Ingrown hairs and razor burns are two very common concerns of the Indian men in their routine shaving. The key to a perfect shave actually occurs before the razor blade even touches your face, despite the fact that most people blame their shaving cream or razor blade.
The ultimate component that completely modifies your shaving experience is adding a premium face scrub to your pre-shave regimen. Exfoliation produces the smoothest possible surface for your razor by removing dead skin cells and releasing trapped hairs.
How Ingrown Hairs and Razor Burns Happen?
Ingrown Hairs
These are curled up and crooked hairs which get trapped in the skin surface and become painful bumps with time due to their inability to come out of the skin.
Razor Burns
The irritated skin after a shave with common signs of redness and burning sensation is known as ‘razor burns’.
Why Do We Need To Prevent Ingrown Hair And Razor Burns?
Using a razor blade becomes difficult to glide smoothly over rough uneven surfaces. It increases the occurrence of abrasion, cuts or microtears on the skin while shaving. When your skin is already irritated or healing from razor burn, you instinctively shave by putting less pressure or skip those areas entirely to avoid worsening of the skin health.
Even if you shave the top surface perfectly, you will still feel a prickle underneath because the hair shaft is bent horizontally under the skin layer. Over a period of time, your skin texture becomes permanently coarse and bumpy, making every subsequent shave even more difficult.
Let’s Decode How A Face Scrub Works
Microscopic dead skin cells constantly pile up on the surface of your face. This creates a physical barrier directly over your pores and hair follicles. Clogging of the follicles due to over production of sebum from the oil glands, grime, dead skin cells, stale makeup and other impurities accumulated for days within the skin forces the growing hair to get crooked. Friction from scrub particles mechanically detaches and sweeps away this debris layer.
It unclogs the pilosebaceous region such that growing hairs have a clear, unobstructed path straight out of the skin. The rolling motion of the scrub granules gently nudges, lifts, and coaxes these trapped hair tips out from under the skin. The hair shaft gets straighter, making it easily accessible to your razor blade rather than leaving it buried to form a painful bump.
What Needs To Be Avoided While Exfoliating Your Skin Before Shaving?
Harsh Exfoliating Particles
Large jaggy particles in a face scrub may be present which can cause microtears on the skin with their scratchy effect and may also worsen the razor burns with the glide of the shaving blade.
Aggressive Exfoliation
Scrubbing the skin vigorously for a longer period of time may lead to inflammation of the skin even before actually shaving. It can cause redness, irritation, or even aggravation of acne which may be present on the skin. Shaving your skin directly after exfoliation would only worsen it.
Exfoliation over Dry Skin
Dry skin needs to be wet with clean water before exfoliation as it would prevent stripping off of the natural protective barrier of the skin and reduce the tendency of microtears to develop due to friction.
How To Choose A Face Scrub For Your Skin?
Look out for non-comedogenic gentle exfoliating agents which provide deep cleansing action, taking away all the impurities from the skin and giving you a clear smooth surface for a seamless shaving experience. It should also unclog the pores and improve the skin cell turnover and it’d be best if it also provides anti-microbial action against acne causing bacteria and also aids in the management of acne.
Some skin-soothing ingredients should also be present in a face scrub to help improve the skin feel post exfoliation. People who suffer from oily skin and clogged pores due to excess sebum on skin should try to look for oil control formulas in a face scrub. The best face scrub for oily skin should have ingredients that ideally offer removal of excess sebum and comedones from the skin such as neem.
Scrubbing Secrets To Exfoliate Your Skin To Get The Best Results
Here are some secret insights that tells you how including a face scrub resolves razor burns and hair ingrowns:
Proper timing of your exfoliation ensures that your skin is ready for the blade. Pre-shaving is advised because it makes the razor’s path clear, stops the blade from dragging, and lowers the threat of ingrown hairs.
Slipping your skin after paring innately damages the epidermis. It also causes instant burning and raw spots, much like applying swab to a crack. Exfoliation should never be done on a daily basis. Schedule your scrub days according to your skin type since shaving is a type of exfoliation in and of itself.
Three times a week on shaving days if you have thick or oily skin. Two times a week on shaving days if you have normal or combination skin. Sensitive or Dry Skin, once a week, preferably the evening before you intend to shave, to allow your skin barrier to heal.
The right method to use a face scrub is to wet your face with lukewarm water, then take a small amount of face scrub on your fingertips. Gently massage in circular motions for 1-2 minutes onto your skin. Use a clean soft towel to pat dry your skin.
Conclusion
To achieve a clean smooth shave, adding a face scrub for men in their skin care routine for pre-shave is the ultimate solution. Removal of ingrown hair and management of the razor burns would effectively give a seamless shaving experience.
You can also use dermatologically tested hair removal cream. Following these secret tips can also improve your skin health by helping you get rid of tiny bumpy structures on the skin like acne and get you a clear surface for smoother glide of the blade.
