Call me weird, but if there’s one thing more satisfying than watching spots get popped, it’s ingrown hairs being removed.
Everyone gets in-growns at some point in their lifetime. So, the pop, pull and ping of a hair finally being released from its skin prison can be a unique thing of beauty.
In a new video, aesthetician (skin specialist) Jada Kennedy has been teasing, squeezing and pulling ingrown hairs from a woman’s bikini line. Google it. She uses a tiny metal hook to prise open the follicle and pull the hair out – “like we’re going fishing”.
The simplest way to prevent ingrowing hairs is to let your hair grow freely without shaving/waxing.
But if, like many of us, you don’t want to stop shaving, the following tips may help:
- use a sharp, single-bladed razor
- wet your skin with warm water and use a gel
- shave in the direction the hairs are growing
- use as few strokes of the razor as possible
- rinse the razor after every stroke
- try not to shave too closely – leave a bit of stubble if you can, as bacteria can enter the tiny openings of freshly shaved skin
Other hair removal methods may be less likely to result in ingrowing hairs. For example, instead of shaving your legs, you may want to try depilatory creams, electrolysis or laser removal.
Ingrown hairs are hairs that have curled around and grown back into your skin, instead of rising up from it. Equally, cutting a naturally curly hair too close to the skin will end up in the hair piercing the skin – which is why waxing and shaving can lead to ingrown issues. They can also occur when the hair follicle becomes clogged with dead skin cells – forcing the hair to grow sideways.
The NHS advises leaving them well alone so you don’t end up infecting the pores but if you do have a load, you might be better off going to see a professional like Jada.
If you’ve got lots of pus-filled spots, that’s known as folliculitis. It sounds so hideous, but the good news is that you might even qualify for time off work on full sick pay.
