The New York Times wants to talk about women shaving their faces
Flickr/Libby RosofWhen we wrote earlier this year that it is time to shave (the beard trend is definitively over), we weren't talking to women. But it's apparently quite popular!
Here is the New York Times Style section with a trend story on women's facial hair:
Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor shaved their faces, according to Ms. Somerville, who said that an aesthetician who worked with them told her. She declined to reveal which of her celebrity clients shave their faces, but said that she recommends it widely and that many comply.
Michelle Money, who appeared on "The Bachelor," made a YouTube video about shaving her face. "I don't care who you are, ladies, you have hair on your face," she says in the video, which has had more than 251,000 views. "Men don't like it. Get rid of it."
Women obviously should base most of their style decisions on the preferences of (theoretical) men. Nope, that's a joke.
But! Say I want to do this. Do I just get a razor and go to town?
No! The Times has a very expensive Manhattan-based expert to recommend:
Dr. Stafford R. Broumand, a plastic surgeon whose Manhattan practice includes spa services, said that facials including dermaplaning, which cost $185, increased threefold in 2014 over the previous year. He said that the procedure is advocated for its efficacy in exfoliation (scraping away dead skin cells, pollution and small imperfections) rather than for hair removal.
Shaving at home with a razor, "as with most things done at home, is not as effective as going to the expert's office," Dr. Broumand said.
Still, many women are delighted with at-home results. Jen Ruhman, who lives in San Diego, began shaving in the 12th grade. After applying extra-virgin olive oil to her skin, she shaves with a traditional men's safety razor. When strangers compliment her complexion, they are not expecting her response.
I don't know. I just don't know. As a young woman, I certainly partake in quite a few voluntary and relatively expensive beauty treatments. I get expensive haircuts, I shave my legs, I paint my nails, I wear makeup most days. But this just seems like so much work for basically no visible reward. I have never, ever noticed another woman's facial hair, unless she pointed it out herself.
At the same time, I think whatever a woman can do to increase her self-confidence a bit is probably a good thing. So for the women who are really happy with their shaving techniques, that's cool, I guess. You do you.
Meanwhile, my style icon is still Frida.
Do you have thoughts on this trend? Let me know! sferro@businessinsider.com.