Okay, if you personally know me then you know that I got a few more tablespoons of body hair in my DNA. In addition to having a lot of hair, my body hair is thick. For years I dreaded summer & I felt like I had one of two choices. I either had to wear jeans in 100 degree weather. Or I had to shave every other day and deal with the insanely painful razor burn and bumps, oh and ingrown hairs. After many years, I have discovered a way to shave my legs without suffering through either of those things. So I thought I should share some shaving tips for women with coarse leg hair and hopefully you find it helpful.

1. Exfoliate Your Skin Before Shaving

I suffered from painful and unsightly ingrown hairs for a long time. A few years ago I discovered that exfoliating your skin was super important if you have thick body hair. So I started exfoliating once a week and I quickly started seeing results. I strongly suggest that you should exfoliate at least once a month to help reduce ingrown hairs. Plus doing so will make your legs feel even smoother! I use Flake Away by Soap and Glory or the Dr. Teals Shae Sugar Body Scrub. You can find their products at Target. (Not an ad, though I wish it was.)

2. Don’t EVER Use a Dull Razor

I repeat: do not use a dull razor to shave your legs, especially if you frequently suffer from ingrown hairs and razor burn. Use a quality razor, yes they might be a bit more expensive, but your skin will thank you. You will have better results if you use a new blade every time, but as long as it’s not tugging you should be fine. A quality razor will glide easily, it it begins to feel like work it’s time for a new one.

3. Use a Men’s Razor

Aside from that ridiculous “Pink Tax” for women’s razors, men razors are just better. The blades last longer they’re sharper, and the gel strips on them actually work. I have been using Gillette Men’s Razors for a few years now and I will never go back to women’s razors. I strictly use Gillette’s 5 blade razors, they work really well with my skin.

4. Do Not Skip the Shaving Cream!

Use a gentle but creamy shaving cream. I use EOS Shea Better Shave Cream and I love it. Plus since it’s scent free it doesn’t affect my allergies. As good as men’s razors are you still have to use shaving cream it helps the razor glide with ease and reduces razor burn. Even if you use regular shaving cream, that’s fine, the point is to not skip it. Plus it helps you keep better track of the areas you’ve shaved.

5. Glide Don’t Push/Pull

Do not push the razor down on your legs. I know, I was shocked too. But it worked for me. I just gently glide my razor up against the grain and then back down. It turns out that when we push down the skin gets uneven which is why we end up with razor cuts. And yes, your shave will still be close.

Also, you don’t have to lift the razor from your skin to change directions when you’re shaving. You can simply glide up and down uninterrupted without razor burn or cuts. Not only does it make shaving a lot faster, but you get a smoother shave.

6. Moisturize Your Skin

Moisturize right after you get out of the shower. Like no longer that 3 minutes after, that way you can seal in the moisture. For some reason we’re very good at keeping a skincare routine for our faces but when it comes to the body we rush through it. It’s time to stop and make sure you care of your entire body.

Use an unscented lotion like Aveeno, Vaseline, or if you absolutely need your scents use a body butter like this Soap and Glory Righteous Butter. It has a wonderful smell, and never irritates my skin. I use Vaseline for my more delicate areas like my upper thighs, and inner thighs. It works better than lotion and helps remove dark spots faster than regular body lotions and creams.

Extra Shaving Tips:

• Don’t shave every day. Try shaving every other day or maybe even waiting until the 3rd day.
• Use an electric shaver. Especially if you feel the need to shave every day. I use this one by Braun and the shave is pretty close and it is so gentle and painless.

An electric shaver, really? Yes. Trust me, a good shaver gets almost as close as a razor. I use this shaver and it is a game changer. I use it to give my legs a break from the razor a couple times a month and my legs appreciate it. They are so much smoother than they were with a lot less dark spots from the scarring and bumps.

I hope you try these shaving tips for women with coarse leg hair helpful and they give your legs the relief and smoothness I found.

Key takeaway from this, don’t push down on the razor, and moisturize, moisturize, moisturize.

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