time they were smooth, but I am quite content with their furriness. My sisters and mother bitch about it all the time though. I am nothing more than a 'lesbian' to them too.

My pits have been the most recent area I've stopped shaving. It's a bother to shave them and my girlfriend actually encouraged me to not shave them.  ;D

On a side note, I find it extremely odd that I pass. I mean, I'm not complaining. I rather enjoy being referred to as sir and seen as male when I am both binding/packing and not. I guess it's just the way I present myself?  I've got medium length hair and I'm a bit hefty. Maybe it's because I'm hispanic...  ???

Shaving my face is oddly fun considering its shaving...though I assume its part of the "rite of passage" thing and less the actual shaving part. Haven't shaved anything else lately though, maybe a bit of southern area landscaping is all.

As I said in another thread, Nair for Men comes in a spray-can and works in less than five minutes.  Granted, it can get expensive so i only Nair, at most, twice a month, but it grows back in soft enough that's all it really needs.  And everything but pits and pubes/trail goes -- arms, legs, upper abdomen, ass (it was hairy long pre-HRT).  I have my room-mate pluck the few long, thick jet black Jeff Goldblum as The Fly-hairs that crop up on my back and shoulders every week, and since I get some of those on my reasonable facsimile of nipples (long story short -- don't go to Dr. Wilson; he thinks that, after forty years of doing these surgeries, that "shower normally" is good advice for people with skin grafts), I pluck those myself.  Even the Hobbit toes get plucked.

facial hair on the chin, cheeks, and neck is shaved every other day, Schick Quattro Platinum with the fifth "detail" blade, and I'm cultivating Brian Jones sideburns, which get shaped.  Eyebrows are occasionally trimmed with cuticle scissors just to maintain an even shape -- nothing thin, just, well, shaped.  Nose hair has its own trimmer, and that can also be used on the ears -- or, more accurately, it would be if I didn't somehow get psoriasis in my ears, which seems to retard hair growth there.

(sneeks into boysroom) i hate shaving my face but the rest of me laser to the rescue and when i m done with electro good bye razors god i hate body hair ....bleh
jessica

Hi girl. lol

I only ever shave if someone points out the fact that I've got the body hair of a half ape (Says something considering I"m not on any hormones.)

Yeah...
I hate those things.

I think I've shaved my legs a handful of times in my life (only when I had to wear a skirt for part of my uniform in band)... and I absolutely refuse to shave my face. The little hair I've got on my face has been growing for almost a year now and I've become very attached to it!

I tell ya, the first time I shaved my face, I got teary after.

Me too, and a little woozy from loss of blood.  First time I tried was with an old style Schick safety razor, basically the 1904 razor that King Camp Gillette invented.  Whatever they were, they were not 'safety' anything. I must have looked like I had gone hunting with Dick Cheney.

>> tried everything, Gillette Mach 3 still works the best for me.