Oh, the humble ingrown hair.  It is the bane of shaving and waxing and seems almost unavoidable!  But just what is that awful thing, anyway?

 

An ingrown hair refers to a hair that decided to grow sideways into the skin or curled back into the skin after emerging from its pore.  This usually happens when the pore is clogged or blocked either by skin oils or environmental debris.  As you are likely well aware, ingrown hair is most common in the areas that see the most shaving or waxing action.  Ingrown hair makes its appearance as itchy skin, a red bump, or a pus-filled papule (a zit, essentially).  They aren't terribly comfortable in general, but when left untreated, they can cause infections or even scarring of the skin!

 

So you have identified an ingrown hair.  Now what?  Apply a warm, damp cloth to the area to both clean and soften the skin, then get to work with your tweezers (after you sanitize them, of course).  This may not be a particularly fun or pleasant experience, but freeing an ingrown hair is very important to preventing nasty infections or prolonging your discomfort.

 

What if you don't have any ingrown hair, and you want to keep it that way?  We're glad you asked because reducing ingrown hair is actually pretty simple.  By far, the most effective method of keeping those pesky bumps away is to exfoliate well!  In or out of the shower, using a warm sponge or loofah or cloth helps slough off the layers of dead skin that tend to build up - be sure to exfoliate gently on the more sensitive areas of your body.

 

To add to the fun of exfoliating, you can try body or facial scrubs that use fine grain sugars, salts, or ground nuts, etc. to provide both exfoliation and moisturizing to your skin.