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Are Electric Shavers better for Ingrown Hairs?
By Charlie Harper | Guides
As you get older, shaving become a more intricate and painful process. Razor burns and ingrown hairs can make even the smooth and perfect skin unsightly. This is only exacerbated when you use improper shaving techniques and the wrong kind of razor. For some types of skin, a manual razor is the only way they can get a close shave. But they often come with their own difficulties and ways to cause ingrown hairs and burns. But is an electric shaver the best options to prevent ingrown hairs from sprouting under your skin in the first place?
First, it’s important to understand how ingrown hair happen while shaving. For those who shave against the grain, have course or curly hair, or use products that are cheap or ill-equipped for the type facial hair you have, ingrown hairs are a common result. They usually occur when hairs are cut beneath the skin and grow out at awkward angles – often underneath the skin’s surface. This is what results in both ingrown hairs and razor burn as hairs are tugged and pulled out or pushed on too hard while shaving with cheap plastic razors. The main method to prevent ingrown hair is shaving with the grain and cutting facial straight on while leaving it perfectly level with the skin surface. The reason even expensive, multi-blade razors might not be the best option for achieve this level of closeness and uniformity is the very ways modern razor blade manufacturers attempt to innovate their products. The risk run with a multi-blade cartridge razor is the fact that often these blades are too close to each other, which can cause shaved hair to clog up underneath the razors and affect the type of shave quality that results.
This depends. While it certainly is possible to shave at just the right level without cutting hairs below the epidermis, an electric shaver isn’t perfect. For those with course or curly facial hair, the same risk are present for an electric model as well – tugging or pulling our hairs beneath the skin. If you have thinner and straight facial hair, then the type of shave an electric model can provide is exceptional. But if you have traditionally used a manual razor and wish to switch to an electric model, this may not be an option for you. Continuous use of a manual razor can cause your facial hair to regrow much courser than before, making cutting hairs at the skin level much more difficult. If you switch to an electric razor, the jagged edges left by it can cause the hair to curl and regrown at unnatural angles. If the hairs aren’t softened in some way before your next shave, they can be much harder to cut. Also, the circular motion associated with using an electric shave often cuts hairs against the grain, making them curl up at the wrong angle.
For those who want to use quicker and more convenient electric shavers, here’s a handy step-by-step guide to preventing ingrown hairs.