The Beauty Note: Have I Been Shaving My Legs Incorrectly?
Sep 14, 2021
Being a blogger of a certain age, it’s tough to show me a “beauty hack” that I haven’t seen before. But when I opened my Instagram to see a video about the “correct” way to shave your legs, I was gobsmacked. I was suddenly forwarding it to my friends utilizing a liberal amount of emojis ????????????????????.
Is it possible that I’ve been shaving my legs the wrong way for 26 years?
The original video was posted by @lalalalauren00 on TikTok, and I spotted the rendition by Emma on Instagram. I’ll pause while you watch it.
If you can’t watch where you are, the video explains that women’s razors are doubled sided. The blades will cut when you shave in an upward direction or in a downward direction. Thus, there is no good reason to ever lift the blade. Instead, you shave up one line, then down the next, like you’re mowing a lawn.
I watched the video four times. And then the video about applying this technique to knees.
Then, I tried it this morning. I was done shaving in less than half the time. I have no nicks or cuts. And I’ll report back on whether the hair removal lasts longer (which some people say it does) when you shave this way.
Need a new razor? I love this Flamingo razor. The suction cup attachment to keep it in the shower is great. And I can buy replacement cartridges at Target.
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Wait, what? How? How did I not know this before?!
But the blades are all angled in one direction…
I wonder if it’s actually shaving on the downstroke or just not cutting you… ????
I use a double-edge safety razor to shave so this doesn’t work for me or any non-disposable razor but it is interesting. Watching how many times she went over her knee just makes me feel like I dont care enough about missed knee hairs. ????
But if I run my thumb across the blades top-to-bottom, I don’t get cut. If I go bottom-to-top, I slice my thumb. (If you haven’t done this by accident, please don’t. The resulting skin flaps are super annoying for a while.)
That said, I’m not sure that I will be able to resist trying this myself. (and has my teen been holding out on me?) And I’ll probably try only going in reverse and see if it is actually shaving anything.
I read this then tried it when I took my evening shower. I use a Preserve five blade razor with Dr Bronners shave gel. It definitely seemed to be quicker, easier and more relaxing (I just got into a rhythm of shaving up and down). But the downstroke didn’t seem to shave much hair? So I was going up and down over the same line. My legs are super smooth. Interesting tip!
Hate to be a downer about it, but that’s what I do lol. This is a gimmick for views even if these ladies don’t realize it.
The gimmick here is that the backwards pass is distributing more of the little moisturizing goo strip. A conventional razor (disposable or replacement cartridge) cannot cut on a backwards pass. If you look at them closely, the blades are angled such that they can cut only on a forward one.
Speed is because of two things: first, your skin stays more hydrated/lubricated because of the moisturizing goo strip on the backwards pass. Then, because you’re constantly moving instead of methodically shaving a line, repositioning at the ‘start’ but over a row, you cover more area.
I had a dermatologist once tell me that I needed to shave my legs using the downstroke with the razor facing up to avoid irritation. Although this isn’t exactly the technique shown in the video, it blew my mind that there are other ways to shave our legs than what we were taught.
Love the Flamingo razor. They also make a great shave gel and a spray quick dry body lotion that I cannot live without!
I tried this this morning and may have done it wrong because I nicked my knee because normally that is where I lift off the razor to start another row, so I didn’t get the intended result.
As far as razors go, if you are okay with Amazon, I recommend their house brand Solimo’s dup for the subscription brand Billie, or Billie itself if you prefer. Target and Kroger also have a Billie dup. Any one of those will get the job done!
I saw it too! I don’t think it actually shaves in the downstroke (even though she says it does), but I did find that it helps distribute the moisture strip/goo better. That made it smoother. But it’s so awkward to unlearn a 20+ year habit!
You are correct! It does help, but the influencers on TikTok and Insta have why and how it helps not quite right.:)