The Big Question: Intimate Question Edition
By PlumcakeI am, as often mentioned, a very fair-skinned girl with very dark hair. Sure it’s all fun and games until seven short dudes want you to do their cleaning. I’m sorry, but I don’t care if you DID give me shelter from an evil queen, we have People For That.
It’s also problematic when it comes to hair maintenance.
Big girls, for some reason having to do with the hormones (there’s a real reason but I’m not googling “fat hairy girls” on my machine, no matter how much I love you all) tend to be more hirsute than the waif-types. Plus there’s more land to cover and if you’re tall like I am, sometimes I look down at the little tufts around my ankles and think “Geeze. That’s a long way down.”
The reason I’m talking about this today is last Saturday I laid the groundwork for the party season, hair-wise speaking and y’all…it took me ALL. DAMN. DAY. Now to be fair, I am the teensiest bit high maintenance, but not exceedingly. Most folks don’t do lashes, but I don’t do pedicures, manicures or other spendy stuff.
Here’s a basic breakdown.
Eyelash extensions: $75-$100 plus tip every three weeks. If you live in Austin or Houston, Tabitha at Flutter is the best around. I love my big ole tranny lashes and when Mean Mister Economy made me take a six-month break my poor little heart broke in two. What I love about my big lashes is I wake up, wash my face and look totally glam.
Hair dusting and re-tint: $45 – $100 with cut. There is a fine line between “statement chic” and “punk died and all I got was this jar of Manic Panic” so I trust the electric midnight blue streaks in my 1930’s ‘do to the professionals. They’re extremely high maintenance (I have ‘em redone every 20 days) but have become a signature. Dahn at tiny Tsunami Salon –who also does Style Spy and other People of Import– is my go-to gal for both cut and color.
Eyebrow waxing: $10 every other week. My eyebrows are like two lovestruck caterpillars yearning to become one. I used to try waxing them myself but it Ended Badly once too many times. Did you know ladies in Colonial times would shave their eyebrows off and wear little eyebrow merkins made out of hair-on mouse hides?
Body waxing: I’m a DIY girl with most other waxing. Investing in a nice waxing kit –I’ve always like Gigi– about $60 for the supplies including the wax, and then about $30-$50 a year to replace wax, spatulas (popsicle sticks: I got mine in a bag of caramels) and cloth strips. Fancy potions and powders can set you back more, but I’ve never gone wrong with tea tree oil and neosporin.
Laser hair removal: Y’all I don’t know WHAT happened, but I went on the birth control pill for THREE MONTHS back when I was twenty three. I went off it and next thing I knew I was rockin the Amish Cravat. I’ve been doing laser treatments off and on for about a year and I’m just not sold. They’re not cheap –$250 for my chin and moustache– and I haven’t seen any long term reduction in growth, PLUS the post-laser moult is less than pleasant since the follicles on my chin pop out like I’ve got perma-goosebumps for about two weeks as it spits out the last of the hair.
Which brings me to the Forbidden Zone.
Y’all, I haven’t had shame since George Michael had a career and I just CANNOT conceive of granting some popsicle stick-wielding stranger intimate access to my Very Thing.
First of all it irks me from a feminist point of view. I know there are plenty of women who like to keep a tidy Personal Residence –myself included– just because it’s part of basic grooming but so many men seem so ENTITLED to expect a woman to be completely sans topiary.
Funk.
That.
Noise.
I know one guy, ONE guy who is both straight AND a confirmed waxer. ONE. And he only waxes his back. Frankly, as far as I’m concerned, when it comes to inviting guys to the pants-off dance-off, they should understand it’s an honor just to be nominated and if they don’t like the drapes they have no business in that er…ballroom.
So today Miss Plumcake wants to know:
How much time/effort/money do YOU spend on hair maintenance? Has the recession affected your routine?
When it comes to your bikini line do you wax, shave, use a removal cream or just stay natural?
If you DO wax, do you go to a waxist, why and do you find it any more difficult because you’re a big girl?
Please keep the comments clean and no comments about what your husband/boyfriend/random guy you’re sleeping with to piss off your dad for missing your 6th grade dance recital likes. No vulva no vote, at least in this election.
November 18th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Shave. Everything. Every day, in the shower, with a Mach 3 razor and shaving foam. I was once asked to remove the hair Down There as a favour by a former lover (who was dutifully grateful afterwards, I must say), but I found I prefer it that way, and have kept it like that ever since. Cleaner, softer, neater, in my purely subjective opinion.
I first learnt how to do it — of all places — in Sheila Kelley’s S-factor book. There are many useful online guides, though.
November 18th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Do big girls also, for some reason having to do with the hormones, have nicer skin than waif-types? I’ve noticed ever since high school that you rarely see a big girl with even a blemish, let along a full-blown zit. And they seldom even have the big pores on their noses, like almost everyone has. Even the big girls who are in the party-all-night-and-don’t-wash-face-before-crashing-out lifestyle seldom have zits!
November 18th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
I’ve never commented here, but as one of the fat hairy girls, I have to weigh in. I used to be super, super meticulous about my hair removal, I used to wax my arms & legs, a little hair off my chest (it was light and fuzzy but it bugged me) and my stomach. I’m not so particular about it now so I leave my arms furry and shave my legs about once a week just to make it easier. I’ve been waxing my own eyebrows and my little mustache for about ten years. As far as down there goes, I leave it alone most of the time. I’ll shave around the bikini line if I’m going to have a swim suit on. About twice a year I’ll get the urge to shave so I will but I just don’t mess with it the rest of the time. I’ve noticed a patch of hair on my back that you can’t see unless I’m topless but I’ve thought about having it waxed because it bothers me. I’m pretty low maintenance these days.
November 18th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Starting at the top:
Face: I used to get my eyebrows waxed every 2 weeks like it was my RELIGION.. then my fiance complained about my thin eyebrows – and the rest of my family and friends sang back-up! Who knew everyone hated my eyebrows for the last 5 years… So now I just pluck a little bit each week to keep things tamed. The 5 years of constant waxing has permanently shaped them, so thats nice..
Underarms: I did laser hair removal at Ideal Image. After 6 or 7 treatments in a year and a half, I no longer have any hair there :)
Down “there”: I also did laser hair removal in this area. I didn’t have everything removed, but now I just have to keep the remaining hair trimmed about once a month.
Legs: I have to shave twice a week.. if my leg hair was dark enough, I’d have that lasered too.
November 18th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
I do a brow and lip wax plus a lash tint every three weeks and shave my legs every two or three days from March to October, and then pretty much forget about them the rest of the time. Shave pits once or twice a week.
IMHO lash tint is a great option if you don’t have the gumption or the budget to go for extensions, and they are great for everyday contact lens wear. I still wear mascara for photos and special occasions, but don’t bother for work any longer. No flakes or smudges or gummed up lenses.
November 18th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Totally agree about the not liking the drapes . . . I am pretty hairless, but not in a freakish, hairless cat sort of way, just not much hair. I do spend about $75 every four weeks to maintain a Hitchcock blond ‘do, but I love it so much that it’s hard to give up. I am absolutely intrigued with the eyelash extensions! Although that would be the price of my blondness, and Mr. Hendricks is working very hard to support a currently unemployed Mrs. Hendricks. But if I ever make money again, I am getting those. They sound fantastic.
November 18th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Also fair-skinned with dark hair, here.
Armpits: shave. Definitely for hygenic reasons – if I don’t keep them shaved and use anti-perspirant (not deodorant!) I get very smelly.
Legs: shave below the knees. The hair here is dark and stiff. Between twice a week and every two weeks depending on clothing choices and personal activities.
Above the knees: only shave legs if I’m wearing shorts or going swimming wiith people. For some reason my leg hair above the knees is much softer and lighter than below the knees.
Bikini area: if I’m going swimming, trim enough so that it doesn’t escape around the edges of my conservative suit. Otherwise – I prefer it this way, have tried shaving it completely and was not worth the bother.
Eyebrows: occasionally I pluck them, but haven’t in quite a while. They are reasonably well-formed so they don’t need shaping per se, just too many strays for a really clean line.
Everywhere else: no maintenance required, thank heavens. Well, except for a few stray chin hairs that I pluck when I notice them – maybe one or two a week.
November 18th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Ok, just to give another perspective from a very low maintenance person.
I cut my long, straight hair maybe 2x a year. I home dyed for a year or two but gave it up. I don’t wax anywhere. I only pluck mole hairs on my face. I use clippers to keep my underarm hair short. I shave my underarms only for special occasions, maybe once or twice a year. I shave my legs, below the knee, several times a week in the summer. I stop in the winter (I wear opaque tights with skirts).
The cost is only for a good pair of tweezers, razor blades (mach 3) and shaving cream.
November 18th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
OK, top down as other ladies have done. I’m SUPER fair and my hair is basically black, so I can’t really mess around.
Brows- I pluck them. When I can afford it I wax, but it does get spendy.
Lip- Nair once a week. Again, wax when affordable.
Chin/Sideburns/Knuckles (yep! Knuckles! Sexy, no?)- I have an epilator. Doesn’t hurt any more than waxing. I’d use this on my lip and brow if it were precise enough, but it just isn’t.
Bikini- Wax. I refuse to compromise here. My waxer is amazing (If you’re in San Francisco, Habit. Carrie is awesome and she only hires the best.) and I do not trust myself with hot wax near my hoo-ha. I can’t shave, I get ingrowns like a son of a gun in this area. I get everything outside the panty line and the… ahem.. “undercarriage” cleaned up. Other than that I keep it pretty au natrural looking. I figure we can all do what we want, but bare is weird to me and the little strip just feels like it looks like you’re trying too hard.
Legs- Shoot, I’d wax head to toe, obviously, if it didn’t cost a million dollars. Right now I use the epilator if I have a Sunday with nothing to do. That’s time consuming, though so I’ve been shaving a lot lately. Which I hate, because again, really pale with dark hair. When I shave you can see little black dots all over my laegs if you look close, which I do.
November 18th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Very fair-skinned redhead here.
I get my eyelashes tinted and eyebrows waxed every 4-6 weeks. Both are practically invisible when left alone. I’ve tinted my eyebrows in the past but, after a few unfortunate incidents, i now just use an eye pencil.
Waxing below happens for vacations or other occasions when bathing suits are needed. Otherwise, basic trimming is enough (plus, it is my partner’s preference, one that is too convenient to argue). Legs get shaved weekly on average with periods of forgetfulness in the winter and the odd period of anal-compulsiveness in the summer. The joys of blonde, thin hairs…
November 18th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
I’m a recent subscriber to your blog – thanks for everything – I love it!
I’m fair-skinned with dark hair too! I shave my armpits every day, and shave my legs about once a week during the winter since I don’t show my legs or I wear tights so no one sees them. They get pretty hairy between shaving but generally I just get over it.
I rarely do anything to my bikini area, because I don’t care and can’t be bothered. Every so often, for a change of pace, I’ll trim it up or shave it completely. I know you said not to say what the significant other likes, but my husband likes it natural. To which I said, “Good. Because that’s you’re getting.” LOL
I get my eyebrows threaded every two to three weeks because I always have a bad reaction to the wax. I also think threading hurts a lot less. I live in L.A. so there are lots of options.
I also have the beard and mustache and I hate them. My mustache is pretty minimal and I actually shave it every three weeks or so with the little personal shaver thing I bought at Bed Bath & Beyond but they have them everywhere. When I complained to my OB/GYN about the hair, she prescribed spironolactone and it’s definitely helped. I still have to pluck, but I have noticed a major difference. I don’t notice any side effects, except that I have to pee more often (since spironolactone is also a diuretic).
November 18th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
This is going to be a first, but I’m going to try saving you money! I’ve never once seen a platinum blonde with lash extensions that were a success.
November 18th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
oh man, welcome back from the bad-brow edge. SO many women have only about 2/3rds of the brows they need. Well done for your family for speaking up, and well done to you for listening to them. It is a constant struggle to convince my gal to not rip them off entirely or give me these teensy sperm brows. Eventually I had to bring in a picture of Elizabeth Taylor and said “THIS. DO THIS.” and we’ve been happy every after.
November 18th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
maybe we’re better moisturized from the inside. Or maybe the lifestyle required to remain waifish if you’re not naturally super slim does wonky things to your hormones.
November 18th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Naturally blond and fair, I tend to be lazy. Legs are shaved below the knee when needed by clothes, above the knee if I’m going swimming in the summer, likewise bikini area. Pits always. Brows are good with only occassional light plucking. Personal topiary only on special occassions and only by shaving, but really, it’s too itchy at the pre-stubble and stubble phase to do more than that. I Just. Don’t. Care. enough to get waxed. And, frankly, my guy is happy enough just to be in my garden, he doesn’t care if the hedge is trimmed.
November 18th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
I come of the Transparent Peoples and have dark brown hair with even darker eyebrows, etc.
Wax? Nope. Shave? Not in yonks. Deforest the Lady Bits? Not once in my life. Nor do I color my hair. I get it trimmed about once a month, but that’s about it. I love my caterpillar eyebrows. One of the stylists at my salon asks me every time I come in when I’m going to let her wax my eyebrows. I keep patiently telling her ‘when Hell freezes over.’
Witness the low-maintenance of me. Hair care (for my entire body) runs the rate of a thirty buck haircut and a bottle of shampoo each month. Now that my brother the Medieval Historian is finally moving out, I’m betting a bottle of shampoo will last twice as long, too.
I’ve even found that most people don’t seem to notice my nearly-coal-black leg and pit hairs when I wear something more revealing than usual. Or at least, if they notice, they don’t say anything to me about it. Frankly, if they find it upsetting, I consider it more their problem than mine. Mr. Twistie, while he doesn’t get a vote (and rightly so), seems to feel that since the hair is growing on my body, it’s up to me how to deal with it…just as I consider what he does with his hair to be his business.
To each their own, but I like my body hair more or less as nature provided it.
November 18th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
I’m lucky enough to not be super-hairy, because I’m super-lazy.
Head hair: cut every three to four months, and dyed on a similar schedule with semi-permanent dye, just to make it a little more red. I just got a Beckham bob today, though, so I might need it cut more often now.
Eyebrows: nuttin’. I overplucked in university, so I usually leave them alone, or make them look a bit fuller with some pencil and brow powder if I’m getting all tarted up.
Eyelashes: I tint them in the summer, and wear mascara in winter. I would SO get eyelash extensions if I could afford them.
Lip: All about the Nair, baby.
Pits: Shave every second or third day.
Legs: Shave in summer, let it grow in winter. I’m fair, thank goodness.
Situation: Trim it short, and shave anything that might poke out of the bathing suit.
November 18th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Head: cut every 2 months; no dye yet. I love my hair color, so even when I do I think I’ll keep it the same.
Eyebrows: threading once a month, and tweezing for upkeep in between. I like threading because it’s precise and because my threader has a great eye for good brows.
Lashes: Some mascara sometimes, if I’m not being lazy.
Lip: wax it myself, or maybe get it threaded, but that does rather hurt.
Pits: Shave every day.
Legs: Shave when I feel like it, and only below the knee during the winter.
Down there: I can’t deal with razors; it hurts like bajeezus. Like Plumcake, I’m not so sure about the wax there, so right now I just trim. Maybe I’ll try Nair.
November 18th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Hello, ladies. Oh goodness did I laugh when I saw this. Figured I’d share, too.
I’m also of the fair variety with dark brown/black hair. Blue eyes, too. Everyone thinks I’m goth, but I’m not. I could wear pink petticoats and have a sheep and people would think I’m hardcore goth. Anyhoo…
Hair: Just chopped off 14 inches for Locks of Love, so right now I’m just swingy and lovin it. I dye my roots every month. I’m 34 and not ready to rock the salt and pepper yet.
Eyebrows: I tweeze at least once a week. Like others, my brows seem determined to be together just north of my nose. Not gonna happen.
Lip: I just started getting this, and dang, I am mad about it. So far, I’m waxing it. Does not feel good.
Chin: I get the stray hair every now and then. I tweeze them.
Pits: For some reason, I have very little pit hair. And praise God, because I live in a swamp and it’s hot as heck here. I shave them at least twice a week in the summer (April to November here) and pretty much forget about them any other time.
The Southern Region: Again, this is because I live in a swamp (Florida, to be precise.) I was totally natural for many years, but as I got older and plumper, I noticed that sweat was collecting in the forest and making me an unpleasant person to sit near. Not only was I damp and sticky, but I couldn’t stand being near myself. So in desperation, I shaved it all off one day. The uh…musk…went away instantly. I’ve kept it up now for about five, maybe six years. I’m not religious about it. My hubby prefers it bare, but he doesn’t complain when it’s not. I’m more comfortable without it.
Legs and Thighs: This is weird. Thigh hair is thin and blond. Leg hair is thick and black. I don’t get it. So I shave beneath the knees and don’t bother with the thighs unless I’m wearing a swimsuit. And even here in the swamp, that doesn’t happen much.
Sigh: knuckles. Yep, I get it here too. On my toes and my fingers. I nair it off. If I run out of nair, I’ll shave my toes. I can’t believe I just typed that.
November 18th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Oh, and for the person who commented that us larger ladies have better hair and better skin.
It’s because we eat real food. That’s my opinion, anyway. I have amazing hair and I only break out during spicy burrito week. And seriously, one small pimple on my chin ain’t a big deal. And I don’t know about this…maybe someone else can weigh in on this…but most plus size ladies don’t have as many wrinkles. Has anyone else noticed this?
“Most” (not all) thinner women are on diets, and eat crap processed food. I’ll take my real cream with coffee, the full fat sour cream on my potato, and normal bread, thanks. I have a 14 year old daughter who is also full figured, and she has the most gorgeous skin. I’m jealous of her! But her best friend, who is a tiny Winona Ryder look-a-like, has some awful acne.
November 18th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
I’m a little surprised at all the different definitions of “low maintenance” :)
For me, its:
Head- haircut every six weeks. Haven’t colored it since before I was married, 7 years ago.
Face- grumble at hormonal mustache that seems to appear when I’m pre-menstrual and no other time. Tweeze brows once every couple of weeks, when they start to grow below the line of my glasses. More often if I’m not busy but I always am.
Pits & legs- shave 2-3 times per week, and only knee-down. My leg hair miraculously disappears right at the knee.
Ladybits- nothin’. I have shaved / trimmed and been waxed in the past (too scared to do it myself), but it was too much to maintain.
Thats it. I have to admit I always feel a little guilty at spending $45 every six weeks on my haircuts, but since I’m the only person in the house who gets one (I do the hubs with the clippers & my girls have never had haircuts yet), I make myself feel better by dividing the cost over the four of us :)
November 18th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
I live in NYC, so my maintenance costs would be high if I bothered to maintain much.
For instance: I’ve found good haircuts at $65 a throw, fabulous ones at $120 (I used to go to Bumble + Bumble, but my fabulous stylist got senior on me and I just can’t justify the expense, so I go to Beehive in Williamsburg for $65). I cut my hair when I remember to, usually every 6-8 weeks since my hair is short and thick and will stop cooperating on about that schedule. If it starts to look like a mullet, I call the salon.
I can’t get color professionally that I would trust for less than $150 on top of the cost of the cut, so I dye my hair at home. I stick with reds and browns, and get good enough results that I don’t feel the need to spend the money to have it done professionally. I have a lot of gray, but not really enough yet to be interesting, so I will continue to dye it until I am a silver fox.
Brows get plucked, just a bit. I did have them threaded once by an NYPD officer. Not in lockup, though.
I don’t really wear makeup, and I’ve recently become a convert to cold cream, which leaves my skin buttery soft instead of flaky. Downside is that I go through toilet paper a lot more quickly now.
I have one or two hairs on my lip that get plucked out when I notice them. More amusing are the one really long eyebrow hair and a superfine blond facial hair that also grows super long. I trim the eyebrow hair and pluck the facial hair when it starts bugging me that I can see it out the corner of my eye.
I have very little body hair, but then nobody in my family is hairy (my brothers can’t grow beards). I’ll shave my legs when they’ll be showing, and use a trimmer on my side salad. I’ve tried waxing, but it was a pain in the ass (literally — I’ve done Brazilians, though I was surprised to discover that they’re not as painful for me as waxing my legs) and expensive, and shaving leaves ingrown hairs. So I got some little trimmers and they work great. But I only bother when I have to wear a bathing suit or someone will see me in my underwear, such as a date or the chiropractor when she manipulates my hip joints.
November 18th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Head suit: cut every 6-8 weeks, I have a short bob, so though I don’t get split ends or other damage, it looks best when it is precise.
Eyebrows: I like to get them waxed or threaded every once in a while to make sure I am maintaining the right shape with plucking.
Face: Pre-recession (and layoff) I bought a set of laser treatments for my sideburns, chin/neck, and lip. I’ve been pretty happy so far, definitely a reduction, but I wish I was totally hairless. Not cheap, but I’m less self conscious now.
Pits: Shave when I shower.
Legs: Shave depending on what I’m wearing and mostly knee down.
Downtown: Never done anything but trim it up every once and a while. I’d be interested in doing more, but I barely survive the embarrassment of my annual lady doctor exam.
I wish I could lay in an MRI machine with my head hair, brows and lady bits strategically covered and have every other bit of hair zapped. There is no biological need for me to have nipple or knuckle hair.
November 18th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Oh, I’m not comparing healthy big girls with sickly thin girls!
I’m comparing run of the mill big girls with run of the mill thin girls! I’m a thin girl, but I eat well and often. I have nice skin, but I get the occasional zit, and I have visible pores on my nose. Thin girls can have nice skin, too, but I’m just saying that the girls with the absolutely *flawless*, creamy-perfect skin tend to be bigger, and big girls in general tend to get fewer zits over all. *shrug*
November 18th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
So apparently I’m the only one here with crap skin. I have PCOS which is a hormone imbalance (too much testosterone) some of the side effects are oily skin, acne, and male patterned hair growth…sexy.
I guess I’m low maintenance (as far as hair) but that’s mostly do to being poor (college student and no job).
Hair- My hair is long and straight, I get my mother to trim it every 5-6 months. I haven’t used chemical dyes in over a year.
Eyebrows- pluck the occasional rough hairs but I pretty much leave them alone. I have had them waxed before and I think I looked funny.
Eyelashes- nothing but mascara (which I ALWAYS wear). I use to get them tinted which was nice but I’m lazy now. If I had the money I would definitely get extensions!
Facial hair- because of the PCOS I get dark thick hairs on my chin and upper lip. I have tried waxing, plucking and depilatory creams, all made me break out into a rash. I now simply shave it while in the shower everyday/every other day.
Under arms and leg- Underarms get shaved every other day in the summer maybe every week in the winter (who sees them? I’m single). My legs from the knees down get shaved whenever I shave my underarms. If I need to remove the hair on my legs quickly I use my electric razor. Visually the hair is gone but I could start a fire rubbing my legs together from the stubble! I only mess with the hair above the knee if I will be in a bathing suit or if someone will be seeing that part of me.
Personal grooming- I will trim it to a shorter length when I get bored or if I plan on having someone see it. I’m not hairy so even in a bathing suit natural is fine. Every few months I get a bee in my bonnet and will shave it which I will then instantly regret because OMG THE PAIN!!! I have thought about getting it waxed for giggles but I’m not brave enough to get someone to do it (and I’m not that agile) and honestly I think I look odd completely bare. It would be nice to have the “undercarriage” taken care of though… I almost wish I had more hair down there, it just seems…spares. I had a friend who dyed hers (with the special dye for the ares Pretty Betty?) and shaved it into a heart for V-day (cheesy but cute). Didn’t work for me you couldn’t tell what shape it was and because of the lake of hair the dye didnt work well either (but my skin was a nice pink)
I once had a boyfriend make a comment about me needing a trim while ____. He got a foot to the face and a boycott of “fun time” for 3 weeks for it. Needless to say he never said another word and I got 3 weeks of flowers delivered to my house a BIG box of yummy chocolates and the earrings I had been eyeing for a month.
November 18th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
I need to work “no vulva, no vote” into conversation – immediately! Plumcake, reading this blog has made my speech so much more interesting.
November 18th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
The best part of this is all the new euphemisms for the lady bits I’m learning.
Head Hair – cut once a month when I’ve gone above short and every other month otherwise. Now that I’m not a grad student anymore I get $70 hair cuts and the luxury is not to be scorned. I don’t color because I love my chocolate brown and don’t mind that it’s starting to go salt and pepper on me.
Face – shave the upper lip once a month occasions, and pluck anything else myself. I have a weird fondness for my tweezers and rather enjoy patrolling the chin and eyebrow outliers. I go for the full Elizabeth Taylor brow myself.
Underarm – shave whenever I’m in the shower. This is the only place I HATE to be hairy. Legs grow in the winter, shave in the summer unless I’m seeing the long distance boyfriend, in which case I take a long, luxurious bath and do them properly.
The Downunder. I have LOTS of dark hair, and I fussed about this for years, although only in bathing suit weather. I certainly thought any guy getting down there should count his blessings, but I didn’t like putting a bush on public display at the beach. But whether shaving or Nair (I was always too poor for a professional wax) the growing back itch made me want to throw myself under a bus. When I bitched about it, obliquely, to the boyfriend, he said: “I think those surfer bathing suits with little shorts are really hot.” I bought two, and and I’ll never shave down there again. And, yes, I think I’m keeping this guy.
November 19th, 2009 at 12:03 am
Jeni, you aren’t the only one with bad skin. I don’t have PCOS, but I have acne that is so bad right now that it’s almost disfiguring. How much do I like it when someone asks me what happened because the worst breakout areas look like bruises? NOT AT ALL. And of course it takes forever to get into the derm (2 more weeks till that appt). If good skin were as simple as eating real food and not being on a diet, I wouldn’t be walking around trying to cover half my face with my hair. Acne is not due to being dirty or unhealthy and it really bugs me when people perpetuate that myth.
So, hair maintenance:
I get my hair cut and colored every six weeks. My hair grows really fast and I have aggressive greys. My hair is pretty kick-ass, though. No matter what I do to it, it’s always shiny and healthy and beautiful. Totally my favorite physical part of myself.
I get my brows waxed every three weeks. I would go every other week, but that would be a little too expensive at $22 a pop. I don’t really have any other hair on my face except for the occasional chin hair. I pluck those.
I shave my pits every day or so, and my legs every couple of days. Sometimes I have to shave every day. I also have to shave the tops of my feet every week or so. The hair on the top of my feet and my toes grosses me out.
I have a trimmer I use for the lady area. I supplement with a regular razor, but I really just try to keep it short and neatish. And I don’t really do it on a regular basis, just when I think of it and when the trimmer is charged. I sort of want to get it waxed, but I don’t really want to add another maintenance activity. And I’m a little afraid of it.
November 19th, 2009 at 1:56 am
This is verging on the TMI, but….
1. I spend about $600 on hair every three months, as a floating average. Judge not. First of all, my hair is absolutely stunning. I got to a salon in Beverly Hills, and it is Worth. Every. Penny. I have a cut so fantastic I can’t even describe it; the color is gorgeous. I also get the Brazilian Blow-Out thing and it’s like wash-and-go supermodel hair, so bouncy and shiny. I should be frugal and save my money and give it to orphans but I look so fabulous that others must eat cake and simply live in the reflected glow of my beeeeyoootiful hair.
Here’s my logic: I spend a lot on hair and eyeglasses because I wear them everyday.
2. Brows. Mine are nice. I have them waxed about every other month or so, just to get them to behave themselves a bit. My lady is great–same outrageously pricey salon.
3. Lips and chin: I’m thinking about laser. I never used to have dark hairs, and now I have a lot. On one side. It hurts to pluck them.
4. Armpits. Never needed to. Got nothing there. I don’t know why not.
5. None of your beeswax. Where did you learn about such things, Young Lady?
6. Legs–I never wear skirts so I leave them. I do shave the tops of my toes as I am a bit like a hobbit and I wear sandals–but nobody sees my legs other than the old fella and he could care less. I just really do not like leg stubble, so if I am not meticulous about shaving, I’m unhappy. So I’ve found I’m happier either with au naturale or shaving every day. I don’t have time to do that any more, so I go as nature intended. (See Sweetums remark).
I also do the manicure and pedicure, but I only go to the professional places once a month or so, while I fill in the rest of the time. I love the massage chair with what I am starting to worry is an unnatural love.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:28 am
I am so so so so glad to learn that I’m not the only one with hair issues. Seriously, massively big relief.
Now, then. I get haircuts infrequently, because I’m lazy and cheap – though I’ve got a friend going through beauty school, who I trusted with my head before he went, lol. He’s a doll, and does it for the cost of whatever color I need, and a Taco Bell burrito.
Facially, I tweeze when I think about it, but otherwise, I take a razor to the mini-beard. I’m lucky in that there is no ’stache, and my brows are at least serviceable. I won’t lie, they could use some work, but I’m cheap enough to know they can get me through. Thank heavens I’m not Bert, you know?
My pits get shaved with every shower. Period. I can’t STAND that feeling of pricklies when I put my arms down. Gah. Drives me crazy thinking about it.
I tweeze the horrid hairs on my stomach – I experimented with shaving there when I was younger, and have rued it ever since.
My legs get shaved when there’s a skirt in the offing, or I’m going to see my boyfriend. Otherwise, I have a nice little pelt down there. And I rarely shave above the knee.
The, ah, ladybits, when I bother to get them pruned, get waxed professionally. As others have said, I am not willing to risk using it myself down there – a woman in my area messed up a home waxing, got infected, and died from it a year or two ago. When I DO have it done, I clear the forest, as it were. I did it as an experiment before going to a kink event about a year ago, and I really dug it. It stays cleaner, feels better, and (TMI alert!) is more responsive that way.
I’ve tried Nair. It doesn’t work for me. I can leave it on until it burns my skin – which takes a while, my skin isn’t sensitive to anything in their formula – but the hair stays put. Aggravating, but it only took a few tries to learn that it’s just not for me.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:12 am
I am so happy to read the testimony of other fair-to-transparent skin/dark-haired Ladies. Bane of my existence, when I was a teen – it was One More Reason I Was A Freak Who No One Would Love. I have chilled considerably since then, but I am apparently more lazy than most of you:
Crowning glory – I don’t, really. I mean, I brush it, bung it into a ponytail if need be, and wash it (obvs). I dyed it black (from the mousiest of browns) on a whim a while ago, and everyone loved it, so I guess I’ll try to keep up with that. For the last couple of years I got it cut to above shoulder-length, maybe once or twice a year, but now I am far less monied and just grew it out. If I wanted to cut it, I’d go back to cutting it myself, like I did when I was a student.
Leg hair – I am currently growing it out to truly alarming levels, but I usually shave it, or give the Dread Nair a whirl. I have tried home waxing and failed. I lack the co-ordination or patience. Does anyone else have a wicked crop of fur at the back of their thighs? What the hell evolutionary purpose is that for?
Don’t shave or do anything to my underarms, they look better than if they were all denuded and goose-fleshy.
Face: Threading is brilliant, costs around the equivalent of a cup of coffee for brows.
I tweeze the strays on my neck (sex-uy, yes?), and occasionally Nair-off the sideboards and chin.
This may seem total urban myth, but give spearmint tea a try – http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/spearmint-tea-a-possible-treatment-for-hairy-women-12643.html
My foof – I have trimmed in the past, but it bothers me much less than the other fluff, so it tends to stay and save me merkin dollars.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:38 am
I’m fair with light brown/ dark blonde hair.
I get my hair cut every 5 weeks, it’s very short. When I’m working I have a partial foil every 3d cut. My brows have a nice natural shape so I get them waxed 2x per year and pluck strays every week. Since I’ve had 2 pregnancies I have some random facial hair that I diligently pluck. I shave my pits every week. My leg hair is very fine and nearly invisible, so I shave below the knee whenever I care to. I just went 6 months without. I swim a couple times a week so I shave/trim bikini line enough so my conservative suit doesn’t reveal strays. I hope.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:16 am
I am also pale-skinned. And lazy…. errr, low maintenance.
Top down: Hair, varies. Right now, it’s just long, and desperately needs a trim, but I’m a little bored with it, and not really motivated to spend $60 on “just a trim”. I think it’s been, oh, six or eight months since I got it cut. I have, however, in the past enjoyed a range of hairstyles in different lengths and colours which demanded much more in terms of dollars and time. I have a bit of grey, but my hair turned curly maybe ten years ago (amidst a festival of other hormonal issues) and since then, it’s been extremely fragile and doesn’t like to be dyed. I’d rather have it long and fairly nice with a sprinkling of silver, than long, dyed and fried.
Face: I AM OBSESSIVE about keeping up with the Polish chin hairs. What is up with that? I pluck every one carefully one day, with the magnifying mirror and all, and the next day I’m sitting in a meeting and THERE IS A HAIR TWO INCHES LONG SPROUTING FROM MY CHIN. I imagine them sproinging out like animated flowers in an animated springtime. I carry tweezers (only Tweezerman will do) and another magnifying mirror with me for emergency situations.
I pluck a few strays out of my eyebrows when they get noticeable, but my brows are fairly shapely and rather light, so overplucking is easy to do. I try and stay out of there.
Wax the moustache every few weeks, and then a bit of tweezing in between.
Pits: shave in the summertime. Honestly, I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t have a desk job and occasionally like to wear sleeveless dresses. I’d be full-on hippie pits.
Legs: also shave in the summertime for the same reason as pits: sneaking suspicion it is not office-appropriate to go barelegged with fuzz. Knees down only. I don’t know if I need to bother, really. Even the lower-leg hair is quite fair, aside from a slightly darker patch by each inner ankle, and only shows in the light. I have been coopted by the patriarchy, thinking everyone is looking at my legs!
Private Garden: I leave it alone. I don’t, in relative terms, have a lot of hair there anyway, and even trimming makes me prickly and uncomfortable. I had it waxed several times, full Brazilian, during my Summer of High Maintenance, and hated it. A more pointless endeavour I never met. First, I got infected ingrowns that nothing would fix. Second, so you’re smooth, for a couple of weeks. Then it starts to grow back, and you have to wait to grow a downstairs hobo beard before you can get waxed again? AtTRACTive. HOT. Third, I just didn’t find it comfortable. Things felt sweatier and nastier and generally gross. I shower every day; any accusations of “uncleanliness” in a North American culture are coming from a place of pure imaginary squeamishness, IMHO.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:20 am
I’m very fair and freckly (I love my freckles!) with very dark brown hair. I’m currently stretching out hair visits for financial reasons but when I can like to get there every 6 weeks or so for a trim. Fortunately my current style (longish layers in long hair) can handle some overgrowing. I love my color and texture, so don’t mess with those.
For brows I go through phases ranging from ignoring them completely to waxing at home with additional tweezing and trimming of the most rebellious. They’re pretty well behaved on their own and strays are somewhat camoflaged by the freckles, so I doubt others notice much either way. I shave my upper lip every other day and tweeze the few under-chin follicles that produce mutant monster hairs.
I shave my underarms every two to four days during sleeveless season but otherwise let them run wild. During the summer my legs from the mid-thigh down get a regular shaving every other day, but otherwise wear long pants or opaque tights and let them grow in the winter. I do make exceptions and shave both for out-of-season public showings, like visiting an indoor pool in the winter. When I’ll be in a swimsuit I always shave to the top of the thigh, getting whatever the suit might otherwise show.
I did get my underarms and legs professionally waxed for my wedding, though, and liked the results and convenience of it enough that I think I’ll do that for warm weather vacations in the future. The technician who took care of me was a big girl herself and put me completely at ease.
The rest of my body gets left alone. I experimented with a razor around my nethers once and was deeply traumatized. I decided there and then that a man’s level of concern (or lack thereof) about my body hair would be an important test of character. Happily, my husband – far more hirsute than I at my hairiest – passes with flying colors and couldn’t care less about any of it.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:46 am
I’m definitely finding all of this helpful. I’m very hairy, worse now that I’m in my forties.
Head: I have huge issues here. I have straight(ish) hair with great color, texture and lots of it, but it all grows forward in a cowlick sort of way. It wouldn’t be so bad except that I *hate* having it anywhere near my face or neck and it comes forward like a massive drape rather than nice graceful layers. Recently, I got it cut fairly short and discovered it has a new habit of bending at the ends (apparently gravity used to take care of that), which can make my head look fuzzy. Not awesome at all. I am now putting in smoothing serum and that helps a bit.
Eyebrows: I leave them alone, except for the occasional really long ones. They are becoming less occasional.
Lip and chin: Gah! Bright light, mirror and tweezers. This is my great body annoyance and the one thing I would change about myself.
Armpits: Every time I take a shower, which is every day (except one day on the weekend). I have hair all the way down my arms, I’ve never done anything about that, the follicles are all so red and bumpy that getting rid of the hair wouldn’t improve things much.
Nipples: Tweezers, when I think about it.
Hoo Ha: Not on your life. I’ve tried it, but I have ingrown hair problems there and that is just not the place to be uncomfortable. Early on, my partner requested permission to go at it with clippers. I pretty much ignored him.
Legs: Not enough on my thighs to bother. Shins get shaved every other day in bare leg season, less often in tights season. I have to do my toes, too.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:22 am
For reference: I’m black and so is my hair.
Hair(on head): I haven’t set foot in a salon in 2 years, but I’ve been doing my own maintenance for 3 1/2 years which might cost me about $5/month for shampoo and conditioner.
Eyebrows: Never waxed, never tweezed. My natural brows are incredibly thick in the front and almost invisible after the arch. If I fill in the back to balance the front, I look Groucho Marx. My solution was to buy one of those little shavers they started selling on TV a few years ago and hack away at the front until I didn’t have to make the back so thick. Then I’d get bored with that and leave them alone for a few months. When they grew back, I’d shave the back half off completely and draw them on, just because. Now, I do a combination of the two.
Unwanted facial hair: Stupid PCOS. *grumble* Nair and I are good friends. It’s mostly the chin hair, though. The mustache isn’t even visible and only becomes an annoyance when it gets to the edge of my lips.
Underarms: I started shaving them when I turned 14 because it was a requirement for pep squad. At the time, I was doing it once a week, all year. When I left college, I started skipping winter, which expanded to not shaving between Thanksgiving and Easter. Now it’s more like I shave from mid-May to whenever sleeveless things fall out of rotation, which this year means “sometime last month”.
Bikini Area: I experiment with shaving or bikini-safe Nair once every couple of years. Even then, it’s only the bikini line up-top, never near the undercarriage.
Legs: Same as my underarms, only factoring in laziness, tights, and pantyhose. Oddly, tights and pantyhose make me shave more instead of less. It’s because I hate getting leg hair stuck in the weaving.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:42 am
Time for me to weigh in!
I’m a very fair natural blonde and compared to all of you, I am very low-maintenance in the hair department! I guess it helps that mine is pretty much translucent and only grows in a few places!
I get my hair cut maybe 2x a year though I should probably do it more often…
I can’t afford it right now, but I like to get my eyebrows and eyelashes tinted about once a month. I don’t really need to do anything to my eyebrows other than pluck the strays every once in a while. I hardly even need to do this though, since my eyebrows are pretty much white in their natural state.
I shave my pits in the summer or when wearing a sleeveless top, but leave it natural otherwise.
In the summer I will Nair my legs from the knee down every month or so (my hair grows back very slowly!) but my upper legs don’t have any hair. I can’t really get anything on my body waxed (though I have tried!) because neither I nor the wax lady can actually SEE my hairs…
The garden… well, I don’t have a man, so I’ve never done anything with it. There’s not much there to begin with, either. I suppose if I find a worthy man I will consider getting the bikini line done professionally.
And that’s about it for me! I guess I sort-of win in this area, but to make you all feel better I do have the opposite problem to the darker-haired ladies:
In the summer my skin will tan, but my hair will lighten! Instead of having dark hair show up on light skin, I get light hair that shows up on dark skin! Ack!
And regarding the acne question: Oh, we fat girls certainly DO get bad skin! Mine is terrible to the point that I require heavy meds to get a semblance of normality. Acne, rosacea, eczema… I’ve got it.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:49 am
he he he Margo said “foof.”
November 19th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
I am not a fat girl, but I only shave my legs and my armpits.
Everything else stays where it is… preferred by choice ;)
And my skin is awful however, but I’m not fat. So it’s not just fat girls dealing with acne and eczema :(
November 19th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
I’m fair with dark brown hair.
I spend the $$$ on cut and color for my hair, my face is pretty low maintenance, but I’ve gone with the laser for “down there” … and it rocks! I’m very pleased with the result as I got horrible ingrown hairs with shaving, and my skin is too sensitive to tolerate waxing- even with “the best” waxers, I would get the top layer of skin ripped off and bleeding. Bikini area scabs … Not. At. All. Sexy.
I was so pleased with the bikini that I’ve also done my toes … I had a couple hard core hobbit toe hairs, and while shaving was working, those stubborn gnarlies appear to be permanently gone now.
I believe the deal with laser is that the face is the hardest part to get results.
When I was young, I had a ’stach, and I did the old-school electrolysis … granted, it had to be old school, because this was 25 years ago. And, it hurt like nobody’s business … the bikini laser was not fun, but the lip hair zapping was truly unpleasant. Anyway … it worked and was worth it … no lip hair unhappiness since that time.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
I’m fairly lucky. My body hair is light colored, and fine. I shave my legs once a week. I have exactly one weird hair on my chin that I pluck as soon as it shows itself about once every three months. No stache issues. My eyebrows I just pluck on an almost daily basis before I do my eye make-up, never more that three or so stray hairs on each side.
I went through a time in my life where I stayed bare down there. Did it on a lark for my bf, who liked it. Then once I was dating again, there seemed to be an expectation to keep it that way, so I kept it shaved. But boy, it was a pain. Literally. Itchy when it started to grow back, razor burn, the occasional cut. And I refused to wax.
Finally I met my love, and he actually thought the shaved thing was a bit weird. He deferred to my preference, but made sure I knew he had no problems with leaving things natural. And glory, hallelujah, that’s how I am today. No muss, no fuss, no pain, no up keep. And lord, if he doesn’t also love plain cotton panties. My area has never been more comfortable.
November 19th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Southeast Asian, with brown skin and thick curly black hair.
Head: Over the past five years I’ve grown it out, then learned to blow-dry it and flatiron it, and now that I’ve discovered Clairol Perfect 10 in dark auburn, I could not be happier with my hair. The color gives a subtle warmth and tint that I love, and as a bonus my two gray hairs turned ruby red! I can get away with washing it on Saturday and ironing it on Sunday and then I’m good to go for the entire week. LOVE LOVE LOVE not having to have curly hair anymore – it’s so much easier to maintain over the course of the week. Cost? $10 for the color which is so close to my own shade that I can go six months between. $7 a month or so for the silicone spray. All that said, I’m way overdue for a trim which I generally get at Supercuts for what, $17?
Brows: Started having them waxed when I got my awesome new glasses with the plum-colored frames. The optometrist’s office manager recommended a place with a waxer/nail tech that I now love. $15 for brows every six weeks, so not pricey per se, but with gifty season coming up I’m in penny-pinching mode. Hence, tweezers. Gotta say that when my waxer does the job, I look younger when she’s finished so I miss that.
Lashes: dammit, now I want eyelash extensions! But I’ve had mild eyeball issues so I haven’t even been doing mascara lately. At most I curl them, and only do mineral eye makeup when the days warrant.
Mustache: see above. $5 for lip, but for now, Veet. Every six weeks or so.
Pits: Don’t have much here, so I grab one of Officer Pencil’s Mach 3s if sleeveless is on the agenda.
Pubes: I had a Brazilian once, 40 pounds ago. It was fine, cost maybe $30, but meh, I have other things to spend that money on. If I’m getting bushy I might clean up some lines with the aforementioned Mach 3. Swimsuits not an issue since I haven’t worn one for years – even though (or because) I can be outside for 5 minutes and get a beautiful golden color due to my Southeast Asian melanin. I AM the freak at the beach huddling in the yoga pants and long-sleeved hoodie.
Legs: Remember that waxer I said I loved? This past summer she gave me my first lower leg wax ever. $25. I’d read about the results lasting six weeks. I had stubble in two days. Grr. So, the Mach 3 it is, and only when I look down and get disgusted by my shins.
November 19th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Not that I’m a product spokesperson, but I find myself intrigued by the at home laser hair removal. Apparently it destroys the follicle and works bets on fair skinned people because it looks for the melanin in the hair. It’s pricey at $600 but can be broken down into payments. And if you spend a lot of money on defuzzing, it might pat for itself, depending on how good a job it does.
November 19th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Proofreading is a lost art.
November 19th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
I’m sort of in the middle for coloring. I tweeze my eyebrows and don’t have any problematic stray facial hairs to take care of (yet). I shave my armpits maybe 2x a week, and my legs the same or slightly more often. I live in Puerto Rico and wear shorts and skirts frequently, and hair/stubble on my legs annoys me. For the bikini area, I clip the majority, and shave or occasionally tweeze the bikini line. I’m too scared to wax, but if someone could recommend an epilator I’d definitely try that!
November 19th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
@Katherine: my Celtic chin hair reaches out to yours for a We Are The World style hug. It’s like they hide up in there for years, then *pop*. If we could capture that magic and sell it to Trichologists, we’d be millionaires.
@pelican – I have done both laser and electrolysis, and despite what science sez, I found the latter far more effective – and cheaper.
@Pencil Skirt – yeah, the famed leg wax myth, there’s more time-trickery in those follicles than in Dr Who.
November 19th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
How much time/effort/money do YOU spend on hair maintenance? Has the recession affected your routine?
I color my hair and get my roots touched up every four weeks. Every other time I go, I also get a trim. I get my brows waxed every time. It costs me around $90 plus tip when I don’t get a trim and $130 plus tip when I do. The recession has not affected my routine.
When it comes to your bikini line do you wax, shave, use a removal cream or just stay natural?
If you DO wax, do you go to a waxist, why and do you find it any more difficult because you’re a big girl?
I’m not a big girl, so I can’t answer that last part, but I shave. Legs, underarms, and bikini area (all of it), every day in the shower without exception. It’s not that my hair grows super fast or anything. I’m just obsessive about staying smooth. I cannot abide stubble. At all.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
I am fair-skinned with medium brown hair. I have both blond and dark hair in places that don’t need it.
Semi-permanent hair color happens about every six weeks (minor gray coverage).
My eyebrows aren’t thick, so I shape them with tweezers every other week and use tinted brow gel (Anastasia’s brow gels are great) instead of eyebrow pencil.
Armpits, legs and nether regions get shaved. I also have an epilator but I am slightly afraid of the thing so it gets used on the face (occasional blond mustache hairs), forearms and legs. I am getting braver.
As for skin care, make sure to drink lots of water. It really helped clear my skin.
Hope that helps, ladies.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
I love threads like this one… They make me feel a little better about the little things that bug me on a daily basis.
I’m quite fair, with light brown hair, but I’m also half Portuguese so I’m pretty furry. Luckily, most of the fuzz is fairly light in color and soft in texture so it’s not as bad as it could be.
I get my hair cut when it starts to bother me, which is roughly every 3 months or so. As a result, I usually end up going from something shoulder-length-ish to quite short and back again. I get bored, I guess.
I don’t touch my eyebrows, though I probably should. They’re a nice enough shape, just a little on the caterpillar side. I tried getting them waxed (twice) but ended up with teeny little cuts where the wax was. By the time the cuts healed, the hairs were growing back. Highly attractive. My sister is trying to talk me into threading. We’ll see. I’m afraid of ending up with teensy thin eyebrows.
I do have some interesting sideburns… they turn downy somewhere around the level of my earlobes and spread back towards my jaw hinge-y spot. In general I leave them alone (for fear of what they could become), but sometimes I pluck the hairs that are darker. Even more rarely, when I’m driven totally nuts, I’ll attack them with my bf’s clippers. *bzzzzt!*
My armpits I shave every day, every other day max, because the stubble itches. It makes me itch just *thinking* about it. Sometimes I think about getting rid of my arm hair (it’s light, but fairly abundant) but then I remember my grandmother’s story about trying to get rid of her arm hairs when she was young…. She tried to burn it off and ended up damaging the follicles, so now the hairs in one spot grow in super dark.
My lady-bit hair gets trimmed only when it gets out of control or it’s swimsuit season or I get a wild desire to shave down the thickets. When I was a bit smaller, I shaved down there more.
I shave my legs every couple days in the summer and a little less often in the winter. The skin on my legs seems to get dry faster when it’s covered in fuzz, so I tend to keep them smooth (usually) to avoid the itchies. And I pretty much always have to shave my toes. I have hobbit feet.
I guess I’m fairly low maintenance. Or at least, the maintenance I do is pretty much inexpensive. Just the odd haircut, a razor and some tweezers.
November 20th, 2009 at 2:29 am
I am a FGoC (Fat Girl of Color) and while I do rock the baby soft milk chocolate skin, it does on occasion revolt on me and get all weirdly hairy and pimply usually because I am not treating myself properly with lots of sleep and refreshing ice water. Anyhoobers as far as maintainance it goes as follows
Hair: I’ve been blessed to have naturally thick, long hair of a dark color and the same hairdresser since I was 8 years old. Yes that’s right I’ve had a standing appointment with the same person since before I could drink, vote or drive. $30 every 2 weeks and it’s worth it because I don’t have to do it and while most of my friends sew in their hair I brush mine into a cute ponytail and get to getting.
Brows, stache, misc: I have naturally arched eyebrows that don’t get messed with at all. For some reason no one ever believes I don’t do anything to them but I don’t in fact I would like the to be a little thicker personally. I don’t really have any upper lip issues that I can see granted I don’t really look but fortunately I have friends that would tell me in a minute if I was turning into Ron Burgundy about the lip. If I see a few chinny chin chin hairs they get plucked…I feel I’ve won and we all move on with our lives :)
Pits & Stems: Oh you best believe they meet the razor whenever I even think they are getting too stubbly. However I tend to only do legs in the summer as I live in a place where there are 4 seasons and winter requires a bit of a coat.
Lastly I believe in letting your lady garden grow however keeping the edges and whatnot trimmed and in order is just good sense in case you’re in an accident.
I am finding as I am getting older that I am changing up the routine here and there and having to be more careful about my skin as it seems more sensitive and drier on occasion but over I think I am kinda mid-maintenance if anything.
November 20th, 2009 at 3:35 am
Red hair, fair skin…but not enough contrast, apparently, to get laser hair removal to work. I’ve been using electrolysis for my chin (honey, wait til you hit 45…sometimes it seems like I’m becoming a member of ZZ Top!)
My skin is so sensitive I’ve had to stop having my eyebrows waxed because too often the wax is too hot and it leaves my skin scalded. I’m concerned about permanent discoloration. So, I’m planning to pluck or get my eyebrows threaded.
I’m getting to the age I may have to start coloring my hair, but at 52, my gray only looks like highlights. My hair is thick, so since its short, it needs to be cut every 5-6 wks.
I’m all for leg waxing, but only 3/4 leg. Only surgery requires ‘the full monty’.
I never felt my hair issues were weight related, but more genetic…there isn’t a bald head in my family…we all have LOTS of thick, coarse hair.
I KNOW I’m low maintenance (tho I’m a facial & pedicure, ‘ho.)
November 20th, 2009 at 11:01 am
I feel like I could obsess about the whole hair maintenance issue, if I’m allowed too much time to think about it.
But I do devote the time. I get my hair cut maybe once a year. It’s freakishly obstinate, it curls and frizzes and dries out and grows very, very quickly that “real” hair care for me would actually require daily salon time. I’ve had it straightened with relaxers, high heat blow dryers and special brush high end salon straightening teams, and the new ceramic/titanium/ionic very expensive hair straightening irons used by professional stylists. That was by far the most successful venture–but it was fleeting, let me tell you. Hair “product” is also ineffective, regardless of price. If I’m doing it for a photo, fine: but for an event or every day–it’s just too much time and work, and it all disappears whenever snow or rain approaches. When it’s straight, it looks gorgeous, my face appears to be prettier, I look smarter, but it’s all over, fast.
So, curly hair it is. When it’s long, I just tie it back into a sleek pony tail. On occasion, I delude myself into thinking it will look nice in a curly, blunt cut bob. It grows out very, very quickly. Lately, I spend little on having it cut (maybe $30 a year) and I colour it myself (though, occasionally, I’ll have it done at the salon when I’m getting the cut. I love that the technicians freak out about you using any home dye product–”It’s so full of metal! It will turn your grey roots bright pink!”–just because the stuff they use is all made by exactly the same product manufacturers, and it behaves the same way as what you’re using from the drugstore). The last time it was done, the colourist chose an auburn shade that was far too dark for my aging face, while telling me the colour was really so light, it was “almost blond”. I’ve since blended that colour just fine with the Perfect 10 stuff I’m using in the light auburn shade I want–I’ll be sticking with that in the future. That’s about $15 a month. As far as shampoos and conditioners, I don’t spend more than $10 a bottle on any product. I have spent far more in the past, the results have been exactly the same. So no more.
Underarms, legs–I shave these every shower. Even in winter. I can’t stand the way long leg hair feels in stockings or tights–and even against trousers, it hurts! I don’t have a lot of hair on my legs or on my underarms, so this is all very fast.
Facial hair: years ago I lost a great deal of weight, and voila, I’ve been battling facial hair loss and overgrowth ever since. You don’t have to wait until your 40’s! Mine started in my 20’s. I pluck chin hairs and the tormenting strays I have on the right side of my neck–all black and all phenomenally fast growing. My eyebrows–I pluck those maybe once every three months. I found an old passport today and in that photo they’re well shaped, but there is much more eyebrow there–I’m missing a great deal since that time, which makes plucking hairs there a non issue. As for moustache–there’s not much there. I might pluck the occasional dark hair, but if I feel it’s too fuzzy, I’ll just shave it off in the shower. I have tried waxing the chin and beard hair, but wax is ineffective. Nair too. I’ve considered laser but I want to know it will never ever come back before sitting down to that.
I’ve thought about having my lashes dyed–they’re fair but they’re long–but the truth is, I love mascara. I have a plum coloured one that I’m using now that works beautifully, and it costs $25 a tube (BadGal plum mascara)…but I’ve been just as happy with YSL black mascara (I think it’s the best) and MAC’s big brush mascaras in black, too.
As for tending to the vulva, I can’t bear the idea of having that waxed. But I shave that bare too. I’ll be leaving just a little strip of hair there for the next few months, and keeping the rest hairless. I’ve been lucky not to suffer any ingrown hairs or unfortunate mishaps with the multi-blade razor I use (with a rich shaving cream–a must). As long as I look after it every shower, I don’t suffer from the itchy regrowth. I like it this way.
November 20th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
I also have very dark hair and very fair skin. I also take a medication– cyclosporin– to keep my kidney from being rejected. It makes my hair grow even faster and thicker. I have to shave my legs every day. I’ve been thinking of trying waxing just for the time saving! I bleach my upper lip, and occasionally have my eyebrows waxed. I can tweeze in between times, and I don’t want skinny brows. Just reducing that freda look!
I can’t even imagine eyelash extensions. As it is I get mascara on my glasses if I’m not careful!
I trim the bikini line, but I refuse to shave. I hate it when the hair starts to grow back– that’s a terrible place for stubble. And I really don’t need to waste more time shaving! And frankly the idea of waxing there is horrifically unappealing. ::shudders::
November 20th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
@margo- Bane of my existence, when I was a teen – it was One More Reason I Was A Freak Who No One Would Love.
Yup.
I’ll say one thing about the whole world of waxing no one ever mentions: the whole “no regrowth for 6 weeks” thing doesn’t happen until you’ve done it five or six times on schedule. Your hair folicles grow in cycles on their own and until you get the cycles lined up through repeated waxing you are going to have regrowth after a week or so. With patience, though, grasshopper, it’ll get in line. At this point I actually have bald patches on my shins where the dastardly buggers have finally raised the white flag.
November 21st, 2009 at 11:45 am
Being as pale as snow and as dark as ebony myself, and a poor girl at that, I tweezed my Personal Place – and at one point, it was reduced to a narrow plot for a while. And my hair upkeep was Colour that Sparkling Silver every week – again, myself – because I wasn’t looking forward to a tweed braid down to my backside. Shave every day. Tweeze brows as needed, and any OTHER unwelcome stray hair on my face.
Now? This year I’ve coloured my hair what, twice? I still tweeze my eyebrows and CHIN, yes I said, but I’ve reached a personal low of Not Caring Any More.
November 21st, 2009 at 11:49 am
Oh. And I stopped using eyelashes, which I’ve worn for the last … FORTY years.
Plummie, have you considered trying that new stuff, the prescription which is supposed to GROW longer eyelashes? Apparently it really does work, but it may not be the spectacular that you want.
I’d like to speak a happy word, though, for WELL DONE permanent cosmetics (which still need to be fluffed every few years, or they get very … discreet); eyebrows if you don’t have them, or eyeliner that Stays Put, can be wonderfully cheering. Most people (i.e., anyone who didn’t drive me home) have No Idea that I’ve had it done. Even before reaching the Land Of Time To Do It Again.
November 21st, 2009 at 12:05 pm
And I apologise for talking three times in a row. Sorry. But I do still shave my pits, every. single. day. I used to shave EVERYTHING every day. Now? I wear black tights all the time, no one sees my legs, I just … don’t.
November 21st, 2009 at 4:37 pm
I’m fair skinned and light haired except for much darker pit hairs and bush. I shave my legs maybe once a week. The armpits I can get away with shaving in the shower every other day, but I break out like mad down below if I wet shave there, no matter how careful I am. Similarly with waxing, it took a week to recover from the red rash, and by then it was growing out again. The best solution for me is to use a men’s electric razor (they just seem to work better than the ones made for women) to dry-shave before showering.
November 21st, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Fair-skinned redheaded Tweener here.
I get a Ouidad cut twice a year (September and March) and don’t color at all. As natural redheads age, they tend to fade to a strawberry-blond or brownish-red; anything else looks weird to me.
I shave my pits once a week or so. More if it’s summer or if I have a date.
Legs? The same.
Eyebrows? I occasionally clean up the bits that hang on to eyeshadow in an unattractive way; otherwise, they need repeated applications of pencil to be visible. Lashes are the same: they get dyed once a month (1000 Hours is a great DIY kit) and mascara’ed every day.
Moustache: shaved twice a month with a close trimmer.
Bits: Shaved if I have prospects. Otherwise, natural-but-trimmed. I find I stink less and clean up easier without kneelength curtains to deal with. I’d never go full Brazillian because I’m proud that the carpet has kept its color while the drapes have faded.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Yeah, I’m late to the party but want to say: don’t go bare down there ladies! This is something I’m pissed off and passionate about. When that lonely-not-quite-right-dude watches porn all day and gets stiff from seeing all bald beavers, guess what happens when he accidentally sees your six year old daughters natural self at the neighborhood pool? Sexually mature women have hair, period. Trim, whatever, but leave enough to show you’re a real woman.
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:29 am
Maribee, I’d just like to say that not all women go bare because of “some dude” wants it. And it’s also offensive to think that all guys who watch porn are not “quite right.” The fact that your mind goes straight to children (at the pool, one assumes they will be wearing SWIMSUITS, yannoe) shows that you have more issues than a porn-watching male.
Sexually mature women may have hair because evolution hasn’t caught up with the fact that it is totally superfluous, but they are also mature enough to make decisions for their own damn self without righteous “think of the children!” nattering following them everywhere they go.