When did arm waxing become a thing? - YouLookFab Forum

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When did arm waxing become a thing?

gradfashionista

(website)

Veteran

Has arm waxing become more common in recent years? In my high school imagination, arm waxing was restricted to South Asian and Iranian women because of my friends, they were the only ones who did it. Fast forward many years, I've noticed that it's quite common in NYC--Garance Dore even encouraged it on her blog yesterday! Do you wax your arms, or think that there is more pressure for women to do so?

General

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Helena

Veteran

I think there is a lot of pressure for women to be hairless in many capacities, which drives me absolutely bonkers!!

Anonymous

It's not, and won't ever be, something I do.

Kaelyn

Veteran

I don't wax anything, so I think it's safe to say I'll never get behind this particular trend. I have fair skin and dark hair and think the pressure for women to be hairless is incredibly stupid. If one wants to remove her body hair, that's perfectly okay, but I'm fed up with the attitude that were obligated to do it. Anyway, I don't think I know anyone who waxes their arms, but I've seen plenty of images online of women of various ethnicities with NO visible body hair.

Diana

Veteran

I'm not sure I know anyone who waxes their arms, but I can't say I really notice at all. I personally have no visible hair on my arms (which is common for East Asian women) so I guess I'm lucky that I've never had to think about this. (I do wax my legs though. I have very little leg hair but it's very black. Because it's so sparse, though, it's really easy and relatively painless to wax it off.)

Sara L.

Veteran

Hmm, I don't know anyone who does this. I live in an area with a high hispanic population and I frequently see women with dark arm hair. I can't remember ever hearing anyone say anything about their own or anyone else's arm hair.

always trying

Veteran

Have not heard of this yet!

Anonymous

That sounds like something the Kardashians dreamed up.

viva

Veteran

I have Spanish heritage (my grandfather was from the Basque region) and my younger daughter and I have inherited a certain ... um .. hirsuteness. Quite hairy legs and arms. I shaved my legs when I was 11, which was far younger than my peers, and now I run a razor over them every single day as part of my daily shower. And I learned a couple of years ago that my younger daughter, who did anything and everything she wanted to as a teen (much to her mother's dismay) shaved her hairy arms in high school. I don't know if she still does ( she is a 20 year old hippie now) -- but I think that when she did it, she was not the only one.

Anonymous

It's about as strange as shaving your eyebrows and then drawing them back on, lol.

deb

Veteran

My daughter has a hormone disorder and have very dark body hair. She has been waxing her arms since high school. Today it seems that males and females wax ALL of their body hair. Personally I would not like the upkeep so just call me an old hippy.

Anonymous

Yes, I'll keep rocking my '70s vibe, thank you very much!

Aziraphale

Veteran

Deb, I'll join you as another old hippy The idea of having yet another body part to remove hair from just makes me feel tired!

abc

Veteran

This is the first I've heard of this.

I live in Mexico City - an urban center much like NYC - but here, many don't even wax their eyebrows much less their arms.

Anonymous

I don't but I have some friends (with light hair) who do it... I think it's kind of ridiculous if you don't have extremely dark/visible hair that makes your arms look manly. However, if it makes the person feel self-conscious then it's really up to them!

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Nope nope nope. I'm somehow one of those women "blessed" with a bit more body hair than is currently socially acceptable, and I have dark coarse hair and fair skin. I grudgingly shave my legs, armpits, bikini line...but sorry, not sorry, I'm not adding any more areas to my hair removal agenda. Somehow no one has run away screaming at the sight of my arms (even after being told when I was about 6 years old by an older boy in the neighborhood "You can take off your fur coat, it's summer now"), so for me, it's not a thing and never will be.

rachylou

Veteran

Well, first I don't know anyone who waxes: Epilady is better. Hehe.

But totally, waxing everything has been around for ever.

Anonymous

I read Garance's account of sugaring her arms just yesterday - and i could totally see doing it. My own mother, at the age of 70ish, was sugaring her arms. She figured her dark arm hair needed to be removed for some reason - which surprised me give her age.....I think if my arm hair was particularly dark, I'd be inclined to do it. It's not a big deal, and sugaring is was less traumatic than waxing.

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

I've seen it done on men and women but it's not for me.

Kaelyn

Veteran

Reading some of the comments about being hairy, and especially Janet's comment about having been teased about it, reminds me of my own experiences with being shamed for my body hair. Everyone apparently started shaving by age 10 or 11 but me and when I first had to "dress out" for gym in 6th grade, everyone made fun of me for my hairy legs. I was so embarrassed about it that I shaved obsessively for years. Last year I got super sick in the middle of the summer and didn't shave for three weeks and I decided enough was enough and quit altogether. I may go back to it sometime but I needed to get over being self conscious about it. Body hair is natural and nothing to be ashamed of, gosh darnit!

Robin

I've been getting various body parts (though not my arms) waxed for, well, a couple of decades now. arm-waxing was offered by most salons and individual practitioners. I only knew a couple of people who had it done, though.

I'm perfectly comfortable with the fine hairs on my arms, and don't relish being totally hairless.

Style Fan

Veteran

I probably know someone who does it. I don't do it. I have very blonde hair so there would be no point (in my mind). I can go a long time without removing the hair on my legs. I gave up on waxing because they missed so much. My hair is so blonde unless the waxer was really good and went over each area I was left with hair.
This is all more information that you probably wanted to know.
I get my eyebrows threaded.
I don't see removing body hair as a necessity. I do it because I like having smooth legs.

Anonymous

There is a lot of waxing going on in general. I tried it. I wasn't very good at it. I had laser treatment to remove hair in select areas. My arms were not one of the select areas.

JAileen

Veteran

Right now, when I wear long sleeves everyday, the hair on my arms is darker than my arms. But later, when I start wearing short sleeves, the hair on my arms lightens up at the same time my arms darken a little bit, rendering the hair unnoticeable. If it WERE noticeable, I would ignore it. I don't want any more maintenance. That's one reason I decided to go grey.

approprio

(website)

Veteran

My personal grooming regime is very variable. I do or I don't depending on my mood, the season, the state of my skin, the position of Jupiter in the ascendent, whatever. For fear of TMI I'll say no more than that. It's my business and nobody else's.

I'm heartily sick of this obsession with total obligatory hair removal. It's just one more way to shame women about their bodies. I'm hoping for a backlash.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

This is a very hard question for me personally (and a sensitive question in general) as I am of the "naturally hairless variety". Have never waxed anything and barely need to shave - pun intended. You need a magnifying glass to see the hair on my arms, and my legs are about the same. I don't know what it's like having a hairy body.

That said, I like what Liz said - and hope that there is a backlash at some point. The unnaturally hairless body has become extreme and I don't like fashion's message that we should be ashamed of our bodily hair. In an ideal world, it should all be good either way. Hopefully we will get there some day.

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

Interesting thread--I had never heard of arm-waxing.
Personally, I rarely bare my arms, because I run so cold, so it would seem rather pointless. And then I looked at my arms and thought: hmmm, if I got rid of the fine hairs, the age spots would be more visible. (And when did those start making an appearance, I wonder??)

April

Veteran

I am mixed here -- I shave in the shower daily to avoid prickly legs and underarms, and I do bikini waxing, but the hair on my arms is blonde (I was a blonde kid and my arm hair didn't change) and not dense. Easy to ignore.

If I had dark or dense arm hair, would I wax it? Probably.

I hate when certain grooming styles become requirements for women (in recent years, one example is the endless flat-ironing of curly hair) but I think people should do what makes them feel best, and I feel best when my body hair is minimal.

Anonymous

I have to chime back in here- in defence of those who do do things like this. I don't feel pressured or shamed into removing body hair. I just happen to prefer how legs, underarms, bikini areas , upper lips, and other things look without hair. I highly doubt I will be adding arm sugaring to my list of things to do, but even if I did, it's not because I feel hair is bad in some way. I don't care if other women never shave anything - and I assume they care as equally little about my maintenance things.

Windchime

Veteran

I hadn't heard of it. Actually, some of the crowd I run with have decided to shave their legs and underarms LESS than American norms. I also know women in Germany and Holland who don't understand or follow the American norm of women shaving their legs and underarms.

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