The Complete Guide to Shaving Your Legs – Because It's Harder Than It Looks

Ways to shave your legs

There’s an endless array of gadgets for shaving your legs. Since straight razors and safety blades take some getting used to and aren’t typically go-tos for shaving beyond the face, we’ll focus on the usual suspects: cartridges, electric shavers, and disposables.

Cartridge razors are the most popular choice for shaving legs, because they often provide the closest shave. They have disposable ‘heads’ — aka cartridges — with three to six blades.

Maneuverable cartridges are popular, because they’re able to glide over contours.

When choosing a cartridge razor, the more blades and the closer they are together, the better for a close shave with fewer nicks.

Electric razors can be corded or cordless, battery-operated or rechargeable. They’re no longer like the bulky and loud AF shavers your grandad used, but they’re definitely beefier than manual razors.

If speed is your goal, an electric razor wins. The hidden blades cover more ground with each pass and with little chance of cutting the skin.

Just keep in mind that no direct contact between the blades and skin means that, even with multiple passes, you’ll never get the close shave you will with a manual razor.

Disposable razors were once the option du jour, but, now, they’re best reserved for no-other-option situations — like shaving in a gas stop restroom during an impromptu trip to the beach.

They’ll do the trick, just not nearly as well as cartridge razors. They have fewer blades that are made to be chucked after a couple of uses.

All that said, if disposables are what you prefer or can best afford, using the right technique (see below) will help with a better and less ouchy shave.