Razor Bumps: Why They're There and How to Destroy Them
Razor bumps, as everyone knows, suck . After carefully shaving to better show off your smooth, clean face to the world, an ugly red bump — or worse, a whole bunch of them — springs up and ruins everything. But what are these unwanted intruders on your skin? What do they want? And how can you make them leave? In this guide, we’ll be looking at how to prevent razor bumps, and if it’s already too late for that, how you can get them to go away .
Why Razor Bumps Happen
We sought advice from Dr. Anthony Rossi, dermatologist and assistant professor at Cornell’s Weill Medical College, to find out just what’s happening when these annoying bumps rear their reddened heads. The bump, it turns out, is merely the site of the problem itself: An ingrown hair.
Essentially, what happens is this: When a hair grows out of your skin, it can sometimes curl back on itself and start digging its way back into the skin (hence the term, ingrown hair). Alternatively, dead skin can clog up a hair follicle, so instead of sprouting from the skin, the hair grows sideways under it. Either way, this irritates the skin and causes it to raise up in those familiar red bumps (sometimes, you may be able to see the hair that’s causing all the trouble, but not always).
It doesn’t just happen on your face and neck, either — razor bumps can occur anywhere that you shave, including on the legs, armpits and groin. So if you’re someone who likes a smooth shave, be sure to check out our manscaping tips on avoiding both bumps and the dreaded post-manscape prickle.
The good news here is that there’s usually nothing inherently dangerous about razor bumps, and they should resolve themselves on their own within a few days. If you see one spot repeatedly getting affected, however, it’s worth paying some attention to it before it gets infected.
Understanding Skin and Hair Type, and How it Works
There are so many variables that determine whether or not you’re susceptible to razor bumps. A major one is left totally to chance, genetic chance that is. Skin and hair type play a huge part in determining how your skin will react. Here’s the breakdown:
When it comes to texture, hair can be curly or straight. Thick or thin. Fine or coarse. And combinations thereof! (Your hair can be curly but thin, straight but thick, the variations go on and on forever) As we learned earlier in this blog post, razor bumps traditionally occur when a hair doesn’t breach the skin, and starts growing back on itself. Curly, thick, and coarse hair have a higher chance of having that issue in a painful way.
No matter what your hair type is, it’s possible that you’ll have sensitive skin as well. The combined knowledge of knowing what kind of hair and skin type you have will surely help you choose the right skin care products for each step of your shave.
How to Prevent Razor Bumps
They say prevention is better than cure, and it’s certainly true in this case. One of the most simple ways to drastically cut down the number of ingrown hairs you’re getting is to always make sure to shave with the grain — that is, to shave in the direction that your hair is growing (as a general, more simplified rule, you want to shave with downward strokes on your face and upward strokes on your neck).
When you shave against the grain, the hair is trimmed so short — and left with such a pointed tip — that it’s far easier for it to get embedded in the skin rather than growing outwards. Shaving in the right direction of hair growth leaves hairs flush with the skin, and less likely to start tunneling in.
As for those hairs caused by clogged skin follicles, they’re easy to prevent too. A good exfoliating prep scrub, used before shaving, will get rid of the gunk that’s blocking those hairs, allowing them to grow free without interference.
It’s All in the Prep
Exfoliation is the key to ridding yourself of dead skin cells and dirt, as well as helping any hairs that are trapped under the skin see the light of day. It also helps prevent them in the future! Exfoliating helps you get a closer shave in two ways. First, by getting rid of any debris that would stand between the razor and your skin. Second, by lifting your hairs straight up so the razor can get to the base of your whisker.
We know a thing or two about pre-shave routines because we have a solid shaving routine ourselves. We use Dollar Shave Club (duh) Prep Scrub. It does all of those lovely exfoliate-y things, and you can get it right here on our website.
Choosing the Right Shave Tools
Choosing the right razor is also a huge factor in the level of skin irritation. . This is why it’s important to know your skin and hair type! If you have thicker hair, choose something with more space between the blades. It’ll help prevent your thick hair from tugging. Tugging = irritation.
Whatever razor you choose, just be sure to keep it sharp and clean. Dull blades will tug. And, as we said, like, two sentences ago, tugging is a one way ticket to irritation. Dirty blades will irritate. And they’re yucky.
How to Get Rid of Razor Bumps
Like we said, the best tip for getting rid of shaving bumps is to prevent them from happening in the first place. But if it’s too late for that, there are a couple things you can do. If you can actually see the hair responsible for the bump, it’s possible to guide it out of the skin with a pair of tweezers, thus removing the source of the problem, but there are two major caveats here:
Firstly, always be sure to sterilize the tweezers in boiling water for 15 minutes first — otherwise you run the risk of introducing more bacteria to the hair follicle and increasing the risk of further infection. Secondly, the trick here is to guide the hair out from under the skin — not to pluck it out of the follicle entirely. Doing the latter will cause the next hair to have to grow out from under the skin again, putting you right back where you started.
Soothing Irritated Skin
If you’re dealing with some post shave irritation, a thoughtful skin moisturizer or serum will do the trick. Lucky for you, we’ve got both. Try Rescue Serum to soothe post shave redness and irritation. Post Shave Dew is our feather-light moisturizer option, and Post Shave Cream is formulated for rich and lasting hydration.
If you’re seeing the razor bump but not the hair, you can try rubbing in some aloe vera gel or lotion, which will help reduce the inflammation, making it appear less red and angry. If they’re especially itchy, you can apply a cold compress for a little relief. And naturally, we’d recommend our own Rescue Serum, which helps to reduce the appearance of shaving irritation, redness and bumps.
Most importantly, if you want the razor bump (or bumps) to go away more quickly, don’t keep shaving over that same area, as this will further irritate them and cause them to stick around for longer. And that’s something nobody wants.
