These 15 Ingrown Hair Treatments Will Also Erase Your Razor Bumps and Hyperpigmentation
Bye-bye, red bumps. 👋
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Real talk: Ingrown hairs don’t discriminate — they’re extremely common for anyone who shaves or waxes. Not to mention ingrown hairs are also unsightly and uncomfortable, but they're easily fixed with the right ingrown hair treatments. To help you better under what exactly causes ingrown hair and how to shop for ingrown hair treatments, our beauty editor consulted a waxing authority for her expert guidance.
Best Ingrown Hair Treatments
What Causes Ingrown Hair?
“An ingrown hair is a hair that was knocked off course while trying to grow out from under the surface of the skin,” says Melanie Coba, brand ambassador for European Wax Center. “When this happens, the area can become irritated, causing redness and pus formation.”
Coba notes that ingrown hairs typically stem from too much dry skin on the surface, forcing some growing hairs to change direction because they are too weak to push through that top layer. An easy remedy is to use a body scrub in between hair-removal sessions, including waxing, shaving, and depilatory creams, to name a few. She says that's why ingrown hairs are common at creased areas of the body such as the bikini line, where skin is pressed together for most of the day.
Lucky for you, there are ingrown hair treatments designed for the bikini area such as Topicals High Roller Ingrown Hair Tonic, and Bikini Zone Medicated Creme for Bikini Area. If you're dealing with ingrown hair on your legs, opt for a large bottle of liquid ingrown hair treatment, such as Tend Skin Ingrown Hair Solution, which is easy to apply over large areas. And if you've got annoying ingrown hairs on your face, you can use smaller-sized treatments, including Completely Bare Calm Down.
How Can You Treat Ingrown Hair?
So, now that we know what causes ingrown hair, how can we get rid of them for good?
“The more you wax, the softer your skin will become, and your body hair will grow in softer and sparser, too,” says Coba. “Sticking to a regular hair-removal schedule can help immensely in preventing ingrown hairs. Consistency is crucial because waxing too early or too late makes the hair more susceptible to breaking under the skin’s surface, increasing the chance of ingrowns.”
Her advice for post-wax maintenance is to avoid tweezing ingrown hairs between sessions, as this usually does more harm than good and can lead to scarring and hyperpigmentation. Also, avoid touching your newly hair-free skin, as Coba points out that this will only clog pores and transfer the bacteria from your hands to your face and other susceptible body parts.
If your follicles need a little more help, grabbing an ingrown hair treatment would be ideal. But be careful: “Some ingrown-hair products use a lot of isopropyl alcohol,” says Coba. “I’ve found that these products dry out the skin, and while they do clear blemishes, the dry skin creates new ingrown hairs. I’d avoid using anything drying.”
How We Chose
Ready to knock out those ingrown hairs for good? We researched the web for the best non-irritating, highly exfoliating, and top-rated ingrown hair treatments on the market. Read on for the most impressive ingrown hair treatments so you can enjoy your smoothest, most bump-free skin regardless of your budget. As the pros suggested, we prioritized alcohol-free options, such as the Fur Ingrown Concentrate, Shaveworks The Cool Fix, and Anthony Ingrown Hair Treatment.
Nicole Saunders is the beauty editor at Best Products with over eight years of experience researching, writing, and editing lifestyle content. She specializes in breaking down complicated topics, like high-frequency wands and microcurrent devices, into easy-to-understand guides. Saunders takes great pride in heavily researching and testing featured beauty products, — such as hairdryers and foundations — on our site, and spotlights her all-time seasonal favorites in her quarterly column Best New Beauty. And she tests quite literally thousands of launches for our Best New Beauty Awards package. You can follow her on Instagram to stay in the loop on her product testing adventues.
Jennifer is the former beauty editor for BestProducts.com, where she’s testing out everything from the latest lip gloss to the craziest skincare trend sweeping the online beauty-verse. Her work has been featured in Allure, Byrdie, HelloGiggles, and more. When she’s not swatching eyeshadow all over her arms, you can find the NYC-based editor scouring for hours on end for vintage finds, eating pad thai, and hanging out with her cat, Chunks.
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