If I hadn’t already claimed that I’m quirky, you might just freak out on me while reading this post…and then un-follow me or not follow me if it’s your first visit here. But then you’d miss out on other quirky things I say, and that would be sad…
For both of us.
So don’t do it!
Okay, now that I’ve convinced you its worth the read, “What’s up?”
I’ve got something to say to tell you about. It’s up close and personal.
Ewe…it makes me shudder when I type those words. I’m still reading Rose Madder by Stephen King and he uses the phrase, “I’m going to talk to you up close.”
Argh…scary hairy stuff! And, yep, that’s what I’m going to talk to you about. Not that kind of scary stuff Stephen talks about, different scary stuff.
And you’ll clearly agree with me by the end of my rant, that when you’re over the age of 53 you should wear your glasses in the shower.
It was a recently bizarre discovery of mine. Yep, it’s true.
I’m a tad ashamed that I didn’t discover it earlier. Like last summer when I was wearing shorts.
Or when I had my physical appointment with my doctor in January and she said, “You have normal-dry skin.” Or my mammogram appointment…Yikes! I had plenty of opportunities to notice the hair that I thought had stopped growing.
But nope, I didn’t. Until I decided that maybe winter white skin that’s extra dry because it hasn’t seen the light of day for a really long time might just benefit from some maintenance of sorts. When I’m laying on the beach, I don’t want to look like a beached cat, don’t cha know.
Enter in the dreaded shaving of the legs routine. My routine started when I was 13 (I think) and my mom said to me the day I thought I should start it, “NO, you can’t shave your legs yet, once you start you’ll never be able to stop.”
She left for work that day, and I took matters into my own hands. I took a pair of scissors, spent the entire afternoon cutting each hair, on one leg. There were blood stains and little white tissue scraps everywhere, and when she found out, she let me shave the other leg. Okay, that does sound a little like Stephen King thoughts…but I digress.
She was right. It would be something I couldn’t stop noticing the need to keep doing going forward in my teenage years.
The damn hairy stuff just kept growing back.
Until recently.
Once I got trifocals and turned 53-54, I discovered that my daily habit of shaving seemed like such a waste of time. I glanced down one day and couldn’t see any hair, and thought to myself, “WTH? Why shave?”
So I stopped.
Plus, I had heard that some women give up shaving for November. No-shave November, or something like that?
It was July or August, I can’t remember. All I thought though was if they can do it, and they still have hair coming in on their legs, there’s absolutely no reason for me to keep going through the motions. Plus razors aren’t cheap.
And I thought that the method worked considerably well.
I even doubled checked with one of my friends, who’s a month younger than me, and said she noticed it too. Not my clean unshaven legs. She noticed that a woman who is over the age of 50 doesn’t have to shave hair as often, if at all. Leg hair and armpit hair thin and doesn’t grow like it used to. It never occurred to me at the time that she wears glasses too, probably not in the shower, and she also has fine blonde hair, the kind that if it is there is any on the legs, it is barely noticeable from any distance. Unlike black hair.
I liked how her philosophy supported my newfound one, so went with it.
Until this past weekend, that is.
After showering, I was applying lotion to my winter white dry skin legs (okay…I’ll give it to you, that’s SK gross) in preparation of wearing shorts and swimsuit on the beach.
Before I grabbed the bottle of lotion, I remembered to put my glasses on first to make sure I was applying a good thick coat to all the dry skin. I looked down to inspect my handiwork and saw strange hairs growing in spots through the lotion. Spots on my legs where I used to shave…eons ago.
Holy scattered weird un-uniform hairs. Where the heck did they come from? I hadn’t seen any in the shower for a really long time. Not everywhere, just in spots.
Not strategic spots either. ‘Cuz apparently, that is a thing?!
WTH?
So, my dears, my mom’s advice was partially correct. Come to think of it though, she had macular degeneration and wore glasses for years, and she had dementia, and she stopped shaving at some point, too. I can’t remember when.
That brings us up close and personal, to talk about my advice to you.
Which is, by the long about way, either don’t give up shaving. Ever…! Or wear your glasses in the shower so you can see when it is time to shave!
Post Inspiration – Quirky moments of being a woman over the age of 50. (Clip art photos found by Googling “Free Clipart of Women Shaving Legs”).
PS – Have you seen those leggings worn by anyone…maybe it was the real deal, as in no shaving November? How about it, do you wear your glasses in the shower?
Oops 😊 I didn’t start shaving any body hair until I was 39 and met my now husband. Not sure any woman in my family ever did. And if they did, they didn’t give me the memo 😁 So my shaving routine is quite sketchy anyway but I wouldn’t go for those leggings…. 🙋♀️🐝
LOL – the things we do for men, eh?! I’m glad I’m not the only one that wouldn’t wear those leggings!! $59.95, too! WOW! Thanks for sharing your shaving secrets with me!
It’s only fair, you shared yours 😜. $59.95?! Who knew that not shaving can give you that much income 🤣
LOL! The ideas the youth come up with!
It must have been a typical thing for moms to say to their girls that they can never stop.
Of course you can stop. Same with eyebrow plucking.
I wish I had started earlier instead of believing that dumb thing mom said (because she rarely said dumb things, but in this case, I could have saved myself a LOT of self esteem issues).
I told my girl not to try it herself without me present, that I will teach her how to do it safely and properly. Because that is what I needed as a tween and didn’t have… we’ve had one little incident, but then she didn’t care anymore. She’s only 11 and blond, so I’m sure we’ll revisit…😉
I shave daily. I’m really good at it, quick. I like how it feels even in winter when wearing a gazillion layers. For me, it’s an ingrained routine. 😊
Yes, I made sure to teach my daughters the moment they wanted to try it. I wasn’t going to let them go through the scissor horrors. Funny thing is, they are the ones that taught me about the No-Shave November. And that it’s okay not to shave until you feel like shaving. Enjoy the time in life where you can teach your 11 year-old. Trust me, she’ll never stop teaching you things over the years! Until I couldn’t see the hairs, I was doing the daily ingrained routine. I hope it comes back to me like riding a bike!?! 😉 Thank you for sharing your shaving secrets with me!
😊
Ha! I never had much more than peach fuzz, although it bothered me enough in summer to shave. But as I aged, the even the peach fuzz pretty much disappeared. I don’t miss it! 🙂
LOL – you’re one of the lucky ones! I didn’t miss shaving, now just have to wait for those pesky ones that suddenly re-appeared to disappear again!
I really love your sense of humor, Shelley! Lol! I used to shave with a razor then I discover the epilator. Anytime, I can shave. 😉
Thank you, Winnie! Oh, my, you taught me something new…I lead such a shaving sheltered life, I had to Google epilator to find out what it was! Glad you’ve found an alternative to the blade!
You’re welcome, Shelley! I’m glad to help you. 😉
Well, those leggings are just nasty looking! Something for everyone though!!
Another perspective on the shaving-after-50-or-so-subject: I figure who ever is looking at my legs (if anyone is) is probably on the older side. And their vision isn’t likely to be any better than mine. So they can’t see what I can’t see — in or out of the shower without my glasses. Everybody wins!
I also thought the no shaving in November was for men and their facial hair. Growing out mustaches for “Movember” to raise money for men’s health and cancer research charities.
I know, those leggings are going to cause nightmares tonight! LOL – that’s an excellent point on the shaving thing…I like how you think! I might just run with that! I think the no shaving did start out for just guys, but the gals decided to join in I guess? If it is to raise $ that’s a nice thing. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Those leggings! OMG! I don’t shave much in the winter. Wish I was brave enough to channel my German cousins and never do it!
LOL – that’s exactly what I thought when I found the leggings! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, some day, maybe you’ll be blind to the hairs too!? It happens, I know, been there done that ;-)!
No, I don’t wear my glasses in the shower.
I never wear glasses in the shower. Wouldn’t hurt them though! Love the funny cartoons Shelley.
Thanks, John!
my mom shaves so infrequently that I tell her in the spring to “get the lawnmower out and shave your legs” ! I mean, if you can use a hair straightener, it’s WAAAAAY past time …
LOL – that is most definitely time to shave!!
Pretty funny, Shelley. I don’t remember how old I was when I first stopped but my aunt used to say that she didn’t shave in the winter because she wore pants all the time. I haven’t shaved regularly in a few years now because I am at that age where it is not growing much anymore. Sadly, that includes the hair on my head.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Janet. Yes, it is a sad thing when thinning happens where we don’t want it to. Some people swear by certain supplements that you can stop or reverse it, but I’m not sure what they are or if that is true or not?
You’ve given me much to think about here. Your newfound shaving reality + your glasses in the shower idea = me wondering how well I’m shaving my legs. Also your “free clipart of” approach to finding images for your blog is brilliant. I need to wander off and contemplate it all…
I aim to make people wonder WTH? I don’t like to be alone in those kind of affairs ;-)! Shaving legs in some countries isn’t proper etiquette, but my mom sure had thoughts about it. For a while in life. I loved your post on Mrs. D’s phone etiquette. I look forward to seeing what you come up with next via ‘free clipart of’! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, it’s always a pleasure to hear from you!
My mom gave me that line too – hmm. Are mothers to be believed? When she consented to me shaving my legs, I got a little pink and white Lady Gillette electric razor for Christmas. I can recall her saying “now I know you’re not dumb Linda, but don’t go anywhere near the water when you use it, okay?” “Sure enough” … so I was soaking in the tub, very leisurely on a Sunday morning, and was in there so long the bathroom was steamy – very steamy. Even the rug seemed like it was moist. So I settled down on the rug, on a bath towel to shave my legs with the new razor. I put the end of the razor cord in my mouth to keep it from falling on the rug and getting moist. (Really?!) I got a little bolt … my tongue got sucked up into the hole. No my hair isn’t curly like yours but it was pretty stupid. To this day, I have never told that story until now.
LOL – I feel so blessed that you share your secret stories with me. I love that you remember the little razor details and the day you learned what not to do. If I wasn’t a mom, I’d say they aren’t to be believed…but…um, I gotta stick up for mom’s, we know exactly what not to do sometimes. And then we learn what not to do other times from the kids. It’s a mutual experiment in life.
I have to tell you it was a real dum*ss move on my part … and of course I wasn’t going to tell anyone as they might take it away and I have light brown hair you really couldn’t see it anyway! I never had any kids but I could share some experiences with them on what not to do, believe me!
Yeah, those near death or shocking moments are when we learn a lot about life, that’s for sure. I tell my daughters what I learn from you, so you’re teaching them from afar!
Well that you for imparting my wisdom (or other deeds) to your daughters Shelley … life is all about teaching moments.
Wearing my glasses in the shower would help me remember to clean them. At 63, I have a lot of floaters in my eyes and sometimes I don’t know if my glasses are dirty or if it’s just the floaters. My leg hair is blonde and thinning, so I don’t shave much until summer, but every now and then, when the light hits my legs (or face) a certain way there are these random scary looong hairs. Oh well. Maybe one day leg hair will become fashionable, but that’s probably delusional.
LOL – that’s a nice benefit of wearing the glasses in the shower too, they get clean! Start that trend of random scary long hairs being in and I’ll be joining you!! Thank you for sharing your shaving secrets with me!
🙂