Truly Sandra

Remember the first time you attempted to shave your legs? I do, and it was an absolute nightmare. I still have the scars to prove it. Yup, that’s right…scars…two of them, that continually remind me of how I really do have to learn to think things through first.

I still remember it like it was yesterday. I was 13 years old. Mom had left me with unkind task of cleaning the bathroom and both her and dad were out. Being naturally curious I started off by doing what I had always done, rifling through the medicine cabinet, looking for treasure. I used to love holding my mothers pretty perfume bottles, shaking the pill containers, opening moisturizes and sampling all of them, basically behaving in a manner, that back then, would have gotten me  smacked and grounded.

This particular day, I had started my hunt for something shiny and new on my fathers side of the vanity. I began with inspecting the medicine cabinet. I noticed the bottom shelf had all the usual suspects…shaving cream, deodorant, toothbrush, aftershave…the middle shelf…a little more interesting, aspirin bottle, A535, dental floss, electric razor…lastly, the top shelf…what’s this?…EUREKA! There it was, his black leather shaving kit. It was like finding a box in a box. I was so excited. My anticipation mounted as I gingerly removed it from the shelf. Holding the case close to me I went over to the bathtub and sat on the edge. I carefully balanced the kit on my lap, left hand resting flat on top as I gradually inched the zipper along with my right. It was open. I cautiously turned over the top and peered inside. It was beautiful…each piece in its own spot, the single blade razor then the silver tipped shaving brush alongside the porcelain shaving bowl and last to follow, his heavily spice scented shaving cream.

I could hardly wait to try it.

Firstly, I needed to make lather. I had watched my father do this often so I was quite sure I could copy the procedure. Instead of using the “Old Spice” shaving cream, I had opted for a more feminine scent. A bar of Ivory soap. I must have spent 5 minutes grinding that wet brush into the bar in order to achieve maximum foaminess.

Content with the volume of lather I had manufactured it was time to begin the second step. Generously applying the suds to my legs I spread the mixture evenly starting at my ankle and ending at mid thigh. I wanted to make sure I had ALL the hair on my legs removed. Satisfied that there were no appearances of bare skin, I was ready to move on to step 3. The thrilling part, shaving.

Once again, poised on the edge of the bathtub, legs stretched out in front of me, I leaned forward towards my feet, with razor in hand, starting at the bottom, center of my shin I swiftly slid the blade up to my knee cap. I remember thinking that if I did it quickly enough it wouldn’t hurt so bad…after all, Dad always had those little globs of toilet paper stuck to his face after he had shaved and that looked quite painful to me….I expected the same results to happen when shaving my legs. You’ll be interested to know, I wasn’t disappointed.

Had it not been for the red stream that immediately appeared amidst the abundant amount of soap on my leg I would not have noticed a thing. I felt no pain. So, without hesitation I switched to the other leg and with one long swoop I went up the center as well. Hmm, look at that…same red streak, no pain. Then it hit me…hey, that does sting a bit. As a matter of fact it really hurts!

I had to get the soap off of my legs straight away, I had a strong feeling that there was some damage.

I was right.

I had gouged my shins so badly I was in gauze bandages for a week. My mother was furious and my father lectured me for hours on the perils of getting into things that I had no right being into in the first place. Plus, my legs hurt.

I had learned my lesson. I would not touch a razor for another 5 years. To this day I still have the indentations that have resulted from that horrible mistake.

My point…waxing is best when it comes to hair removal.

Sandra

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