Shaving and Hair Removal - 7 Things We All Get Wrong
Fashion trends come and go, but the idea of
hair removal for both women and men seems to stick around. The first
copper razors ever unearthed date back to 3,000 BC in Ancient Egypt and
India. Since then, the hair removal game has advanced quite a lot. We
now have several gadgets and methods at our disposal: razors, waxing,
sugaring, electric epilators, hair removal creams, derma planing, and
even laser hair removal.
But even with thousands of years of experience behind our backs, there’s
still so much we get wrong about hair removal. Here are 7 myths about
shaving and other hair removal methods that seem so common sense that
they couldn’t be wrong. Alas, they’re as wrong as 2 + 2 = 5. Read on to
know what they are.
Myth 1: Shaving makes your hair grow darker and thicker
Let’s begin by debunking the biggest
shaving myth out there. Shaving will not make your hair grow back
thicker, denser, or darker. And it doesn’t matter what area in the body
you’re shaving either - the legs or the face. Your hair may appear
thicker while it’s short, but if you were to let it grow out, you’d
notice that it’s the same as it once was.
If you think about it, this makes sense. When we’re shaving, we’re
simply using a sharp razor to trim the hair. So there’s no way for a
razor to alter the hair root. As Dr. Rebecca Marcus, a dermatologist,
pointed out to Huffington Post, “Shaving cuts the hair shaft at the
surface of the skin and has no effect on the hair follicle, where the
hair is produced.”
If you’re still unconvinced, just think about bald men that shave their
heads to catch any stray hairs - wouldn’t they all have a full head of
hair after shaving daily by this flawed logic?
Myth 2: Razor bumps cannot be treated
Wrong again. But before we explain how to
make these pesky bumps go away, we’ll need to understand what causes
them. Razor bumps are small red or white dots created by either ingrown
hairs that struggle to break through the surface of the skin or germs
accumulating in the hair follicle (folliculitis).
The best way to reduce all that inflammation around the hair follicle is
by exfoliating. Dermatologists recommend using cotton pads soaked in
toner with active exfoliating ingredients like salicylic acid, glycolic
acid, or mandelic acid to improve this condition. These acidic
ingredients go into the hair follicle and clean it out, reducing the
inflammation and redness instantly and preventing skin infections.
On your body, you can also try manual exfoliation with a scrubby loofah,
a shower scrub, or a brush. We wouldn’t recommend physical exfoliation
for the face because the skin there is thinner and more delicate.
Myth 3: Shaving makes your hair grow back faster
Unless you’re using a permanent hair
removal method like a laser, getting rid of hair on the face and body
doesn’t speed up hair growth. According to the Trichological Society,
hair grows between 0.2 to 0.7 inches per month irrespective of shaving,
waxing, or any other hair removal. This rate varies slightly across the
body - hair tends to grow faster on the body than on the face and scalp.
What about waxing versus shaving - do either of these methods provide
longer-lasting results? When you wax your hair, you’re plucking out the
entire hair follicle, but with shaving, you’re only trimming the hair
back to the surface of your skin.
Hence, it takes a longer time for the brand new hair to emerge from deep
under the skin after waxing compared to shaving which only
superficially cuts the hair. Experts say that, depending on the person,
results from shaving usually last from 2-7 days, and waxing will keep
the skin smooth for 3-6 weeks.
Myth 4: Laser hair removal cannot be done in the summer
There’s actually no time limitation for
laser hair removal, you can do it all year round. The reason why some
laser hair removal technicians recommend doing it in the winter is that
lasers work best when there’s a color contrast between the skin and hair
- the paler the skin and darker the hair, the better.
Therefore, a tan can interfere with the effectiveness of the treatment,
especially in people with darker skin tones. So if you enjoy getting a
tan in the summer, you may run into some minor issues if you do laser
hair removal.
Myth 5: The same hair removal method should be used all over the body
Generally speaking, tailoring hair removal
methods to different areas of the body is found to be both gentler on
the skin and more effective. As we explained above, different parts of
the body grow hair at different rates. Hair in the bikini area and the
underarms tends to grow the fastest, followed by the legs and arms, and
then the face and head. Hence, waxing the areas that grow back the
fastest may give you more time in-between hair removal.
In addition, waxing is said to work better for sensitive areas of the
skin like the underarms and the bikini line because it is less likely to
irritate the skin. So for people with sensitive skin, waxing may be a
better choice, especially in those more delicate areas.
Myth 6: Ingrown hairs are caused by shaving
Any hair removal method can cause ingrown
hairs. And among them all, shaving is actually the least likely to
result in ingrown hairs. Other methods, such as waxing, sugaring,
tweezing, and electric epilators create ingrown hairs more easily
because they weaken the hair strands and make it more difficult for them
to break through the skin. So if you’re concerned about ingrown hairs,
shaving may be the best method for you.
No matter which hair removal method you choose, however, you can prevent
ingrown hairs by a combination of exfoliation and moisturization. Using
a loofah, scrub, or chemical exfoliator the day after shaving will help
remove dead skin cells from the surface of the skin, and daily
moisturizing will soften the skin. Together, this will make it easier
for new hairs to penetrate the skin surface instead of getting stuck
inside the skin.
Myth 7: Results from laser hair removal are permanent
Laser hair removal is considered permanent
because it works by killing the hair follicles in the skin. However,
your skin always has many inactive hair follicles that don’t grow hair
actively left. For this reason, a laser hair removal treatment usually
requires several monthly sessions - enough to catch the majority of hair
follicles in their growth stage and eradicate them.
But even after a full year of treatments, there may be some inactive
hair follicles left, so you may need to follow up on your treatments
even after your laser hair removal course is complete.