Getting your skin bikini ready from head to toe: Installment #2 - All About Ingrown Hairs
In Installment #1, we were at the store looking for sunscreen. Ok, so you've now got your sunscreen, you've got your UV Protection sunglasses, you got the wide brimmed hat you eyed at the accessory section close to check-out, and you're about to get in line. You then remember those unsightly ingrowns at your bikini line you felt last night when you went to bed after shaving yesterday morning, not to mention the breakout on your chest that's been bugging you since February. What do you do about those?
Let's talk first about what they are. The pimples, bumps, blackhead type things, and red nodules that show a definite hair inside along your bikini area are all the result of hair bothering the lining of follicles they're supposed to grow out of, either because the way out of the follicle is obstructed, or because the hair itself is pointing in the wrong direction as it's growing out, which makes it literally grow into the skin instead. The body sometimes will think it's an invader and send white blood cells to kill the hair. That's the worse case scenario. The best case scenario is just bumps everywhere. Yeah, best... riiiight.
When shaving, notice how you pull the skin taught in order to prevent cutting yourself, or in order to get a close enough shave or be able to get to the right places. If your razor has more than one blade, those first blades pull on your skin, too. As the hair is getting cut, once you let go of your skin, that's when the hair can end up pointing in the wrong direction. You need to do two things to prevent this; one, buy single edge razors instead of double or triple, and two, shave with the direction of hair growth instead of against it. You won't get as close a shave, but your skin won't be pulled in the wrong direction resulting in hair pointing in the wrong direction, either.
Is waxing then better? I've been waxing for 15 years, and I've seen many many people with the obstruction kind of ingrown hairs even though they'd never shaved or waxed in their entire lives. Sometimes the obstruction is from blackhead material, which is a mixture of oil and dead skin cells, sometimes the pimples and bumps are the result of pressure and/or friction from clothes (or lack thereof - I had a client a long time ago, when low-rise jeans were in style, who always went commando when wearing low-rise jeans. To describe her ingrown hair problem would make for very bad dinner conversation). I don't wax and I even get them, especially when I've been wearing shape wear.
I also should point out that sometimes ingrown hair problems stem from improper waxing technique, and in rare cases, from unsanitary practices. All I can say about that, is if you ever plan on getting waxed at a nail salon, make sure the person waxing you has a license in Esthetics! Nail Techs in most states are not licensed to do waxing. Same with places that specialize in threading. You do not need to be licensed to do threading in most states. You do need proper licensing to do waxing. A Cosmetologist is licensed to do waxing, indeed, but if you have skin problems it's better to get waxed by someone who is further educated on what to do when those problems arise.
When hair is gone, there is more of a chance these factors cause more problems because the skin is not protected by hair. This is where the issue of pressure and friction becomes so important.
So what about this pressure and friction thing? Is it any wonder that during both the fashion periods of low-rise jeans and skinny jeans ingrown hair problems got much worse? Low-rise jeans gave rise to the popularity of thong underwear. Thong underwear means denim is now rubbing against most of the skin around your bikini area. There's your friction. The skin responds to this constant bothering by creating pimples and bumps so that *they* will get rubbed on instead of your skin. It's a protection mechanism. On the other hand, more sensitive skin can really really be bothered by it, which creates inflammation, which is what's going on in those red, painful, what the hell's going on with me bumps. The obstruction here is caused by swelling. And then skinny jeans - sit down for the whole day in those things with your legs crossed, the pressure creates warmth, irritation, lack of air circulation. Bacteria inside pores are killed by oxygen. Aha! Get the picture? Now add insult to injury by wearing these skinny jeans with thong underwear so the denim is now rubbing against your skin while you walk home.
The same thing applies when the material of your underwear, thong or not, has some kind of texture to it. I don't always see what a client is wearing while they're getting undressed to get waxed. And yet they're shocked when I can see by their skin that they regularly wear lace underwear, even when lace is only at the top, like with those cute boy short things. I can also tell which direction someone crosses their legs. Cotton underwear sold at places like The Gap and Victoria's Secret have a weird weave to create a snug, custom fit without having to be made with lycra. It's brilliant, but it does create a bit of texture, too. I've seen very sensitive skin not be able to handle that at all.
Take a look at your ingrowns. See a pattern. Notice if the pattern corresponds to places where your underwear may have a texture or even a rough seam. You may have to completely change out all your underwear. If your problem extends down beyond your bikini line, you may have to get the longer boy short underwear. Make sure no matter what cut you buy, they should be 100% smooth cotton.
Making the connection between your clothes and your ingrown hair problem will go a long way to preventing the problem to begin with. Making sure to exfoliate gently every shower with exfoliating spa gloves and a body wash designed to fight body acne, like Neutrogena Body Clear Body Wash will also help make sure excess oil and dead skin cells don't contribute to obstructions getting in the way of hair growing out properly.
Ok, so now that you have figured out how to prevent them, how do you get rid of the ones you have?? There are two orders of business; calming pores down and drying up excess oil. Exfoliation is mostly for prevention, but in some cases, exfoliating from inside the pores is very helpful. This is done with Salicylic Acid and Benzoyl Peroxide.
If your skin is very inflamed, this is actually not the time to be manually exfoliating, like with scratchy scrubs, exfoliating gloves or a natural loofa. Salicylic Acid does both, calming and exfoliating. Sal Acid exfoliates by dissolving the impactions of oil and dead skin cells that are getting backed up behind the swelling. Then it helps to calm down that swelling, since it's a very powerful anti-inflammatory. It is, after all, aspirin. It also helps to dry the area, since Sal Acid needs alcohol as a vehicle to get into the skin. That's why Sal Acid products always come in the form of a gel or liquid.
Benzoyl Peroxide (BPO) can also help a lot, especially in the form of a wash. I like PanOxyl Wash because it was formulated by one of the foremost researchers on BPO and most other brands are formulated quite badly. If your problem is very severe, Mark Lees Skin Care makes the best formulated 5% BPO lotion that I've ever come across, which is available on my web site. Most others actually have pore irritating ingredients (I've actually seen many containing pore-clogging ingredients!). You would apply a thin layer at night, NOT after a shower (BPO must be applied onto skin that is completely dry, otherwise it won't penetrate properly), making sure to wear white cotton underwear over it since BPO bleaches clothes and sheets.
However, one of the best products for calming, prevention and itch relief is one I'm happy to boast about, since I invented it myself. :) It's called FerroRosa FrictionFix, and it works by providing an anti-inflammatory barrier between your skin and your clothes, with clay, zinc oxide, calamine and corn starch. Beware, though, it's really pink. The pink color comes from iron oxides which are part of what makes the powder anti-inflammatory. It can come off on clothes, but does not stain. It must be used every day for full effect because it's more preventative than anything, so the problem can come back when it's not used, but that's why it's so great when used in conjunction with other remedies. It's applied just like a body powder, with your hands or with a cotton-round, every morning, before you get dressed, and then once again before working out or sitting for long periods. Beta testers reported it took about a week to start working, with 80% seeing a significant reduction in ingrown hair breakouts, with clearance in about three weeks of use. Many also reported relief of itch on contact.
Much of the same principles apply when speaking of body breakouts. In the case of bumpy breakouts on the arms and legs, known as Keratosis Pilaris, a combination of exfoliation in the shower with spa gloves and acne face wash like Salicylic Acid or Benzoyl Peroxide, Glycolic Acid body lotion applied after shower, and nightly application of Benzoyl Peroxide lotion works wonders. In the case of body acne, like on the chest, shoulders and back, the same regimen can be used as with the arms and legs, but with a Salicylic Acid gel instead of the body lotion. In both cases, most store bought body lotions have pore clogging ingredients and should be avoided, and dryer sheets and liquid fabric softeners can leave a pore clogging film on the skin. Use those rubber dryer balls instead. The FerroRosa FrictionFix also works very well on breakouts on the back of the thighs and buttocks.
Using discount code CMS gets you 10% off your order of FerroRosa FrictionFix, or any other of Daniela's products that can help with your ingrown hair problem, like Rescue Gel with salicylic acid, Resurfacing Body Lotion with glycolic acid, Cool Comfort After Shave Gel for general irritation or BPO 5% Lotion. For questions and advice, please email Daniela from her web site at www.daniela.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love to hear from you! Leave me a comment here or on Facebook or Tweet me @ebdaily - - - talk soon!