Suitable for men and women. Ideally, hairs are cut off level with the surface of the skin during shaving. In people with a tendency towards razor bumps and ingrown hair, the hairs are often cut too short. The hair which has been cut below the skin level begins to grow through surrounding tissue rather than out of the follicle. In other cases, hair curls round and starts growing back into the skin causing irritation and inflammation.
Depilatories produce rounded hair tips which are less likely to penetrate the side of the follicle.
Shaving produces sharp or pointed hair tips as do methods which break the hair such as waxing, tweezing and plucking. These are more likely to penetrate the side of the follicle and produce ingrown hair. To overcome the problem, steam the face with a warm towel for about five minutes. Then shave the area. For ingrown hairs which are deep, sterilize a pair of needle-nosed tweezers with rubbing alcohol and individually lift each ingrown hair out of its follicle.