How to Prevent Razor Bumps:Maintaining Smooth Skin
Razor bumps happen to almost everyone. They can pop up on a man’s face or a woman’s legs following a shave. If someone has razor bumps on their legs, it’s uncomfortable but not necessarily a cause for concern. A pair of pants will cover them. You don’t have the same luxury with razor bumps on your face. They’re a lot harder to disguise.
If you’re prone to developing razor bumps on your face, you need to figure out why they happen. Most of the time, common sense can point you in the right direction. Once you know, it’s easy to prevent razor bumps from recurring.
What Causes Razor Bumps?
Razor bumps occur when a hair decides to grow into your face, rather than out of your face. Depending on your hair type, you might occasionally get razor bumps no matter what you do. It could be the luck of the draw. If you’re highly prone to razor bumps, there are several things you can do to reduce the risk they’ll pop up.
Curly Hair
Men with curly hair are much more likely to develop razor bumps. The curl of the hair beneath the skin may inhibit it from growing out of the surface. Shaving it off at a specific point in its growth cycle can cause the spiral to continue inward instead of outward.
Dry Skin
Dry skin isn’t just skin that hasn’t been moisturized. It’s a layer of dead skin preventing moisture from reaching the healthy skin beneath it.
This same layer of dead skin gets in the way when you’re shaving. It might clog your razor, leading to duller cuts. It can also prevent your razor from cleanly cutting a hair flush with the surface of your skin.
Razor Irritation
Irritation can contribute to razor bumps because it negatively impacts the health of your skin. Razor irritation can cause swelling or redness at the surface of the skin. If your skin is swollen and irritated, it will be harder for the hairs to poke through evenly.
Using the Wrong Shaving Cream
Your razor needs to glide over the surface of your skin, rather than dragging. Dragging your razor can lead to uneven cuts from pushing and pulling the hair, rather than cutting it. If your shaving cream, foam, or gel isn’t providing enough glide,
Changing Your Shaving Routine
You may feel tempted to pop or pick at your razor bumps, but this will only make things worse. They aren’t pimples, and unless they’re infected, nothing will come out if you attempt to pop them. Switching up your methods is a better strategy.
Changing your shaving routine from top to bottom can help to prevent razor bumps. There may be some trial and error involved, but as long as you’re meeting all the marks, you’ll find a rhythm that works for you.
Your Pre-Shave Ritual
You should be exfoliating your skin before you shave. Getting rid of that obstructive dead layer of skin will make it easier for your razor to cut your hair as close to your skin as possible.
Use an acid exfoliator, like salicylic acid, AHA, or BHA on a gentle scrubbing pad. Although the stuff with the crushed up apricot pits in it definitely works, it also damages your skin in the process. The goal is to rub as few sharp things on your face as possible.
Exfoliate just before the shower, wash your face in the shower to help slough the dead skin off, and shave right when you get out. Your skin will be warm, clean, and fresh. You’ll get the smoothest shave you’ve ever gotten if you post-shower shave with the right products.
Choosing the Right Razor
You’re slicing yourself to pieces with those multi-bladed razor cartridges. They allow you to shave quickly, but they’re far less efficient. You have so many razor blades grazing across your skin, causing irritation as they cut and re-cut every hair on your face.
Single bladed razors, like straight razors or safety razors, encourage you to take your time and improve your shaving technique. Tilting your razor at the proper angle will allow you to cleanly cut every hair with one or two passes of a single blade, rather than three or four passes of a cartridge with five blades.
Shaving with the grain is less likely to cause irritation, but shaving against the grain will give you a closer shave.
Change the direction you currently go in if you’re frequently getting razor bumps. Be mindful about irritating your skin when going against the grain. Remember: light pressure, a steady hand, and as few passes as possible.
Choosing the Right Shaving Cream
Shaving “creams”, gels, or foams often contain ingredients that irritate the skin, like sodium lauryl sulfate, artificial colors, and artificial fragrances. The goal should always be to irritate your skin as little as possible throughout the shaving process. Avoiding formulas that contain irritants is a simple and logical step you should take.
LTHR’s shaving cream is formulated with skin healthy ingredients like coconut oil, glycerin, and aloe vera. These ingredients moisturize, protect, and soothe your skin simultaneously. We don’t use any chemicals, sulfates, or fragrances in our shaving cream because you shouldn’t be putting them on your face.
Warm Up That Lather
Hot lather makes for a better shave. That’s why barbers warm it up before they give you the shave of a lifetime. Hot lather helps to plump up and soften the coarse hairs on your face, making it easier to achieve a close shave.
Our compact hot lather machine fits perfectly on your bathroom counter. It’s cordless, portable, TSA friendly, and easy to use. It quickly heats up to the perfect temperature to keep your face warm throughout the duration of your shave.
You’ll end up smooth, relaxed, and refreshed. It makes shaving feel like a zen pampering experience, rather than a chore you need to rush through in order to fly out the door. Trust us. You’ll want to take your time.
The Takeaway
There’s technically nothing you can do to permanently eliminate the potential for razor bumps, especially if you have curly hair. Your hair is going to grow the way that it grows.
Using the right products and taking proper care of your face can significantly reduce the potential for razor bumps. The better your shave is, the less likely you are to encounter unpleasant side effects.
LTHR makes it easier to get a barbershop style shave from the comfort of your own bathroom. You probably don’t come home from the barber with razor bumps. Now you won’t leave your bathroom with razor bumps.
Sources:
Pseudofolliculitis Barbae | American Osteopathic College of Dermatology
How to safely exfoliate at home | American Academy of Dermatology