If you haven’t heard of #Januhairy, it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like: women around the world are deciding to stop shaving for the month of January and letting our body hair grow free. At first I was somewhat put off by the idea (mama loves a smooth leg) but then I got into it. Now I love it so much I might never go back to shaving.
- I can shower so much quicker. Instead of having to make sure I run the razor over every part of my body when I hit the shower after the gym or before I go out at night, I can literally just wash my hair and body and be done with it. The amount of time I’m saving is a good enough reason on its own to love #Januhairy, as far as I’m concerned.
- It’s nice not having to shell out $$$ on new blades all the time. I don’t know that I’d describe myself as hirsute, but I do seem to grow a lot of body hair pretty quickly. That means I generally have to do a maintenance shave every day or every other day at most and I change blades on my razor (which is a dude’s Gilette because men’s razors are inexplicably superior) pretty often. Those things are not cheap!
- It’s not like anyone can see it anyway. It’s winter, for one, so it’s not like I have my legs out or I’m wearing tank tops every day, flaunting my body hair to the world. No one’s going to be personally offended by the fact that I have hairy pits and legs because I’m wearing jeans and sweaters every day…
- And even if they could, who cares? Who says women should have to be perfectly shaven at all hours of the day? Men aren’t required to shave their armpits or legs (or any part of their body, really) to be socially acceptable, so why should women be? Even if it was mid-summer and I went out with short shorts and a tank top, I kinda don’t GAF what anyone would say about it at this point.
- No, I don’t smell/I’m not dirty. I do hard workouts at the gym five days a week and even with body hair, I’m not any sweatier or smellier than I ever was. As long as you shower/bathe daily and wear deodorant, body hair really has no effect on your smell or overall hygiene. I don’t know why everyone freaks out about it so much!
- Yes, my boyfriend still wants to have sex with me. He’s not put off by body hair and if he was, we wouldn’t be in a relationship. If I was dating someone who was so shallow that a little hair on my legs or peach fuzz under my arms was enough to turn him off, I’d have to question my judgment.
- I like the feeling of being smoothly shaved but it’s nice knowing there’s another option. I’m not saying I’ll never go back to shaving because I do really like the feeling of being silky smooth, but when I do, it’ll be for me rather than because I think I have to. For now, it feels nice to let it all grow naturally. In fact, I think everyone should give it a try at least once!
