Can you believe it’s been almost two months since I’ve shaved?
I can’t.
With the holidays being such an awkward and busy time this year--and I wasn't at home with my usual mirror and it's advantageous lighting--it was a great relief to never touch my razor. Even my legs and underarms are all lush and untamed, which is fairly easy to do when you live in a cold climate where most of your body is covered all of the time. I’ve even stopped putting my razor and shave gel in the shower. It was just pleasant to take a holiday from that chore when there was so much else to do, and since then I haven’t seen the need to go back to it.
It is rather unusual to feel the wind in your leg hair when you walk on the treadmill in shorts or capris, however. Can’t remember the last time I’ve felt that. Took me a few days to even figure out what the sensation was.
The hair on my face has now evened out, so that the places I used to shave are the same length as the vellum hair that grows on my cheeks. No more of that “mowed lawn” look on the jaws and chin. I’m still trying to get used to having hair there at all. It is hard to remember what is “average” when you spend so much of your life being paranoid about any hair showing at all in those areas.
I bought a box of Jolen hair bleach for the first time in... oh, ages... just to take care of the hairs on the sides of my face that are a darker sort of blond, but only at certain angles and thus are hard to catch to pluck. And because I’m bleaching hair that is not too dark or coarse to begin with, I don’t have to keep it on as long or reapply it the next day because the new growth is easy to see. It seems so strange to go back to that old routine of measuring out one part accelerator powder to two parts cream, mixing it on that tiny palette and spreading it over the hair. Seeing that thick white concoction sitting there on my face so plainly reminded me of how shocking my beard used to be to me, and how worried I used to be about anyone seeing it or whatever method I was using to hide it.
And now it’s manageable enough that it feels like it’s gone. Now when some dude jokes, "I haven't shaved in, like, two days and you can't even tell!" I shout, "Me too!" I have to keep checking every morning and every night to make sure it’s still real. And then I apply some miraculous Vaniqa cream (of which I am just starting a new bottle, worth every penny) and go to bed knowing that getting ready in the morning will be so effortless and devoid of emotional agony.
Just goes to show you, you should try everything you safely can to make life that little bit easier for you. It really does make a difference.
I’ll be crossing the ocean soon, so you likely won’t hear from me for some time... not that that’s anything new these days! Keep well, my dears.
