Shaving can be a struggle, and so many things are there that you must consider ensuring that you don’t get incisions or razor bumps. And you might be wondering if you should utilize a body scrub after or before shaving.
Exfoliating is a crucial step for skincare that you don’t need to skip when it comes to shaving. However, how you exfoliate can be game-changing if you wish to avoid things like ingrown hairs or razor bumps.
Should You Utilize a Body Scrub After or Before Shaving?
The brief answer is that you should use a body scrub doing both! It would help to exfoliate before shaving and again after a few days to keep that area free of dead cells.
Exfoliating is not a process you can follow daily as you don’t wish to over-exfoliate the skin and leave that feeling raw. The dead skin cells also need a fair amount of time for regeneration!
The most acceptable practice for exfoliating is around once or twice every week. After that, you can follow it with shaving if needed—body scrub after shaving needs to be more of a rare maintenance type.
If you shave once every few days, you can exfoliate and find it suitable before you shave. However, if you want to shave once a week, you’ll need to fit that in an additional exfoliation session before the next shave.
How Long Do You Need to Wait for Shaving After Exfoliating?
The timing to exfoliate and the timing you shave need to be in sequence. Therefore, in other words, you need to exfoliate and then shave immediately.
If you are using a body scrub as a shaving lubricant, don’t bother rinsing that off! You don’t have to utilize a body scrub as you’ll rinse off the costly oil.
You can also use a body scrub after shaving; however, defeating the objective as the razor won’t discard all, which turns up the dead skin and leave the newer skin behind.
Don’t think that exfoliating is done to prevent all ingrown hair. It is also the same if you shave any sensitive area hair that is thick! Consider laser hair removal for permanent solution for ingrown hairs as it targets the hair bulb preventing hair regrowth.
Exfoliation is primarily done to remove dead skin cells to keep your hair follicles open. It goes the same way particularly for a pubic area too. Exfoliating an area which already has ingrown hair is of no use. Better to avoid that as it may cause irritation and pigmentation.
Non greasy and oil free moisturisers can get rid of dead skin cells which often clogs the follicles and contribute to ingrown hairs. After every exfoliation never forget to moisturise the skin.
The Exfoliating Power
Exfoliating power is the second key component of utilizing a body scrub while shaving. It is among the most undervalued parts of good shaving habits!
Sugar is among the best natural exfoliators because you don’t need all the dead skin cells that covers up the newly shaved hair follicles.
The minuscule sugar granules help discard all little pieces of dead skin and leaves behind new and glowing skin. Sugar is gentle enough to utilize on sensitive areas, including bikini lines.
It may even help in opening up in growing hair! You’ll get better-looking and healthier skin. All the dead skin cells couldn’t get into the hair follicles and source horrible ingrown hairs.
Sugar isn’t harsh on your skin and is excellent for throwing away dead skin you didn’t know you had. This is the most delicate exfoliator for legs used before & after shaving.
Over the counter formulations containing glycolic acid or salicylic acid exfoliates and keeps the hair follicles open. Avoid using these formulations on irritated skin.
Ground oat meal is an all natural exfoliator that exfoliates and soothes the skin and better option for sensitive areas like pubic and underarms.
Baking soda exfoliates by removing excess oils when used in diluted form.
Tea tree oil can help to unclog pores, remove dead skin cells, and leave your skin looking and feeling refreshed after shaving.
Conclusion
Who doesn’t want smooth and clean skin without that thick and curly hair? Exfoliation makes your shaving effective when done before. Moisturise after exfoliating and shaving to avoid irritation and inflammation. Additional benefits when exfoliation is done before shaving is that it increases blood circulation for a healthy skin with natural glow and fairer complexion. But exfoliating everyday can cause irritation. Try it once a week. Be gentle even though the hair is thick.
