And do not say waxing. (Well, you can say it, but I ain’t doing it.) I haven’t really worn a bathing suit on a regular basis since I was a kid, but now I’m doing the swimming thing and this is a huge pain in the ass! I mean, I’ve always been tidy, but don’t usually bother with shaving, you know what I mean? So now I’m getting all these ingrown hairs.
I’ve never been very happy with Nair and the like, although perhaps if you use it regularly it works better? Shaving solely with the grain doesn’t get it all. I do exfoliate regularly. What’s the best way to handle this without taking much time and avoiding the ingrown hairs and bumps and all? Because that looks worse than the hair!
Oi. When you find out, let me know. (And I even do the waxing part. Still have ingrowns.)
I have used Tend Skin, to some effect. The Cosmetics Cop lady, Paula Begoun, says that products with acetylsalicylic acid are really the only effective “chemical” exfoliators (as opposed to manual ones, like loofahs and scrubby mitts), but I don’t know whether Tend Skin has the specific percentage she recommends. However, don’t use it directly after shaving if you’re prone to razor burn, or directly after waxing - because it contains alcohol, it burns like fire.
I’ve also used something called Pore Restore, which doesn’t contain the drying alcohol (it uses witch hazel instead). I’ve used it directly after waxing with much less sting. It’s a gel, and it’s nice, but it doesn’t have any of the acetylsalicylic acid.
Otherwise, I’m big on the scrubby mitts, and scrub myself down well about every other shower to exfoliate. I’ve also heard that moisturizing well after exfoliating is supposed to help, but I don’t know that I do that much. I do lube up with lotion about every other day, so I do moisturize, but I don’t know that I pay that much attention to the bikini line. What gets there, gets there.
Oh, is that not an option either? (I’m in the middle of having this done, personally).
Ok, for shaving, there are a few things. 1: EXFOLIATE a ton before you shave. 2: Shave with the growth of the hair, not against it, except for the very last stroke (this minimizes irritation). 3: Use something like this after the fact. Think of it kind of like after shave for a guy. It’ll burn like the dickens, but it really does help. 4: Exfoliate every. single. day.
That’s pretty much it. If you’re hell bent on cutting off your curly hair so that it has a sharpened edge just below the skin, it’s bound to poke back into the skin at some point. That’s an ingrown hair. So your options are to keep your skin as smooth as possible to minimize the “catching” of the sharp bit on dead skin cells (that’s exfoliation, mechanical or chemical), or to use a hair removal process that doesn’t leave a sharp bit to catch (like cream, waxing, sugaring or electrolysis). It’s just physics.
Everything I’ve ever tried has left me with ingrown hairs and gross irritated skin, so I gave up entirely and now on the rare occasions that I go swimming, I wear shorts over my bathing suit. Problem [del]solved[/del] averted!
And as we said in another recent thread, the #1 problem with epilators is that they lead to lots and lots of ingrown hairs because the tweezers break hairs.
If you’re suggesting this because you use an epilator too, what are you successfully exfoliating with? Nothing I’ve tried (salt scrubs, apricot scrubs, using a scratchy bath glove, loofah sponge) seems to prevent ingrown leg hairs, so I’m eager to learn what other people are having better luck with.
I used to get waxed regularly before I had kids. Now that the kids are around, it’s to hard to schedule a wax, so I use a personal groomer (not a person, a little version of an electric razor, with attachments). It looks a lot like this, only I got a souped-up kind with all the attachments at Ulta.
I only use this on my bikini area, and I haven’t had an ingrown hair since I started using it. Though I have had a few mishaps. In other words, if you have an appointment with your OB and haven’t used some of the attachments before, it’s not a good idea to try out a new one (especially the one that trims hair the shortest) the night before. And do not test it out right in the middle of the area, particularly if you’re not used to going almost hairless and are could be forced to, um, even things out. I’m sure he didn’t care, but I did. Just sayin’.
Anyway, they’re pretty effective (for me, anyway), and at least I’m not worried about cutting anything sensitive.
As far as I’m concerned, there’s really no way to avoid ingrown hairs if you shave. Waxing isn’t nearly as bad as it’s made out to be. I eventually went with laser, and couldn’t be happier with it.
I’ve been fine with an epilator everywhere - except that yes, I will almost invariably get an ingrown or two or more in the bikini area. It’s even produced beautiful results in the armpits, with smooth skin, no ugly blue-black dots under the skin where shaved-off hair is hiding, but the hair in the bikini region is just rooted way too deeply to give me ideal results with epilating there. I use the Paula’s Choice version of Tend Skin and I think that helps as well.
Using a men’s 5-bladed razor, shaving against the grain with a cream, and using very short light strokes, then exfoliating and moisturizing the area religiously until the next shave, works for me. I have high-maintenance skin but if I do it all right, it looks good and never gets bumpy.
So, the laser… it really works? I’ve been hesitant to consider it because it seems like there’s all these storefront shady places that do it, and I don’t want to go there, but I don’t know where to go.
Yeah, it really works. It usually takes between 4 - 6 treatments. I finished my third about two weeks ago, and I figure I’ve got about 90% less hair than when I started. It takes about 20 minutes per session and is mildly uncomfortable - think of getting snapped with a small elastic band. Emla cream helps a lot, though.
I get mine done at a doctor’s office which specializes in vein treatment (sclerotherapy and laser) and laser hair removal. Like you, I wasn’t crazy about the idea of a minimum wage storefront employee aiming a laser at my genitals. I prepaid for my treatments because they had a special on - $99.00 per session. When you consider the cost of waxing or shaving and the hassle factor, I really don’t think it’s that expensive. I only wish I had had the option of doing it when I was younger.
Actually I suggested an epilator because I presumed they just pluck the hair out and it’s all kind of nice and neat? I was going to buy one soon but if they cause ingrown hairs then now…I don’t know, I’m disappointed! I thought they’d be the answer to my hair removal needs.
Anyway, never had an ingrown hair ever with exfoliating though. I use a moisturising cocoa and shea body butter which has ground rice and almonds in it for the exfoliation, I rub it all over after shaving.
(I’m in the middle of having this done, personally).