What are they?

An ingrown hair is a hair which turns back in on itself, re-penetrating the skin and growing inwards. Should the hair be left growing inward, the skin around the hair will become red and a bump will form.

The Cause

A build up of dead skin cells around the hair follicle that have caused the hair to grow inward. Shaving too close can cause hairs to turn inward and grow into the skin. Those with curly hair are particularly susceptible to facial hair growing inward naturally.

Prevention

Avoid shaving over the same area more than twice. Twice weekly use of an exfoliation product will help to loosen ingrown hairs and prevent their growth by removing dead skin cells.

Action

With the use of a sterilised set of sharp tweezers you can flick the ingrown hair out of the skin and then either shave it off or pluck it out. The latter can in some instances cause the ingrown hair to grow back again. Be careful and use the method which works for you. If you cannot pluck the hair out after two attempts stop as further attempts may damage the skin around the hair and lead to scarring.

Should you suffer regularly from ingrown hairs then your skin may benefit from taking a break from shaving. Over the weekend is perhaps the best time, outside of the office, to ensure that your skin has some time to recover from irritation and the day's growth will provide you with more purchase on the hair to lift out and prep for shaving.

Product Recommendation

To help relieve and prevent ingrown hairs we recommend the Ingrown Hair Kit by The Art of Shaving. It contains the essentials needed to effectively treat and prevent ingrown hairs, including:

• Ingrown Hair Night Cream
• Ingrown Hair Tweezers
• The 4 Elements of The Perfect Shave Unscented (Pre-Shave Oil, Shaving Cream, Shaving Brush, After Shave Balm)
• The Art of Shaving DVD

* For best results use in conjunction with twice weekly use of The Art of Shaving Facial Scrub - Peppermint, to effectively remove any build up of dead skin cells and loosen ingrown hair.