Does waxing cause fewer ingrowns than shaving?

It changes them rather than removing them. Waxing pulls the hair from the root so there is no angled cut end, but it can break hairs below the surface and it leaves an open follicle that closes over as the hair regrows. Plenty of people get more after waxing, not fewer -- and the same exfoliation routine is what prevents them either way.

Are the dark dots on my legs ingrown hairs?

Sometimes, but often not. Dark dots in open follicles after shaving are usually trapped hair, oxidised oil or mild folliculitis rather than a hair growing inwards. They respond to the same salicylic acid, and to a fresh blade, and not to scrubbing.

Should I use a scrub or a chemical exfoliant?

Chemical. A scrub works on top of the skin and the plug is inside the follicle, so a scrub inflames the area it is meant to clear. Physical scrubbing on skin that already has bumps is how razor bumps turn red.

When is it not an ingrown hair?

If bumps are spreading, filled with pus and appearing on skin you have not shaved, that is folliculitis and it can be bacterial or fungal -- exfoliating harder makes it worse. Something painful, growing and hot needs a doctor rather than a different lotion.

The answer

How do I stop getting ingrown hairs after shaving?

An ingrown hair happens when a hair that has been cut on a sharp angle -- or cut below the surface -- grows into the follicle wall instead of out of it, and the skin closes over the top. A dead-skin plug over the opening makes it far likelier, which is why the same legs get them repeatedly. So there are two fixes and they are not equal: shave so the hair is cut level with the skin rather than under it, and keep the opening clear with a chemical exfoliant. Everything else on the shelf is downstream of those two. What does not work is shaving closer to get ahead of them, which is the exact move that causes them.

What answers it

Paula's ChoiceWeightless Body Treatment 2% BHAThe one that prevents them. Salicylic acid is oil-soluble, so it clears the plug inside the follicle rather than sanding the skin above it -- which is why it works where a scrub does not. Between shaves, not straight after.Buy on Amazon
La Roche-PosayCicaplast Balm B5 barrier repair creamFor the day after, and for the ones that have already gone angry. A plain barrier balm on shaved skin does more for razor burn than anything marketed for it, because razor burn is a damaged barrier.Buy on Amazon
La Roche-PosayAnthelios Melt-In Milk SPF 60The dark spots left where ingrowns healed are pigment, and pigment darkens in sun. Legs that are being treated are legs that are also being shown.Buy on Amazon

Prices live on Amazon, where they change hourly — so we never quote one. Every product here is a brand we would name out loud.

Shave in the direction the hair grows

Against the grain lifts the hair and cuts it below the skin line, so it retracts under the surface and grows into the wall -- that is the mechanism, in one sentence. With the grain gives a slightly less close shave and dramatically fewer ingrowns. For anyone who gets them on the bikini line or the neck, this single change usually outperforms every product bought to solve it.

A dull blade is the other half

A blunt blade drags rather than cuts, tugging the hair up before severing it, and it takes several passes over the same skin. Both cause exactly what you are trying to avoid. Blades are worth changing far sooner than most people change them, and the tell is having to go over an area twice.

Do not dig them out

The instinct is to open the skin with tweezers, and it turns a bump that would have resolved into a scar and a dark mark that lasts months. If one is genuinely trapped and visible, a warm compress twice a day usually releases it. Anything that breaks the skin trades a week of a bump for a year of a mark.

Exfoliate between shaves, not after

Acid on freshly shaved skin stings and irritates, which is why the standard advice to exfoliate before shaving is only half right. Clearing the follicle the night BEFORE, and again a day or two after, prevents plugs without applying acid to skin that has just had its top layer taken off.

Questions

Does waxing cause fewer ingrowns than shaving?: It changes them rather than removing them. Waxing pulls the hair from the root so there is no angled cut end, but it can break hairs below the surface and it leaves an open follicle that closes over as the hair regrows. Plenty of people get more after waxing, not fewer -- and the same exfoliation routine is what prevents them either way.
Are the dark dots on my legs ingrown hairs?: Sometimes, but often not. Dark dots in open follicles after shaving are usually trapped hair, oxidised oil or mild folliculitis rather than a hair growing inwards. They respond to the same salicylic acid, and to a fresh blade, and not to scrubbing.
Should I use a scrub or a chemical exfoliant?: Chemical. A scrub works on top of the skin and the plug is inside the follicle, so a scrub inflames the area it is meant to clear. Physical scrubbing on skin that already has bumps is how razor bumps turn red.
When is it not an ingrown hair?: If bumps are spreading, filled with pus and appearing on skin you have not shaved, that is folliculitis and it can be bacterial or fungal -- exfoliating harder makes it worse. Something painful, growing and hot needs a doctor rather than a different lotion.

Your turn

What should we dress next?

An occasion you cannot find anything for, or a product you want us to look at properly.