I was eleven. I was at a friend's house. We were both skaters and at the time skaters wore those short skirts bare legged, no tights or hose. That was the justification, wanted to look nice in our outfits. LOL It was a few years later before I started shaving under my arms.

I was 12, and was in 7th grade. I don't suppose I really needed to shave my legs, but a lot of the other girls in school were shaving their legs so I decided I needed to shave mine, too. That was back in the days of butterfly razors that used doubled-edged blades. I must have just used soap and water -- I'm sure I didn't have any shaving cream and I would have been too chicken to take my dad's. I started with my right leg... put it up on the edge of the tub, bent down and started at the point where my leg meets my foot. Came up the shin bone. Problem was, being totally inexperienced, I held the razor at the wrong angle, and managed to scrape the skin off from the bottom of my leg to the middle of my calf. My leg began to bleed profusely, and I cried out in pain. My mother came running in, was shocked, upset, and probably slightly horrified at what I had done. My skin was still stuck to the razor blade. Mom pulled it out and it was one long strip of skin...

I had to go to school the next day with four or five Band-Aids on my shin. I told my friends that my brother had rammed one of his toys into my leg repeatedly. They believed me. :-)

It was quite a while before I again attempted shaving my legs, and years before the scar got to the point where it was no longer noticeable.

I was in the 7th or 8th grade, and I used the same kind of "butterfly" razor as Lindsey-CA. My daddy loaned me his shaving cream, showed me how to safely put the blade in the razor, and guided me through shaving my legs the first time. Such a wonderful man!

It was my freshman year of high school. I got by with a couple of times a week. By the time I was a senior, it was every day. No one was allowed to have obvious facial hair in my high school (we were also required to wear belts and no sneakers). That was a long time ago.

Now I shave whenever I think it is getting messy. I have had my beard since I was discharged from the U.S. Navy in 1970.

I think I started around 7th grade pretty much because the other girls did and mini skirts were in then.

I did the same thing as Lindsey. I think I was 12. I just took my dad's razor...double edged back in 1958...and shaved the skin off my shin all the way to my knee. He had a styptic pencil.....I think that is what it was called, in case he nicked himself while shaving, so I grabbed that. White hot pain! I don't know when I did it again.

Never! I thought about it once for two seconds, and decided, nah. I'm not a hairy person to begin with, and the hairs I do have are blonde and virtually invisible.

I never had to shave my legs, only have half dozen hairs at most and can use a tweezer to pluck them. But I wanted to act grown up so tried shaving when I was 13 and had cuts all over legs. I had to use my dad's styptic stick to stop the bleeding. My mom forbade me to shave my legs. Took me awhile to get the hang of doing my underarms. That really hurts when you cut yourself there, especially when using spray deordorant.

Since this is about shaving, I have to vent about something. I really hate the unshaven look on men. I think light to heavy stubble makes a man look like an unkept bum. I think clean shaven is a lot more sexy and attractive. And more pleasant to kiss. Full trimed beards look good on some men, but not all. I wish the unshaved look would fade away and we go back to classic clean shaven men. I like the Don Draper look.

I can't even remember but I think it was in 7th or 8th grade. I have dark hair and as soon as those hairs started to show, I started shaving them. Most of my friends were shaving but I was several months younger than most of them if that mattered as far as 'maturity'. I don't know how I knew what to do, I just did it. Yeah, I nicked the skin on my shins a couple of times. It still gives me the shivers to read some of your posts.

I wanted to start around 11-12, when I became aware of it and my friends started shaving their legs. I remember my mom said I was not allowed until I was 13, and she wouldn't budge on that. And I didn't dare disobey her, even though it was terrible living in California in long pants!

If I have a daughter I'll let her shave her legs at a reasonable age.

I've never cut myself shaving. I guess the razors now are safer? I'm cringing at some of these stories!

I was in grade school and had a lot of hair under my arms. I wanted to shave, but my parents wouldn't let me. I finally did it anyway, and it worked out very well. The kids stopped teasing me. Oddly enough, my parents never said anything.

Never had body hair so I'm good, it's my Indian background.

I often wonder what would have happened if:

A) I had just shaved anyway

or

B) Not shaved until I was 16 (my mother's "magic-you-can-shave-now" age)

I'm assuming:

A: I'd have been grounded for months

B: I'd be more socially awkward than I already am.

Legs and underarms -- about 11.

Face -- 70.

I think guys with two-day beards look slovenly -- or like HS boys who need to advertise their 'manliness'.

While I prefer the look of a clean-shaven man, at least you don't get razor burn when you play kissy-face with a bearded one.

I guess I'm the only one who likes a little stubble! I vastly prefer it to clean shaven. I do dislike beards and mustaches though, with a few exceptions.

Scott -- the way to keep your face smoother for a longer period of time is to shave not once, but three times, each time in a different direction. It's called a "three pass shave." My husband does this and his face is awesomely smooth.

I started shaving in high school. I did not shave every day as my hair is light colored. My first shaves were with my Dad's straight razor, and that was done very carefully. I soon bought a safety razor.

Lindsey, I'll try the 3 pass thing. I only shave once a week now since I don't go anywhere special.

Elizabeth, had a rough day yesterday. Hoping for better today!!!

Has anyone seen the commercial (I have no idea what it's for) where the father is teaching his teen daughter how to shave her legs? They're sitting on the floor and he has his pant leg rolled up. Well - he shaves DOWN. Not up the leg. What's up with that? Does any woman shave in a down direction?