To shave above the knee, or not to shave above the knee

I first shaved my legs in secret at the age of 10 or 11. The decision to sneak off with my mom’s razor was brought on by the fact that I was in a youth choir. (I’m not sure why because I cannot sing at all.) We had to wear skirts, and I was self-conscious. Feeling guilty after the job was done (poorly, I might add), I asked my mom for permission to shave my legs. She said yes, knowing full well that I had already done it but willing to humor me.

My mom advised me not to shave above my knee because the hair would grow back thicker. In my experience, this is fully not true. Having had no instruction about how to shave my legs, I shaved all of my legs—yes, including above the knee. As a sometimes above-the-knee shaver I have not noticed my hair grow in any thicker or darker. Also, okay, even if it did, is that really the terrible situation it’s made out to be? It’s hair. Body hair is such a personal decision, and whether you shave a little, fully, or not at all is completely up to you. (Note: I have been shaving my legs for, like, 16 years and I still haven’t figured out how to cleanly shave my kneecaps. Inevitably I miss a spot or two, and this cannot just be me. Why is this so difficult?)

That said… if you’re a person who consistently shaves above your knees—what is your life? Tell me how you do it. Do you have a Time-Turner? Are you also going to save Buckbeak? How’s Divination class going? Are you also a zero-inbox person? I applaud all of this. I barely have time to shave the bottom half of my legs, and thighs just add more real estate to my shaving zone. I want your secrets. As I sit here writing this poetry about above-the-knee shaving, it should be noted that my thighs are currently unshaved and, yes, I missed a couple of spots on my knees the last time I shaved (which was two days ago).

This is not to say I never shave above my knees, however. I like to think of shaving above the knee as “special occasion shaving.” I do it sometimes, but it requires me to specifically think about it. For instance, if I was pretty sure I was going to have a romantic liaison in the next 12 hours, sure, I might take a couple extra minutes to shave my thighs in the shower. But just for wearing a sundress? Nope. I’ll be spending those spare minutes doing very important and productive things, like Googling the hidden meanings in Taylor Swift’s new song while listening to that song for the 500th time.

These are the best shaving products, according to Well+Good editors. Um, also, is shaving your bikini line a good idea? In one editor’s experience, hell no.