Waxing your nether regions
is agonizing enough without ingrown hairs and irritated skin wreaking
havoc between appointments. If you've accepted ingrown hairs as
inevitable, it's time for reevaluation — baby-soft, bump-free skin is possible with these bikini-wax insider secrets.
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1. Exfoliate before and after.
Slough the area two days before and the first three days after a wax to
remove dead cells on the skin's surface and allow hairs to push through
easily, suggests Cindy Barshop, a waxing expert at VSPOT Medispa in
NYC, which specializes in down-there waxing. Chemical exfoliators with a
large concentration of alcohol can be too irritating, so look for one
that pairs mild exfoliants with soothing ingredients, like aloe and soy.
Our recommendation: Tata Harper Smoothing Body Scrub.
2. After your wax, moisturize.
Smooth on a lotion
that includes alpha hydroxy acids, because they can loosen dead skin
that could create ingrowns, says Stephen Webster, a clinical professor
of dermatology at the University of Minnesota. Try Eucerin Intensive Repair Very Dry Skin Lotion. You can also try applying a cream that inhibits hair growth, such as Jergens Naturally Smooth.
3. OK, after all that, you still got ingrowns. Now what?
Repeat after us: I will not pluck my ingrown hair. You could get
scarring or an infection if you do. Instead, treat the ingrown hair with
Tend Skin Liquid. It contains acetylsalicylic acid, which will exfoliate the skin around it and allow the hair to be set free.
[post_ads_2]4. Calm redness and inflammation.
If your skin is irritated, douse it in a lotion or oil that has aloe in it to soothe and moisturize the bumps, like Johnson's Baby Oil Gel With Aloe & Vitamin E or Parissa Azulene Oil,
which has a calming chamomile derivative. After that, if your bikini
line is still angry as hell, try skim milk — the lactic acid in it helps
soothe skin. Soak a thin cloth or a paper towel in a mixture of half
skim milk and half cold water, and hold it on your skin for ten minutes.
Repeat this every few hours. If that doesn't help, try hydrocortisone
cream on the area twice a day until it's healed.
