![American actor Tracie Thoms poses with visible armpit hair at the Sundance Film Festival in 2006. This image is not directly related to the article. [Getty Images]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/08/24/news-p.v1.20260824.0569f250fd414263b734db016f2def25_P1.jpg)
Dyeing armpit hair and showing it off is becoming a trend among some young women in China.
The South China Morning Post reported Saturday (local time) that armpit hair — once considered something to hide — is being reframed as an expression of bodily autonomy and a fashion statement, as the trend of dyeing it spreads across Chinese social media.
According to the report, posts showing armpit hair dyed in bright colors have been appearing steadily on Xiaohongshu, a popular Chinese lifestyle platform.
Some users proudly display blue-dyed armpit hair, while others walk followers through the bleaching and dyeing process in detail. Posts also flag cautions such as skin irritation and color fading.
A Chinese woman named Xiaokui (a pseudonym) said she developed a negative view of body hair after a friend pointed out her armpit hair in elementary school. She came to see it as "unsightly, dirty and smelly" and spent years removing it — until she came across an influencer who had dyed her armpit hair pink, reminiscent of a dragon fruit, and her thinking shifted.
Xiaokui then dyed her own armpit hair blonde and posted photos on social media. The positive response from those around her, she said, gave her confidence a significant boost.
The trend is often traced back to pop star Lady Gaga, who revealed green-dyed armpit hair at an awards ceremony in 2011. Posts from others who followed her lead and colored their own armpit hair in eye-catching shades spread widely on social media afterward.
The culture of shaving armpit hair out of shame is considered a relatively recent development.
In director Ang Lee's film "Lust, Caution," set in 1930s Shanghai, actor Tang Wei drew fresh attention from audiences by naturally displaying armpit hair while wearing a qipao and projecting an air of elegance. To recreate the beauty standards of women of that era, Tang reportedly grew out her armpit hair for about eight months before filming.
Some observers argue that the stigma around armpit hair in China originated with Western cultural influence.
As Western films, television programs and fashion magazines gained popularity in China during the 1980s and 1990s, an aesthetic standard emerged linking female beauty with smooth, hair-free skin. Advertising for razors and hair-removal products further reinforced that perception, analysts say.
Recently, however, that mindset has been receding. As the body-positive movement gains momentum worldwide, there is growing acceptance of natural physical traits — body hair, body shape, skin condition and all.
"Dyeing armpit hair isn't a matter of shame — it's a matter of choice," one local internet user wrote. "Some people remove it, some leave it, some dye it. Ultimately, what a woman's armpit looks like is for that woman to decide."
jshan@heraldcorp.com
