They are painful, gross, and sometimes they develop on your face and other unpleasant areas. I’m talking about ingrown hairs. We develop ingrown hairs when the small sharp tip of our hair bends back and grows sideways or down into the skin. When you have them, they show up on your face as small pink bumps, and a lot of the time, this is brought on by the fact that we as men shave often.
With that being said, we develop ingrown hairs, primarily due to improper shaving habits such as:
- Not using shaving crème when shaving.
- If you have a thick beard or mustache, it is recommended that you use pre-shave oil as this will soften the hair and be less aggressive on your skin.
- Waxing too often (for those of us who are ballsy enough to do it) can also lead to ingrown hairs. Also, your face is not the only part of your body that can develop ingrown hairs, so be careful you wouldn’t want to have itchy pink bumps in some rather highly private areas.
- Not washing your face enough. When you shave and then don’t wash your face, sebum clogs the hair follicle causing the small sharp tips of the hair to pierce the side of the skin making it grow into the skin developing an ingrown hair.
At one point or another we all develop them, rather they be on your face, or your more private areas. So here are 5 easy steps in getting rid of those irritating bumps.
- Scrub the ingrown hairs twice a day with a cleanser, preferably once in the morning and again at night. This will remove and sebum and oils that are trapping the hair in the follicle. Try to use an exfoliating glove, it will be much easier.
- Apply some acne crème on the ingrown hair after you have scrubbed it.
- After that you need to apply a warm towel on the ingrown hair pimple and compress it.
- You can then use a sterile tweezers to help pull the hair out and ensure that it is no longer stuck inside the skin.
- Then one more time cleanse the area with moisturizing soap.
Following these easy steps and rules can not only help get rid of nasty ingrown hairs, but also get you into the habit of practicing proper shaving habits.