I don’t remember the last time that I shaved my legs. And no, it’s not because it’s COVID-19 “quarantine”. Or that I’ve been in a relationship for 4 years.

But it has correlated with turning to a plant-based lifestyle.

If you read my vegan-niversary post or pretty much any #parttimeplants post, you know that going vegan has completely changed the way that I consume goods… and not just food either, but beauty products, clothes, outdoor gear and more.

So let’s get to  hairy legs.

First off, I believe that everyone has their choice to decorate, groom, and dress their body however they may choose. But personally, I have had questions about why I have to shave my legs.

It honestly didn’t bother me at all until that social time in life… high school, when I realized that short (finger tip length) skirts were supposed to be paired with neatly groomed legs. I distinctly remember my friends and I had a no-shave November contest, and I went well into December with absolutely no problem. I could have easily gone much longer, but we all shaved to make it a tie.

And flash forward to college. I definitely conformed to this “normal” shaving ritual simply because that’s just how it was. And I lived in a sorority house… while I know that every one of my sorority sisters would have not cared, my mindset was still about fitting in.

After graduating college, I realized that it’s less about fitting in, and more about finding what you feel comfortable with.

It also helped that I was working in very liberal Portland, Oregon, where gals in their natural beauty are camped out on a restaurant patios eating good food, hanging with their dog, and enjoying the sunshine in cute sun dresses.

And honestly, that really helped validate my feelings of dread toward shaving my legs. I would ask myself: “Why am I doing this all the time? Spending my own personal money and time if it doesn’t really make me feel any more beautiful??”

And while I wish that this was about owning your natural beauty (which you should)… it’s honestly more about me being lazy and just simply not wanting to.

So that’s when I stopping regularly shaving my legs.

Fast forward to when I went vegan a year ago. I had a total mind shift towards sustainability. And I realized that some habits outside of eating vegan were not very earth-friendly. Such as using disposable razors. So I switched to a reusable razor with blade cartridges.

Not only do I get to practice sustainability, but I also can justify it by not spending 30 minutes perfectly shaving my legs every day (not to mention cutting down on water usage, shaving cream and razor expenses and more!).

Not shaving my legs hasn’t been some huge feminist movement to me or anything. I still don’t advertise it to the internet like crazy (this is honestly the first time I have ever really talked about it except for quickly mentioning it in a blog post or two). It just comes down to me being lazy and also looking for other ways to be sustainable. And it took taking the plunge to be vegan to help me realize that.

I still sometimes shave my legs if I want, but it don’t think that having hairy legs makes me any less worthy or beautiful. It doesn’t affect how I ski. Or mountain bike or climb. Or how good I look in vintage 60’s dresses. Or how well I make hummus. It honestly makes me feel very fortunate to have the ability to make choices about my body and how I consume goods. 

Your full-time plant eater and very part-time leg shaver,

AJ