Having to go without shaving for a month is the pits. Diane McAuliffecan speak from experience.
The mother-of-three can't wait for Friday to roll around, marking the end of "Movember", and the right to shave her armpits for the first time in four weeks.
When 27 men from
the small Central Otago town of Cromwell decided to grow moustaches for the month of "Movember" to raise awareness of prostate cancer - the most common cancer among men - women were called on to make a similar sacrifice.
Fourteen were signed up to go a month without shaving armpits, but Mrs McAuliffe said it had not been entirely voluntary: "Glen put my name down and made me do it."
Glen Christiansen manages Cromwell's Golden Gate Lodge and has organised the hair-raising contest, keeping track of the growth and making sure everyone sticks to the rules.
In the event's grand finale on Friday, the 41 Cromwell entrants will be judged on the "length, thickness and consistency" of their facial or armpit hair in a bid to win a trip for two to Sydney.
"Now the month is nearly up, people are looking forward to getting a hold of the razor," Mr Christiansen said.
Mrs McAuliffe said she would be bringing along shaving cream and a razor and shedding her unwanted armpit hair as soon as the event was over.
"It hasn't been too bad. I can't wait for it to finish, though. I don't wear short-sleeve shirts anyway, but when you are going swimming, you think 'maybe I shouldn't'."
Movember organisers have warned they will not take any responsibility for excessive hair growth turning off spouses or partners, but Mrs McAuliffe said fortunately her husband had not even mentioned it.
Women might go a couple of weeks without shaving under the arms in winter anyway. "I don't think underarm hair is as itchy as facial hair. You hear some of the guys saying it is just so irritating."
More than 8000 men have pledged to grow a moustache for Movember, raising more than $100,000 so far for the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
