5 Ways For Men To Prevent Ingrown Hair

I have always suffered from ingrown hair as soon as I started shaving. If it has ever happened to you, you know how painful and frustrating it is.

So I set myself a mission to prevent ingrown hairs as much as possible and so here are 5 ways that have worked for me and can hopefully help you too.

1. Steam Your Face

Your face is always open to the elements, it is one of the only parts of your skin that is always exposed and rarely do we treat it well enough. Therefore it is difficult to protect it especially from the weather and pollution we encounter on a daily basis. Something I have learnt is by steaming my face it really helps to prepare my face for shaving.  I highly recommend using a good facial wash such as the Nip and Man Turbo Face Wash to start off, wash your face and pat dry. Steam your face with very hot water, you can use a flannel in hot water and carefully place it on your face and neck area and steam for up to a minute.  

Another way is to steam your face with a large bowl with boiling water and add a towel over your head and lower to steam your face, exactly like you might have done as a kid with a cold, by using the bowl technique you ensure to steam your whole face and neck regions. Sometimes I might even borrow Paula’s facial steamer machine when she has it out.

2. Exfoliate 

Something a lot of men do not do is exfoliate, I must admit I did not until a few years back, however after exfoliating regularly I have really seen the benefits. Exfoliating removes the dead skin cells and is a good way to help prepare skin for the next product stage as well as removing any old skin. I always wash my face first as I want to remove dirt and prepare my face, I then exfoliate, it’s always suggested to exfoliate in circular motion, ensuring you miss your eyes and concentrate on your forehead, cheeks, jaw and neck area. I cleanse again afterwards to ensure the exfoliant and dead cells are skin is off my face. I then shave, tone and moisturise.  

3. Use The Right Products

There is many ingrown hair products on the market now, I have tried a number of products and here are a couple of my favourites that I find really help.

Malin & Goetz Ingrown Hair Cream is a small concentrate that is an after shaving (or after waxing or epilating) product. You do not need to use a lot, a small amount goes a long way. Despite the size of the product it’s worth the investment and has helped to prevent ingrown hairs around the bottom of my neck.

MK Men Cooling After Shave Gel is by far the best smoothing gel I have found, it’s great for applying after shaving to cool any razor burn or sensitive areas. It works particularly well if you have plucked out problematic hairs or when your face is feeling particularly sensitive. If you have ever sprayed deep freeze on a muscle injury it has the same sensations but slightly nicer on your face. Again a little goes a long way with this MK men product.

4. Shave With Fresh Razors

Something every man does is not change your razor blades or blades enough. I can be guilty of this, I tend to use disposable Wilkinson Sword Razors and a couple of good alternatives are; Bolin Webb R1-S Razor definitely the best razor on the market which can work with Gillette blades or the new release Gillette Fusion Proshield which helps me throw away after two to three shaves and are particularly easy to shave with. Fresh razors reduce drag and razor burns and shaves the hair as far down as possible. A little tip if the cooling strip starts to look slightly worn throw it away or replace, you face is far more sensitive.

5. Shave Against The Growth Of The Hair

This will divide opinion, I was always taught to shave downwards in one way and is considered, ‘the correct way to shave’, whereas many people shave in any angle to ensure they get every last hair. I have found especially around my neck area that shaving against the way your hair grows actually helps to reduce the number of ingrown hairs I get.  Ensure you shave with a new blade as blunt ones can often drag against your face causing damage.

Let me know how you get on or if there are any products I should try?