My Body Hair Shaving Experience, Tips, Product Recommendations

I’ve never been a fan of waxing but I’m not going to bash it just because its not my cup of tea. To each, her own. However, if you want to try shaving but are apprehensive about it or you’re thinking of getting rid of that body hair because of the incoming summers, I’m sharing some tips with you. I have been using a razor to get rid of body hair since years now and this is all my experience.

My hair has never grown back thicker or darker post shave. In addition, I’ve never felt my hair get prickly. My underarms do feel itchy if I don’t scrub them post shave, but that’s it. Hair growth after shaving is relatively faster than hair growth post waxing. When I’d get my arms waxed, hair would start growing back after 2 weeks, in the case of shaving its 1 week. But this depends on one’s age, gender etc.

WHAT I USE DURING SHAVING :

St.Ives Apricot Scrub

It is important to exfoliate. I use the scrub to prep my skin before shaving and even after shaving. Using a scrub before shaving helps you get rid of toxins & dirt in your pores, get rid of dead skin cells & most importantly, it prevents ingrown hairs. Any scrub will do. Just make sure that it actually exfoliates your skin. I love the creamy St.Ives scrub. Using a scrub post shave also helps in getting rid of any possible ingrown hairs (more on that below). However, the first few times you shave, you might accidently nick yourself so I’d advise you not to scrub after shaving. Can be bought through Flipkart & Amazon.

Gillette Satin Care Sensitive Skin Shave Gel :

I don’t always use this whilst shaving. I use it only if my skin is dry, which it is a lot these days. You have to pump out some of the product (the nozzle dispenses A Lot) and spread it across your skin with your hands. It foams up while spreading. Then you can proceed to shave with your razor. You don’t necessarily need a shaving gel, a lot of people use cleansers & shower creams too. Although there are articles online that advise against it, I don’t see any harm in using them. You should opt for a creamy product, as they tend to moisturize your skin, leading to a smooth shave. My personal recommendation is The Body Shop Shea Shower Cream or Cocoa Butter Shower Cream. Nivea also makes good creamy moisturizing body washes - Crème Soft & Crème Care.

Gillette Venus razor : 

This is the razor I prefer as it’s the only one available specially for women in India. I’ve been using it for almost 2 years now & its pretty effective. You can use the cartridge till the blue band turns white & the replace it. The cartridge refills are easily available.

A very real side effect of shaving – Razor Bumps and Ingrown Hair :

Now I can’t share a pic of what these look like, but basically, they look like pimples. The head of the pimples have a black dot. The bumps can be reddish too. They get itchy in some areas. I would ask you to research a few more articles on Google that explain razor bumps and ingrown hair as these are two different things but both can occur due to shaving. I haven’t experienced razor bumps as much as I’ve experienced ingrown hair.

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There’s nothing to be scared of here. Yes they’re not the most attractive looking thing, but your body is not deformed, ok ? When I first started shaving, I didn’t know such a thing could exist. The sides of my knees have ingrown hair(since a long time) and I didn’t even realize that until last year. I just thought they were leg pimples. Yes, I’m a genius like that. Since I ignored them for so many years, they just got darker and darker, but not completely black, more like a dark grey. Again, this depends on your body. After I realized I had ingrown hair, I inspected my dad’s face. I felt that he’s been shaving for probably 30 years, there’s definitely gotta be some bumps there, and sure enough, there were! They were on his neck actually, and I’ve seen him scratching that area quite a few times as well (probably because of the bumps). So you see, there’s absolutely nothing to be scared of.  But it doesn’t serve well to ignore ingrown hair & razor bumps either.

Here’s my solution for getting rid of ingrown hair :

Exfoliate ! SCRUB your skin !

Like I said earlier, I had ingrown hair that were at least an year old and I got rid of it by scrubbing my skin. It doesn’t have to be everyday, but keep doing it frequently till it goes away. The sooner you identify & work on them, the faster they will go away. Its as simple as that.

There’s one way to minimize the chances of razor bumps appearing – scrubbing your skin before and after shaving. I find my skin much smoother after scrubbing it and consequently it is easier to shave. Scrubbing your skin post shaving simply ensures that you’re cleaning out all the hair follicles

I do not use any fancy products to get rid of ingrown hair. I use the St.Ives Apricot scrub on my body, that’s my favorite scrub & it became pretty much irreplaceable once I realized how many problems it solves. I’ve come across articles saying that using a proper shaving cream will prevent razor bumps. I really don’t think this is true. Once when I used the Gilette shaving gel, I decided to forgo my religious procedure of scrubbing before & after the shave. And I still got razor bumps on some body parts. For me the best way out is being liberal in exfoliating your body, there really isn’t a better solution.

 

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I’ve read articles saying that ingrown hair or razor bumps can lead to infections & need to be treated with so & so product. I’ve personally never experienced this so I cannot address it at all. 

So that is all for shaving tips from me, for now. Hope you found them helpful !