to what degree, if at all, do you alter your body’s natural state? especially for you women out there. do you shave? why or why not?
i much prefer to let my bodily hair grow, however, living in Orange County it seems like everyone surrounding me is rather repulsed by it. its definately rather taboo in this society
and they can go to hell. Oh wait, they're already there.LMAO
Pits and legs here. I can’t stand the feeling when it gets caught in the threads of my clothes, so off it goes. If I’m going to be doing something like family portraits, I’ll get the unibrow waxed so it doesn’t look so beastly in the studio lights. Otherwise, it’s all natural. Just too much effort to do it for anyone but myself or my husband’s comfort and pleasure.
As for me, I shave with the ‘grain’, in a manner of speaking, and not against it nowadays. Put differently, I shave in the direction the hair comes out of the skin and follicle and not the other way anymore.
This way takes more time (for me because I just started using it two years ago), yet works safer and gentler while leaving behind almost always zero nicks, cuts, pumps, or ingrown hairs. In some harder-ta-reach-places sometimes it becomes necessary to come from multiple directions (especially when using cheap disposable razors), which means, of course, one might need to go against the grain sometimes, but for the most part, I find it works best to go ‘with the flow’, not opposite of it.
LMAO
Pits and legs here. I can’t stand the feeling when it gets caught in the threads of my clothes, so off it goes.[/quote]
hm, the clothes annoy me much more than the hair! 
Clothes annoy me as well. However, out of politeness and the desire to not terrify my neighbors into blindness (I’m pale as a sheet while they’re all a bit more of a toasty chocolate brown) or heart attacks, I generally wear them. I highly doubt many other than my husband would want to see me naked.
You could get arrested naked. Would they cover you with a space blanket for your mugshot?
You know, I’ve wondered about that. Then again, aren’t most mug shots above the ‘offending’ areas?
Late coming to this thread…
I shave my pits because if I didn’t, I’d worry about whether they smelled, and-- if they did-- whether they smelled really bad. I don’t shave my legs, except on occasions when I feel it’s a good idea. To pull an example from recent memory, I shaved to attend a friend’s wedding in a dress. I didn’t want to draw too much attention to myself. (It was their day, after all.)
I pluck my brows, in a very minimalist sort of way (meaning that I pluck very few hairs), usually about once a week.
Also, w/r/t “How much do you alter your body’s natural state?” - one could say that keeping one’s hair combed instead of having hair in its “natural state” (aka dreads) is an alteration. I have hair that I comb, it is a little longer than chin length, but for the past couple of weeks I’ve been seriously considering growing it and starting some dreads.
I pick my beard! and eyebrows and pick or wax or sugar most of my body hair. It’s five years I have used no shampoos, only natural handmade soaps and herbs and it’s two months Im washing my hair with just cold water. Just to let you know! MR
I haven’t been using handmade soaps, but I found a brand I really like (kirks) that works well on my mop of hair. I’m looking into making soap in the near future, so any techniques and recipes would be appreciated.
I shave the beard with straight razors in the summer, but between the fall and spring equinoxes, I let it go. The mustache gets pretty unruly, but my face is comfort-rated to 5 degrees fahrenheit 
Does anyone here know how to shave (or trim) without metal? Would a flintknapped blade be sufficient?
I’ve trimmed my hair with obsidian flakes but not shaved. I don’t know how to shave with a straight razor but the blades cut hair alright, the edge dulls fast so you gotta keep making new flakes but that takes like 2 seconds…
I’ve read certain indigenous groups have used obsidian to shave, just did not work so great when I tried because I felt like I was gonna cut my face open.
Hell, historic records say the coastal Algonquin shaved their heads and cut their hair with the sharp edges of oyster shells since you cant find knappable rock in this area (but they did trade with people further inland to get good rocks).
So having obsidian should make shaving easy compared to that right?
Part of shaving with a straight razor is just practice, and the other part is keeping your blade sharp and without burrs. A razor with the tiniest nick will really hurt and leave you bleeding. Good lather and hot water (to make the hair stand up stiff) is also a plus. Maybe there’s a way to hone obsidian burrs off without losing its edge.
It sounds like shells would be the way to go for those with access to them, as it would be easier to get a clean edge. I would put sharpness at a lower importance than smoothness, as even a pretty dull blade will at least pull the hair out. It might hurt, but you’ll still have skin.
I suppose one could also have a loved one pluck if you had 12 hours to spare and a high pain threshold.
The plucking doesn’t really hurt for me except in certain areas like my lips and chin. So I’m ever around when usable razors aren’t, I’ll just have to get by with a trimmed moustache and a bit of a goutee.
I trim the mustache only when it gets in the way of eating. I haven’t had a haircut in about 6.5 years and about 5.5 years ago I gave my hair a good backcombing. I don’t bathe or shower much and less in Winter. I like my smell although being male I have no idea what testosterone acetate smells like. Can any biological females here describe it for us?
I shave my legs and pits, rarely. It’s been a while since I’ve shaved my legs, since it’s winter, though I did shave my pits recently because I saw them and thought, “Okay, enough already.” 
I’ll probably shave them both more regularly when the weather gets warmer.
I have been known to wage brutal warfare against any and all facial hair. There are parts of my eyebrows that I’ve pretty well obliterated through years of over-plucking, and I have to fill them in with eyeliner while I wait for them to grow back (if they ever will… gulp!). I often wish I had very light blonde hair so people wouldn’t notice if I haven’t shaved in a while. (Pale skin + dark hair + Italian/Russian Jewish heritage = bad things.)
i don’t shave pits or legs, though i do trim up my,eh, bush, if i happen to be buzzing my head with clippers that day…
Reviving thread…
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Ai dont shave or pluck anything. Havent in about six months and befor that, about two years. Maleing, that means that ai have LOTS of hair. Ai do brush or comb the head stuff about once a week or so, so dreads dont dread me up. And during the winter, ai shower/bathe about three times and that does it (just had one the other day). That makes me the smelliest one in the house, even though my brother does similarly. This spring/summer, ai’ll have to scaleback on my smellyness though. :’(
Speaking of waxing, the Chinese tallow tree produces a very high quality wax, which one can easily extract from home. I wonder if you could use it for hair removal. Perhaps I’ll try it this fall when the berries ripen. Since the plant is highly invasive, I shouldn’t have a problem finding some.
[quote=“BlueHeron, post:8, topic:557”]Late coming to this thread…
I shave my pits because if I didn’t, I’d worry about whether they smelled, and-- if they did-- whether they smelled really bad. I don’t shave my legs, except on occasions when I feel it’s a good idea. To pull an example from recent memory, I shaved to attend a friend’s wedding in a dress. I didn’t want to draw too much attention to myself. (It was their day, after all.)
I pluck my brows, in a very minimalist sort of way (meaning that I pluck very few hairs), usually about once a week.
Also, w/r/t “How much do you alter your body’s natural state?” - one could say that keeping one’s hair combed instead of having hair in its “natural state” (aka dreads) is an alteration. I have hair that I comb, it is a little longer than chin length, but for the past couple of weeks I’ve been seriously considering growing it and starting some dreads.[/quote]
I do not shave anything. My pits, legs, groin, etc, are all hairy… in an unruly sort of way. I have taken to trimming a bit, but for the most part things are as they are.
I only shave in the summer, kinda like shedding fur. Haha. I dont wear much clothing in summer, so it’s nicer for me to not be all fuzzy. But since I have really light blonde hair, my legs are usually really soft and you can barely see the hair at all. So yeah, it usually depends on my mood. Armpit hair bugs me though sometimes, so I keep it pretty short at least.
Here in Portland it’s more acceptable to NOT shave than it is to be completely cleanshaven, I’m pretty sure it’s a trend. Haha.
And I’ve never met a man that wasn’t okay with me not shaving.