Walk down any busy street in Brooklyn, Berlin, or Portland today and you’ll see something that would have been considered a radical political statement just fifteen years ago. It’s hair. Specifically, it is women with long armpit hair grabbing a coffee, hitting the gym, or heading to work without a second thought about their grooming habits.
It’s not just a "trend." Trends are fleeting things like neon leggings or sourdough starters. This feels more like a collective exhale.
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For decades, the standard was absolute smoothness. If a hair dared to peek out from under an arm, it was treated like a hygiene disaster or a personal failure. But honestly? Things have shifted. We’ve reached a point where the choice to grow it out is less about being "anti-beauty" and more about being "pro-autonomy." It’s basically about reclaiming time, skin health, and a bit of sanity.
Why the "Gross" Factor is Actually Just Marketing
Let’s be real for a second. The idea that women with long armpit hair are "unhygienic" is a complete myth. It was actually manufactured. Before the early 1910s, most women in the West didn't bother shaving their underarms. It wasn't a thing. Then came the 1915 advertisements in Harper’s Bazaar for products like Milady Décolleté. They told women that summer dresses and sleeveless fashions required "the removal of objectionable hair."
They created the problem to sell the solution.
Biologically, hair is there for a reason. It reduces friction between the arm and the torso. It acts as a natural wick for sweat. From a medical standpoint, shaving is actually what causes the most issues. Ask any dermatologist about folliculitis, ingrown hairs, or contact dermatitis. These are almost exclusively "shaved skin" problems. When you leave the hair alone, the skin stays intact. The barrier remains unbroken. It’s kinda ironic that the thing we were told was "clean" actually causes the most infections.
Celebs and the Visibility Shift
We can't talk about this without mentioning the people who put it on the map. Remember when Julia Roberts showed up at the Notting Hill premiere in 1999? She had visible underarm hair while waving to the crowds. The media absolutely lost its mind. They acted like she’d committed a crime.
Fast forward to today. Look at Janelle Monáe, Miley Cyrus, or Lola Kirke. When Jemima Kirke showed up to the 2015 CFDA Awards with full underarm growth, it wasn't just a "fashion choice." It was a signal. It told younger women that their worth isn't tied to how much time they spend dragging a blade across their skin.
Instagram and TikTok have done the heavy lifting here. The #armpithair movement isn't just a few celebrities anymore; it’s millions of regular people sharing photos of their natural bodies. This visibility matters. When you see something often enough, the "shock value" evaporates. It becomes just another way to exist in a body.
The Physical Reality: It’s Not Just About Looks
If you've never let it grow, you might expect it to feel... itchy? Heavy?
Actually, the itchy phase is the grow-out. Once the hair gets past that prickly stubble stage—usually around the two-week mark—it becomes incredibly soft. Women with long armpit hair often report that their skin feels significantly less irritated. No more stinging when you apply deodorant. No more red bumps that ruin your day.
There is also the sensory aspect. Some people find that natural hair helps regulate their body temperature better. Others just like the way it looks. It can be a canvas for self-expression, too. Remember the "Unicorn Pits" trend from a few years back where people were dyeing their underarm hair bright blue or pink? It was fun. It took something that was supposed to be shameful and turned it into a neon sign of confidence.
The Maintenance Myth
People think "not shaving" means "no grooming." That’s not quite right.
If you decide to keep it long, you might find you need to change your shower routine slightly. Hair holds onto scent more than bare skin does. That’s its job—to trap pheromones. If you're using a natural deodorant, you might need to rub it in a bit more thoroughly to make sure it reaches the skin through the hair. Some women even use a little bit of hair conditioner or beard oil to keep the hair soft. It’s a different kind of care, but it’s usually way less time-consuming than the daily ritual of shaving in a cramped shower.
Navigating the Social Friction
Let’s be honest: not everyone is on board.
You’ll still get stares at the pool. You might have a relative make a "helpful" comment at Thanksgiving. The social pressure to conform is still incredibly strong. This is especially true for women of color or those with darker, coarser hair, who often face harsher scrutiny than white women for the same natural features. The "double standard" is alive and well.
But there’s a power in the friction. Choosing to keep your hair is a daily exercise in boundary setting. It forces you to get comfortable with other people’s discomfort. Many women find that once they get over the initial "What will people think?" hurdle, they feel a massive surge in overall body confidence. If you can handle a stranger’s side-eye at the gym because of a bit of hair, you can handle a lot of other things too.
What Most People Get Wrong About Hygiene
The biggest argument against women with long armpit hair is usually "it's dirty."
Science says otherwise. Research published in journals like Archives of Dermatological Research has looked at how hair interacts with the skin's microbiome. While hair does provide more surface area for bacteria, that doesn't mean it's "dirty." It just means you wash it. We have hair on our heads, and nobody calls that unhygienic. We have eyebrows. We have eyelashes.
The smell we associate with "body odor" isn't actually the sweat itself. It’s the bacteria on your skin breaking down the proteins in that sweat. Whether you have hair or not, if you wash your underarms, you’re clean. Period.
Actionable Steps for the "Curious But Cautious"
If you’re thinking about ditching the razor but feel a bit nervous, you don't have to go all-in on day one. It's not an all-or-nothing contract.
- Try the "Winter Test." Most people find it easier to start growing it out when they're wearing layers anyway. It gives you a chance to get past the itchy stubble phase without feeling exposed.
- Invest in a trimmer. You don't have to choose between "baby smooth" and "five inches long." Many women use a beard trimmer to keep the hair at a consistent, short length that feels manageable but doesn't irritate the skin.
- Exfoliate regularly. Even if you aren't shaving, the skin under there can get a buildup of dead cells and deodorant. Use a gentle scrub or a washcloth once a week.
- Check your deodorant. If you’re keeping the hair, spray deodorants or thin gels often work better than thick, waxy sticks which can get clumped up in the hair.
- Practice your "so what?" face. Decide now how you’ll respond if someone mentions it. A simple "I just prefer it this way" is usually enough to end the conversation.
The reality is that your body is not a project to be constantly "refined" for the public eye. Whether you choose to be hairless or join the ranks of women with long armpit hair, the only person who has to live in that skin is you. The freedom isn't necessarily in having the hair—it's in the realization that the choice was always yours to begin with.