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For some unlucky folks, shaving is a catch-22: if they do it, razor bumps and ingrown hairs make their skin feel like hell. If they don’t, they look like a stray dog. We hate razor bumps as much as we love an adopted mutt, so we’ve put together this guide to both preventing and dealing with shaving bumps.
There are a few reasons why your skin’s plagued by those aggravating little lumps. It might be the way you’re shaving (we’ll get to that in a moment), or that you’re using the wrong gear (ditto). It might just be your genetics—curly or coarse facial hair is the most susceptible to razor bumps. Black men, you may have it the roughest.
Whatever the cause, the diagnosis is the same. Razor bumps are a type of folliculitis—or as your dermatologist might write in your file, pseudofolliculitis barbae. Using less Latin: they’re hair follicles that curl in on themselves after a shave. In a worst-case scenario, the trapped hairs turn into painful, potentially infected ingrown hair. You can suffer from shave bumps anywhere on your body—they’re just most prevalent on the face and neck because that’s where men shave the most, and the hairs are thickest.
But with any luck, you won’t have to worry about razor bumps for much longer. We’re going to give you some advice to alter your shave regimen, improve your razor hygiene, and maybe even level up your shaving products (from razors to shave creams to aftershaves). And if you do catch a few stray bumps—or you’re dealing with them right this second—we’ve got methods to smooth and soothe those angry pores. Let’s go.
How to Prevent Shave Bumps
The most fail-safe way to avoid ingrown hairs is to not shave at all: grow out a beard or maintain some perma-stubble with a beard trimmer. But if you're here, you're either not interested in letting your beard grow, or you're not allowed to. (If you're wondering, hell yeah we think workplace bans on facial hair are discriminatory.) So here's how to keep razor bumps at bay.
If you’re dedicated to using a razor, you can skip ahead to step 1b. But if you’re willing to pivot from blades to a beard trimmer and an electric shaver, you’ll find your razor bumps and razor burn diminish drastically—if not altogether. That’s because even the best electric razors won’t cut so close that hairs get trapped inside their pores. Yes, your skin won’t be as smooth, and you’ll probably have to touch it up daily if you’re dedicated to staying truly stubble-free. But did we mention that the trimmer-and-electric-razor combo should help you avoid bumps and ingrown hairs entirely?
To prevent razor bumps, dermatologists tend to recommend an old-school-style safety razor—yep, the kind that looks like it’s from Deadwood’s prop closet—that uses the double-sided razors. (Fewer blades means less irritation.) Equally important, you’ve absolutely gotta swap the blade every 2-3 weeks or after 6-8 shaves—whichever comes first. If it seems silly to toss out a blade you’ve only used once, then store it away, fully dry, after a hot-water rinse, and in a place that won’t get dust or moisture. Rinse it again under piping hot water before shaving with it again. But really, just save yourself the bumps and swap blades religiously.
By giving your hair a haircut first, you limit the amount of clippings that collect in the blades and get dragged across your skin. Shorter hairs are also less wily with the razor, too—meaning you’ll spend fewer strokes getting back to a baby-smooth face. A fast (but gentle) pass with a great beard trimmer helps here.
A physical exfoliant will scrub away any dead skin cells to ensure a smooth shave, and get hairs standing up, too. You can use a straight-up scrub or an exfoliating cleanser. Be careful if you’ve got dry skin, irritated skin, or sensitive skin—you might want to skip this step if it causes your mug any anguish.
Once your facial hair is trimmed down and your skin gently scrubbed, hit it with a warm water splash followed by a pre-shave oil or shaving cream (or shaving gel, like Gillette’s clear version) to soften everything up. The oil in particular will make your beard hair easier to cut with the razor, and your skin a little more slippery when things get going. Please, dear god, no dry shaving.
We know, we know: shaving against the grain gets a closer shave, and just feels right. But to prevent razor bumps, you must choose the path of least resistance. Shaving in the same direction that your hairs grow will often make the biggest difference for bump-prone skin, significantly reducing the number of hairs that get trapped. When coarse or curly hairs get cut with the grain, they’re much less likely to curl back into a pore.
Hydrate and disinfect the skin immediately after shaving, splash on cold water to tighten the skin and close up the pores. Then apply a calming aftershave product to soothe razor burn with some much needed moisture.
How to Treat Razor Bumps
Maybe you didn’t get to try out our advice above in time. Maybe it all just went wrong. Whatever the situation, we feel for you. Razor bumps suck. Here’s how to make your face feel better.
A scrubbing exfoliant you can feel makes sense before a shave, but if your skin’s screaming out after, you want to avoid any kind of physical abrasion. Instead, try a gentle chemical exfoliant. The word “chemical” may sound intense, but these products gently dissolve dead skin, neutralize bacteria, and deflate bumps—all of which encourages the trapped hairs to exit the pores they’re trapped in. (Bonus: chemical exfoliants double as skin care, usually leading to clearer, more radiant skin.) We like glycolic acid to help coach those hairs out of their chamber and salicylic acid for soaking up any trapped sebum inside the pore. And obviously, stop using any kind of exfoliant if it causes skin irritation or otherwise riles up your sensitive skin.
A corollary to the (hard to follow) rule that you should never pop a pimple: you need to let your razor bumps heal on their own. It’s hard! If you have a lot of bumps, most should heal in a day or two. You’re going to be tempted by the gnarly ones that need more time—the shave bumps that refuse to disappear on their own. Here’s how to proceed:
Regardless of where these razor bumps are, you need to stop shaving the area for a while—at least until everything heals. Shaving will only make things worse. If you absolutely need to keep a fresh face, then sure, you could try shaving around a single bump or two with extreme caution, but it’d be smarter to stick with an electric shaver. It won’t break your skin’s surface, preventing further aggravation when your skin’s at its most sensitive.
Each morning (and night, if you can), apply a warm press to the affected area in order to soothe and soften the skin. (You can heat a moist, clean washcloth in the microwave for a few seconds, though obviously be careful.) With any luck, the stuck hair will release itself. Plus, relaxing on the couch for five minutes with a soothing, warm press on your face is just a nice way to start—or end—the day.
You want your skin to stay soothed and healthy so its stronger the next time you come at it with the blade. When you’re at your bumpiest, you might want a lotion or serum that’s a bit lighter, and less likely to re-clog (or keep clogged) unhappy pores and follicles. Scope out some of our favorite face moisturizers if you’re on the hunt.
When to See Your Dermatologist
There's only so much you can do to treat razor bumps and ingrown hairs at home. If things are bad—the bumps won't heal, you're in lots of pain, you have one persistent ingrown hair that's absolutely trapped—don't go trying any frontier medicine. No squeezing. Put away the tweezers. You'll only do more damage, potentially leaving dark spots or scar tissue. Instead, let a dermatologist use their professional-grade magic, from prescription-grade remedies to surgeon-steady extractions.
