13 Different Types Of Body Hair And Why You Should Never Shave Them

There's nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to body hair. Every human being deals with body hair — and it tends to start impacting individuals as they go through puberty. It's important to pay attention to hair growth in different areas around your body based on hormone imbalances, possible PCOS diagnoses, iron deficiencies, thyroid problems, medication side effects, and more. 

If your hair growth is totally normal and unrelated to any underlying issues, it's your decision to decide whether or not you want to remove it from your body. It's also up to you to decide the methods you want to depend on when removing hair. You don't want to get rid of hair from certain places if it will cause damage in any way, and you don't want to remove hair using methods that will force you to deal with pesky annoyances like itchiness, razor burns, and rashes. Here are 13 different types of body hair to pay attention to and the concrete reasons you should never shave these areas.

The most talked about area of body hair to pay attention to is arguably the hair that grows out of your head. Since you can style your hair in many different ways, there's something intriguing and special about the hair on top of your head. You can opt for pixie, cuts, shoulder length, or layered cuts that cascade down your back. You can ask your hair stylist to dye your hair bright blonde, sultry red, or jet black. There are so many fun things you can do –– including shaving it off! 

If you've decided that you want to remove all of the hair from your head, you might want to reconsider taking a sharp razor to your scalp to get the job done. Instead of shaving your head with a typical razor, there are smarter and safer steps to follow. You'll want to start by softening and trimming your hairs down, and then finding a great set of shears. 

Avoid any shears that have dull blades since dull blades will snag on your hair strands, causing you discomfort and pain. As you use your shears, you'll want to move gently and lightly in stroking motions that create the exact level of contour you're looking for. As you proceed, you'll also want to clean your blades often. If at all possible, it's best to enlist help from someone who knows what they're doing before taking things into your own hands with shears. Depending on how short you want to go, when you remove the attachment altogether, you'll get as close a cut to your scalp as possible. If you truly want to go even further, it's recommended you see a professional who can safely get the job done with a razor.  

Eyebrow hair exists for a handful of aesthetic and biological reasons. When it comes to aesthetics, eyebrows help individuals look balanced, symmetrical, and communicative. It's easier to express certain emotions when you're able to use your eyebrows to convey what you're feeling, whether those feelings are pleasant or unhappy. When you're excited, your eyebrows might raise along with the rest of your face. When you're upset, your eyebrows might droop lower to depict sadness. When it comes to biological reasons for eyebrows, they help stop water from directly dripping into your eyeballs — including sweat, rain, and other liquids. 

Without your eyebrows, keeping moisture out of your eyes suddenly becomes a lot more difficult. The reason you should avoid shaving your eyebrow hair is that removing strips of hair that help you communicate with others (while protecting you from incoming moisture) will only cause problems. If you want to go for a trendy look by getting rid of your eyebrows in the same way Kendall Jenner and Julia Fox have done, you can bleach your eyebrows instead. That way your eyebrows are still in place, but they're more difficult to actually see.

Just like eyebrows, eyelashes exist for both essential and aesthetic purposes. Some of the most essential reasons your eyes are lined with lashes is that lashes act as a first line of defense for your eyeballs. Lashes do their best to keep dust, lint, and other airborne debris from landing on your eyes and disturbing the delicate balance of your eyes' tissue. When your eyes are closed, your lashes are strong enough to create an impenetrable barrier against any foreign objects that might be floating around nearby. As soft as your lashes might be to the touch, they're actually quite mighty. 

As far as aesthetics go, most people can acknowledge the fact that long lashes look absolutely fabulous on most people. There's a reason hundreds of brands of mascara exist and there's no wonder why faux lashes are so popular. The simple and obvious reason why you should never shave your eyelashes is that it's incredibly unsafe to place a razor so close to your eyeballs. Trying to shave your eyelashes is beyond risky, and even more dangerous than trying to shave your eyebrows! Getting rid of your eyelashes takes away the line of defense that your eyes actually need so they can remain protected wherever you go.

Although the growth of upper lip hair is far more common in men, it's something plenty of women deal with also. Hair growth on the upper lip often occurs in women who are experiencing hormonal imbalances that haven't been handled. It makes sense that you want to remove any hair from your upper lip. If it makes you feel uncomfortable, insecure, or self-conscious. It would be a huge mistake to take a razor to your upper lip, though. If the skin on your upper lip gets irritated from being shaved, it can become discolored and darkened due to the irritation. 

Changes in skin pigmentation may not be a big deal on other parts of your body that can be hidden, but you simply can't hide your upper lip in your day to day life. Since the skin on your lips is so sensitive and thin, it's also quite dangerous to use a razor in that area or you risk harming the top layer of your lips. The safest way to remove hair from this area is tweezing, threading, sugaring, or laser hair removal.

Why do human beings have underarm hair in the first place? It's something that starts up during puberty and never goes away, unless you opt for permanent laser hair removal. The reason underarm hair is beneficial is that it helps trap the odor of your pheromones. If you're in the process of trying to attract a sexual mate, it's actually a good thing for the pheromones you produce to get stuck in your underarm hair so potential suitors can catch a whiff. 

Unfortunately, some of the potential romantic partners you could be interested in might be totally turned off by the sight of underarm hair. Another benefit of underarm hair growth is that it reduces friction that can occur when too much skin-to-skin contact is taking place. Even so, wanting to get rid of your underarm hair is a totally normal desire to have. Taking a razor to your under arms isn't the smartest decision, though. 

Razors can create ingrown hairs, razor burn, underarm pimples, skin tags, and skin irritation. Instead, you might consider using hair removal creams, waxing strips, or laser hair removal to get the job done. When you safely remove your underarm hair without a razor, you might possibly feel more confident whenever you're raising your arms in moments of excitement around your friends, romantic partners, and strangers.

Nipple hair isn't something that affects everyone, but it certainly does show up on some people. The reason you might be noticing hair growing around your nipple could be related to hormonal changes, new medications, polycystic ovary syndrome, and Cushing's syndrome. If nipple hair growth is a new development in your life, it's important to speak with a doctor about it. 

If there is no underlying health conditions connected to the growth of hair around your nipples, it's completely fine for you to work on removing it. You'll never want to grab a razor and start shaving the hair around your nipples because you can cause more harm than good. Your nipples are intimate body parts and super sensitive. Razors are sharp and aggressive, which means you can easily nick the tip of your nipple if you aren't being careful — the idea of that alone sounds frighteningly painful! 

Maneuvering a razor isn't the easiest thing to do when you're trying to avoid something as delicate as your nipple. On top of that, the skin surrounding your nipple is never really taut on its own, which is pretty mandatory if you want to successfully shave an area. This means you'll have to focus on stretching the skin out with one hand while using the razor with your other hand. It's unnecessarily complicated when you can just ditch your razors and consider waxing, sugaring, hair removal cream, or laser hair removal instead.

There's nothing worse than feeling insecure or self-conscious about hair growing on your stomach. If you have the perfect bikini to wear to the beach or the cutest crop top to wear to a nightclub, you shouldn't feel like you can't wear what you want based on hair growth across your stomach. Some of the reasons you might be dealing with hair on your stomach include hormone imbalances and genetics. 

Although there have been rumors that shaving the hair on your stomach (and other parts of your body) can cause it to grow back, thicker, darker, and faster, those rumors alone aren't the reason why you should want to ditch your razor. Razors can cause inflamed hair follicles, ingrown hairs, razor burn, and itching. To make matters worse, if you shave your stomach with an old or dull razor, it can lead to infection. Instead, you can try hair removal creams, waxing, sugaring, and laser hair removal. If the hair is fine enough and short enough, you might consider bleaching it so it's less visible without having to fully remove it.

There aren't any serious health issues related to having a hairy back. But those who deal with this still might consider it an unsightly inconvenience. Having hair on your back, however sparse it may be, can sabotage the confidence you feel while wearing a bikini or backless dress. If having a smooth back is your goal, there are top-notch ways to achieve that without using a razor. 

You wouldn't want to use a razor on your back due to the fact that there's so much "real estate" to cover — and the head of a razor is so small. It would take such a long time to shave every inch of your back if you chose to go this route — and you probably couldn't reach every part on your own. Even with the help of a large mirror, reaching the center of your back between your shoulder blades might not be feasible. Since it's such a challenge to reach and see all areas of your back while shaving, your chances of cutting yourself are so much greater.

Instead, having your back professionally waxed or sugared is a smart option for hair removal. Applying hair removal cream is also an option if you have the right tools on deck to spread around the product without accidentally pulling one of your shoulder muscles. A third idea would be to have the hair on your back permanently removed with laser hair removal treatments.

There's nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to sideburn hair. Sideburn hair grows along the side of your face on the edge of your cheeks near your ears. It's typically attached to the hair growing from the top of your head, even though it can dip as low as nose or lip level. Sideburns can make your face look a lot different based on their thickness, color, and length. 

Some celebrities have started embracing the beauty of their sideburns by styling them with gel and grease to create amazing swirls and lovely shapes. The same way people can have fun with their baby hair around the edges of their hairline, they can do whatever they want with their sideburns. If none of that sounds appealing to you, you're probably more interested in ridding yourself of sideburns altogether.

Shaving your sideburns isn't a smart idea because using a razor anywhere on your face is a risk. The same way you wouldn't want to damage the skin on your upper lip where everyone can see it, you don't want to damage the skin along the sides of your face either. Hair removal cream on your sideburns is also pretty risky since you don't want the hair on your head to accidentally touch any of that. Some of the better and safer options to think about include sugaring, waxing, tweezing, threading, and, once again, laser hair removal. 

The skin covering your pubic area is some of the most sensitive and delicate skin ever. For this reason, you have to be super careful when you start considering hair removal methods. Pubic hair serves a very important purpose in our lives, whether we love having it or not. It acts as a protective buffer to reduce the amount of friction genitals get during sex and other activities that require tons of movement. 

Pubic hair is also there to try and block out any bad bacteria and pathogens from entering the most intimate spot on your body. The same way eyelashes protect our eyeballs, pubic hair is on a mission to keep our genitals safe and healthy. In that same token, a lot of people prefer to get rid of their pubic hair for aesthetic reasons. Some people even enjoy sexual activities a bit more without having a layer of hair in the way. Getting rid of pubic hair with a razor is a mistake because the skin down below is prone to darkening up and becoming hyperpigmented if it gets too irritated. 

Razors also cause itchiness and ingrown hairs. To make matters worse, shaving your pubic hair with a razor will leave you feeling prickly between your legs in less than a day or two. The good news is that you have options. Having your pubic hair waxed or sugared will keep it smooth for three or four weeks. Getting the area lasered can leave you with permanently hairless results.

Before human beings started to evolve, mankind was pretty hairy all over. The reason hair sprouted on everyone's legs back in the day was to keep us warm from cold conditions. Now, people can layer up in warm clothes and crank up the heat whenever we're feeling chilly. We don't need a thick coat of body hair all over to get that job done. Even though humans have evolved in a significant way, leg hair is still very much something everyone deals with.

The easiest body part to shave is your legs since your legs are fully open surfaces. You have easy access to every patch of growth when you reach down to shave your legs. Still, shaving your legs isn't the best route to take if you want to be as smooth as possible. Strawberry legs are incredibly common among people who shave because they occur after your hair follicles and pores get clogged with dead skin, bacteria, dirt, and oil. 

Strawberry legs look like tons of scattered red or dark spots all over your legs after shaving. They'll remind you of pitted dots that look just like blackheads or pink freckles. The worst part about dealing with strawberry legs is that even after a fresh shave, your legs still won't feel as soft or smooth as you're aiming for. Instead of putting your legs at risk for that, you can try waxing or sugaring. Hair removal cream and laser hair removal are two other options that won't cause strawberry legs to occur on your body.

Seeing hair growth on your hands and feet might feel super weird and random, but it's not always something to get alarmed about. Some of the more serious causes of hairy toes, for example, include ovarian disorder and adrenal disorder. It's also possible that a new medication you're taking is causing it, or it's simply hereditary. Getting rid of hair on your hands and feet isn't an unreasonable request if you want to be confident without wearing gloves or socks around other people. Shaving your hands and feet with a razor isn't something to try since the bones of your extremities are shaped in such hard-to-reach ways. 

It's easy to cut or nick yourself while trying to shave these body parts since they aren't wide, open, or flat. Razors don't curve with your fingers or toes, which means you're putting yourself at risk of getting hurt. Able-bodied individuals use their hands and feet for walking and grabbing things. These aren't body parts to neglect when it comes to safety. You can get rid of hair on your hands and feet by having the areas waxed, sugared, tweezed, or threaded. You can also dab some hair removal cream wherever you see fit or opt for laser hair removal.  

You might think your nose hair is annoying and pointless, but the truth of the matter is that it's there for a reason. Nose hair saves the day when it comes to protecting you from inhaling disgusting germs and bacteria. Anything that's floating in the air around you won't make it very far into your body through your nose if there's enough nose hair in place to act as a blockade.

Your nose hair is the first line of defense that protects you from ingesting germs that will be swallowed with the rest of your mucus. Getting rid of your nose hair opens the floodgates for infections to get through your nose and pass on to your brain. As scary as it sounds, the same veins that carry blood from your nose are actually connected to the veins carrying blood from your brain. If an infection makes it far enough, it can create a brain abscess or cause meningitis.

It makes no sense to try and shave your nose hair since typical razors won't fit inside your nostrils. If you even attempt to do something like that, you'll likely end up cutting yourself on accident. Plucking your nose hair or using an electric nose trimmer are the only safe ways to go about nose hair removal. Before getting rid of it, though, it's vital to be aware of all the health benefits your nose hair actually provides you.