To wax or not to wax ????

[Cheesecakecutie]

Hey ladies...Is it authentically vintage to wax your legs?? or leave them ?....I am referring to in the 40"s ....I do not shave anywhere and only do my armpits for special occasions...or a particular dress..... This is due to my belief that it is a social conditioning that is a bit over the top....All the chemicals in veet cannot be good for you....and all those razors clogging landfill sights...yuck. But i am asking as my man likes the thought of smooth hairless legs...not that mine are hairy as they have never been shaved. And if they did it in the 40's i might be swayed....What do you think ladies....?????

 

[KittyT]

you could be swayed only if they did it in the 40s?

i hate to be rude, but who cares if it's vintage or not? many of us may (or may not) be living a "vintage lifestyle", but we're also still living in the 21st century.

i mean, regardless, i'm sure most of us still have a cellphone inside that vintage handbag we're carrying.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

I have olive skin, dark hair, and have been shavin' forever. Maybe I'm just a product of my times but I'm ok with that.

I'm pretty sure bikini waxes aren't 40's either but there's no way I'm going to the beach without one.

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

Leg *shaving* began in the early 20th century, but I have no idea when waxing started. I think it probably depended on your hair type, location and age/skirt length as to if you'd do it back then! I just know that even if I had never shaved I would still have longish dark leg hair, as that is the very reason I started at age 12! I have been epilating for about 10 years though and *that* has made a difference to my growth and darkness of it, it's reduced both significantly. Also, I am filling up no landfills as I've only used 2 different epilators over those 10 years!

 

[KittyT]

from http://www.depilatory.com/twentieth.html. This website has a pretty comprehensive history of hair removal!

"Depilatory lotions and creams dissolve the protein structure of the hair. The birth, in 1940, of the first modern depilatory, Nair® Lotion from New York-headquartered Carter-Wallace, Inc., was the result of wartime shortages. Stockings were scarce and legs went bare. Neet®, another old-time depilatory, was imported to the United States from France."

also

" What we call warm wax or hot wax was developed in the 1980s in Australia. Actually, it is a sugar mixture, heated, applied to the skin and then removed with muslin or cotton strips which absorb the wax, allowing it to grip the hair.

The invention of the microwave oven revolutionized the warm wax treatment, improving the process by speeding it up and allowing it to stay warmer without continuous reheating. In 1990, Marzena, market leaders in Australia and New Zealand since 1994, introduced its Sugaring Wax. This product can be heated in a microwave or conventionally on a stove.

Cold wax, in either paste or gel form, is applied to the skin without heating. However, most cold waxes are messy to apply (delivery from container to skin is difficult) and thickness of application cannot be controlled. The colder the room temperature, the more difficult the application and removal; what's more, the product is not in contact with the skin long enough to be warmed to maximum effectiveness.

The wax strip system was introduced in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Although it involved what were called wax strips, the process was actually derived from the ancient Middle Eastern sugaring process. The modern sugaring method, incidentally, failed to take off commercially until the late 1960s and early '70s."

 

[jonniangel]

From "Hair Removal Through the Ages" (same website mentioned above)

"Another primitive method of hair removal, actually used by women as late as the 1940s, involved rubbing off the hair by rubbing skin with abrasive mitts or discs the consistency of fine sandpaper."

My mother, who was a young adult in the 40's, told me about this several years ago. Yeouch!

 

[Nina]

you can still get those now. i know one brand is called silkymitt and i have a friend who swears by it and she has really dark leg hairs.

i know hair removal dates back to at least ancient egypt, where they were quite obsessed with it.

i'd of thought that during the war when legs were bare and sometimes coloured with erm.... gravy mix i think, you would want some hair removal. gravied matt finish legs with shiny hairs? nice!

 

[KittyT]

From "Hair Removal Through the Ages" (same website mentioned above)

"Another primitive method of hair removal, actually used by women as late as the 1940s, involved rubbing off the hair by rubbing skin with abrasive mitts or discs the consistency of fine sandpaper."

http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/...PRODUCT&iMainCat=4&iSubCat=28&iProductID=5534

I've used them before and was unimpressed. One thing that is good about them though are their exfoliating properties. Note that shaving also provides some light level of exfoliation.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Zip Wax was around and widely advertised ("It's OFF because it's OUT!") as far back as the late 1910s, and you can still find it in most drugstores -- it's a big yellow block you melt in a double boiler and apply with a popsicle stick, and then rip off with the help of muslin strips. I have used it, and it can be quite an adventure....

Waxing gives me terrible ingrowns, though, so I stick to the razor most of the time.

 

[GoldLeaf]

Waxing gives me terrible ingrowns, though, so I stick to the razor most of the time.

Yeah, it does to me too. I am torn, because I like that waxing makes the hair finer and damages the folicle so it grows in less. However, the ingrowns are unpleasant and my legs look yucky from the little dots all over where I pick them out. [huh]

 

[Pink Dahlia]

No waxing for me. Ow!

I'm all about the razor.

 

[Miss Dottie]

http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/...PRODUCT&iMainCat=4&iSubCat=28&iProductID=5534

I've used them before and was unimpressed. One thing that is good about them though are their exfoliating properties. Note that shaving also provides some light level of exfoliation.

This always makes me think of that BBC series 1940s house, where they show a middle class family surviving the war. And the young woman of the house used a pumice stone against her leg and the next scene you see her with a big of gash on her shin from rubbing to hard.

But I think that silky mit business is probably much better.

 

[Miss Sis]

I wax the underarms but have to shave my legs, as the hairs are so fine they won't come off with waxing.

People tell me that's impossible but it has never worked no matter how many times I've tried.

My Mum used to use the silky mitts. I sent her some a while ago as she couldn't get them anymore.

 

[Miss Dottie]

Zip Wax was around and widely advertised ("It's OFF because it's OUT!") as far back as the late 1910s, and you can still find it in most drugstores -- it's a big yellow block you melt in a double boiler and apply with a popsicle stick, and then rip off with the help of muslin strips. I have used it, and it can be quite an adventure....

Waxing gives me terrible ingrowns, though, so I stick to the razor most of the time.

I used to get rotten ingrown red bumps all the time, but the secret to getting rid of them is daily exfoliating. It made all of the difference. You can buy these rough plastic fabric wash mitts from the Body Shop that do the job perfectly.

 

[pretty faythe]

Leg *shaving* began in the early 20th century, but I have no idea when waxing started. I think it probably depended on your hair type, location and age/skirt length as to if you'd do it back then! I just know that even if I had never shaved I would still have longish dark leg hair, as that is the very reason I started at age 12! I have been epilating for about 10 years though and *that* has made a difference to my growth and darkness of it, it's reduced both significantly. Also, I am filling up no landfills as I've only used 2 different epilators over those 10 years!

Thats the same reason I let my oldest start shaving last year. Very dark and course hair on her legs. It's a trait passed somewhere along the way from my side of the family and not her fathers,. I believe, because my sister has the same problem.

 

[Naama]

If you worry about the chemicals, there is something from the body shop that consists mainly of sugar and is all natural.


Naama

 

[olive bleu]

I'm not a real fan of self-inflicted agony, so home waxing is out!

I have had waxing done at a dayspa, but cannot do it myself-no way.I am definitely a shaving kind of gal, and there is no way that i will bare my legs without doing so. I happen to feel that there might be a few things that our sisters of the golden era would get excited about if they could see us now, and this might just be one of them.

As for cluttering up the land-fill, a lot of ladies shavers now, allow you to just replace the blades, or you can always go electric.

 

[mysterygal]

I did waxing once...never again! It just plain hurts! Razor works just fine and dandy

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

I absolutely hate shaving, lucky for me, my hair is very fine and I only really need to shave once a week. In the summer I use Veet bladeless shaving kit. I like it, it's quick, and it gets rid of my very fine leg hairs. Although I hate to do it, I'm a bit neurotic about making sure my legs and pits are smooth. You never know, one day I might have a man in my life!! But, I shave my armpits every day even though it's really not necessary. The only thing I wax is my eyebrows. I have those Ardell cold wax strips that I mentioned in another thread. They are great, and relatively painless, and shaped so there's no worry about having to try to shape your brows yourself.

I often wondered what woman did for their bikini areas in the 30's and 40's. I had seen pictures of woman in bathing suits, but the suits covered a bigger area than today's suits, so I wondered if they ever worried about these things. Then I realized that some ladies must have waxed/shaved in this area. Pin-up girls and burlesque dancers definitely did. But I'm not sure if they just shaved or waxed.
But, like others have said, although I love vintage clothes, I do live in the 21st century. I just couldn't not wax that area. I used to go to the spa for regular waxes. But, I kept getting really bad and quite painful ingrown hairs. I thought it was just a fluke the first time it happened, and went back a few more times, but they got worse and worse. Ugh, what awful horrible pain. So now I use the Veet with the bladeless razor. This stuff is great. It doesn't smell nearly as bad as the other creams. I actually went online a while back to find out how I could not end up with ingrown hairs. Here's what I learned, for those of you who get irritated in this area. First off, you have to make sure that the area has been in contact with warm to hot water for about 3-5 minutes. This will open up the hair follicles and lead to better removal. Then exfoliate the area, I use Dove exfoliating body wash and think it's great especially for sensitive skin. After all of this is done I use the Veet. This has been working great for me. I do get the occasional ingrown hair, but nothing nearly as bad as what I got from hot waxing. Besides getting waxed at the salon was never the most comfortable thing for me. I just find it a bit embarrassing. I also have been using bikini zone lotion afterwards, and I no longer get those irritating bumps.

I agree with Olive about the landfill suggestion. I actually prefer the kind of razor that has the disposable blade. I find the blades to be better quality than the kind of razor where you have to throw the entire razor and handle away. Although they are more expensive than disposable razor's, they are worth it, and will lead to less garbage.

 

[pigeon toe]

I used to wax my eyebrows at home (I still sometimes do, but I usually keep up with plucking a lot more now) and I also wax my bikini area. For some strange reason it just doesn't hurt! Then again, if you wax enough you become totally immune to the feeling. The first time always hurts the worst!

As for the original question, I used to never shave my legs. I just didn't care! I still only shave about once a month, once every two weeks. I have very fine leg hair though, so it's not very noticeable. I think it's all up to the individual. I know one of my friends, who couldn't care less about wearing dresses, skirts or anything overtly feminine, would totally die if someone saw her unshaved legs. And then my other friend, who's a ballerina and the most feminine girl I know, never shaves!