Greetings from my humble abode, somewhere in the UK!

From the 1st August until the 31st August I will be growing out all of my body hair as part of Armpits4August. This great event has been organised for a bunch of women who challenge society's thoughts on beauty and have decided to throw out their razors in order to gain themselves a bit more life, and are challenging the rest of us to have a go at doing the same.

All proceeds from Armpits4August will go to Verity, a charity that supports people with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). Here's the wiki page for a bit more information about the condition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycystic_ovary_syndrome. It affects between 5-10% of women between 12-45 years, and one of its symptoms is excessive body hair. 

For this event I will stop shaving under my arms. However, as I myself have PCOS, this is not the only area where I grow body hair. As such I will also not be shaving my face, parts of my chest, and my belly. I reserve the right to shave my face if I get a job interview at some point this month, but other than that my body shall remain razor-free. 

This is a challenge for me. As a 23-year-old woman who, like most of us mere mortals, aims to be as attractive as possible in a society obsessed with looks, my excess body hair has been a source of great annoyance since it started growing. The facial hair in particular bothers me, because you can't really hide your face behind craftily-cut clothing, and because my face always feels rough I never want people to touch it. Not shaving it for a month is going to be really difficult. But I am determined to give this my best shot.

If my story has impressed you at all I encourage you to donate. Leave me a little message as well if you like, and I will reply with much flair and hip-hip-hooray-ing. Whether it's £1 or £10 it will make a difference, so dig deep and help us increase awareness of PCOS and take a stand against the strange present-day relationship society has with hair and beauty.