No More Ingrown Hairs
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No matter how we change our hair removal technique–wax, shave, or pluck–ingrown hairs always seem to make a magnificent comeback.
A Sign of the Time–Time to Deal with That Ingrown Hair
A short and dark hair, or red and irritated spots around your armpits, legs, or crotch, all suggest that an ingrown hair is forming. Ingrown hairs occur when the hair starts to grow back into the skin, causing inflammation, pain, and annoyance. Here’s how to prevent and how to deal with them when they are already there.
Prevent Ingrown Hairs from Forming
- Shave with the grain. It’s what your mother or shaving mentor told you and you ignored. Unfortunately, they were right. While shaving against the grain causes a closer cut, the shortness actually causes ingrown hairs to form. Cutting to close to the skin doesn’t allow for the hair to continue growing in the same direction, causing the hair to grow back into the skin and cause irritation, or even infection as dirt gets caught and oils are trapped under the skin.
- Exfoliate when you shower. Exfoliating, by using a loofah (not too rough), helps to remove dead skin cells which can trap oil or dirt in your pores and cause infection with the ingrown hair. Hair has an easier time growing in to smooth skin with no barriers caused by dead skin cells.
- New razor. A new blade gives a cleaner cut, has less bacteria on it, and most importantly does not tug at your hair. Tugging causes irritation and affects the direction of hair growth, while cutting keeps the growth cycle clean.
