Ingrown hairs are the hairs which have curled around and grown back into the skin instead of growing up from it. Sometimes, a hair follicle gets clogged up due to dead skin cells. This forces the hair beneath to grow sideways under the skin, instead of upwards and outwards. In some cases, closely cutting the hair, which is naturally curly, leads to the piercing of the skin from the sharpened end of the hair; this results in ingrown hair. Ingrown hair is not a serious condition. More importantly, the wrong shaving technique and razor type can cause it. When the hair is removed, this leaves behind a short hair with a sharp edge of the hair tip close to the skin surface. This causes the hair to grow and curl back into the hair follicle or grow sideways and get trapped under the surface of the skin resulting in an ingrown hair.
Let talk about the razor. Are you use a DE Razor? What and Why use a DE razor. A De razor (short for Double Edge Safety Razor) uses a single bladed. Yes, this is the one that your grandfather probably used. These are great razors for a number of reasons.
- The blades cost a fraction of cartridge razors
- kinder to your skin
When shaving with a cartridge razor you have three blades that cut the hair. The First lifts the hair and then next two will cut it closer and closer. Sure this is great if you're always in a hurry. Let's stop and think of this If you lift the hair then cut closer and closer and you're prone to get in-grown hairs, there's a good chance that the shorter hair is going to slip under the skin in the follicle shaft See the illustration below. 
When you use a Single blade the hair doesn't get lifted and the cut stays above the skin line. Now, you may have to make a couple passes to get a BBS (baby butt smooth) shave but you will be happy when your not getting ingrown hairs. If you compare this with the shave you get from a single blade DE Razor Blade.
If you're suffering from in-grown hairs you really need to try a DE Razor. We think you'll agree that this is one of the best ways to shave. Along with using a De Razor, you can do the Following:
- Always shave using a sharp, single-bladed razor
- Keep the Razor clean between strokes, flush with clean warm water
- Shave after getting a shower this will soften the hairs
- Use a quality shaving soap like one of ours
- after shaving rinse with cool water to reduce irritation
Our Next post we'll talk about the different types of DE Razors, Stay tuned and while you're here check out our DE Razor selection, Click here to be taken to our Razors page.