A woman who hasn't shaved her body hair for two years finally feels comfortable in her own skin and "loves" her hairy legs and armpits.

Rosie Hewett, 27, from Reading, started waxing and shaving when she was just 10 - as she felt insecure about her natural body hair.

At primary school, Rosie says she would win competitions against boys for having the hairiest arms.

As she got older, boys at school would point out her moustache and Rosie wouldn't dream of leaving the house without shaving her legs.

In 2021, Rosie decided to "let it grow" and started embracing her natural look by not shaving her armpit hair.

Rosie felt empowered with her underarm hair and decided to stop removing any form of body hair altogether.

Rosie is now happy embracing her natural look and says "there is nothing wrong with being hairy".

She has saved 208 hours in time by ditching the hair removal routine.

Rosie, who works in communications, from Reading, Berkshire said: "Body hair was something I was so insecure about.

"Boys loved pointing out my moustache when I was 12.

"It's such a shame - it's such a broad experience for so many women.

"I just felt really ugly compared to other girls and I read all these teenage magazine articles which sold laser hair removal products - as if being hairy was the worst and most horrifying thing you could be.

"Now I feel like I'm comfortable in my skin, I've come home to myself."

Rosie's mum didn't want her daughter to be the brunt of jokes as she was and helped her daughter wax her legs and bleach her moustache.

She said: "My mum was trying to help as she didn't want me to suffer like she did."

Rosie says being a feminist has allowed her to step back and analyse the double standards of society.

She said: "I've been a feminist for a long time and when you have feminist goggles you see everything wrong with society.

"Even if they're the tiniest things, they stack up and keep the patriarchy up.

"I've spent so much time money and been in pain for the sake of being hairless when there is nothing wrong with being hairy."

Rosie started following hairy women on Instagram and finally decided to take the plunge in growing her body hair out in 2021.

She said: "I joined a local tag rugby team and a teammate had shorts on and hairy legs - it gave me the strength to commit to it.

"I started following hairy models who looked amazing with their armpits out and their bikini lines.

"There was no plan to become a feral woman - I just thought I'm going to stop shaving and see how it goes.

"It was exposure therapy - I did the thing that scared me.

"Because of my experiences in school I expected people to see it and say, 'you are disgusting, go back inside and shave'," she said.

"Of course, I didn't get that.

"I've had some comments and looks, I know people find it weird, but I haven't had many negative experiences.

"If someone confronts me about it, most of the time I say I don't want to talk about it as I don't need to explain my body to anyone."

"I'm not perfect I still gave insecurities and sometimes I struggle with my leg hair, but we all have bad days.

"I feel closer to myself, and women should be able to do what they want, if someone wants to shave that is also completely fine."