Ingrown Hair Do’s & Don’ts!
We’ve all experienced this bikini blemish nightmare right before going to the pool or the beach. Let’s try to imagine this; It’s hot and you're ready to make your way into some sun and refreshing water. You look BOMB in your new bikini and you're ready to start the day. Oh, But before you head out, you take one final look in the mirror, and there it is. It’s round, it’s huge, and it HURTS.
At this point, there’s not much you can do besides throw on a cute sarong and hope for the best. This is why I preach to my clients about how important it is to PREVENT, PREVENT, PREVENT before it’s too late. This way you don’t find yourself at the mercy of the infamous bikini line ingrown. Before we talk about prevention, you may be asking yourself, “how do ingrown hairs form in the first place?” First and foremost, everyone should know that ingrown hairs are completely normal anywhere on your body where there are friction and hair growth. Consulting with a dermatologist would depend on the frequency of how often they pop up.
Why we get them? Multiple reasons - hormonal (prone), time of the month (ph balance), lack of exfoliating, tight clothing, overactive sweat glands, dehydration.
How to Prevent
Mother nature and hormones are elements that are unfortunately out of our control. What we can control is how we take care of our skin from the inside out, starting with hydration.
Drink those 8 ozs 💦 There is no skincare product out there that will do for you what drinking enough water every day does.
DITCH THE RAZOR - The most effective way to treat reoccurring ingrown hairs is to use a more effective form of hair removal like ✨sugaring✨. Removing hair from the root instead of just the surface will immediately improve your ingrown problem. If you are going to shave use a clean razor. Razors harvest bacteria which is the number one cause of pustule ingrown hairs.
Avoid tight clothing while excessively sweating. I know everyone wants to show off their 🍑while working out or doing yoga, but tight clothing can trap sweat causing our pores to become filled with bacteria, thus comes the ingrown hairs. If you do wear tight clothing while exercising, be sure to rinse off immediately after.
Should you remove them? The short answer is no. - it’s always best to try to draw it out with very warm water, hot compress, and exfoliation - NEVER tweezers or pins.
If it’s a recurring squatter taking up real estate on your runway, it may need a little more attention. This would be a good time to check in with your dermatologist.
