The other day, I received an email question regarding how to avoid ingrown hairs after shaving.
Here's my reply in full, which both answers the question and also serves as that blog article I almost wrote the other day....
Hi Marc,
Sorry for the slow reply; lately I haven't been checking my shaving emails often.
Coincidentally, I almost wrote an article today on my favorite razor, which may also be optimal for you. More on that in a moment.
Ingrown hairs are due to cutting curly hair too closely -- and with modern, disposable multi-blade designs, the hair is actually cut below the skin surface. So the answer is to use single-blade razors. My preference therefore is to suggest double-edge (DE) razors due to their long-term lower cost and the minimal environmental impact.
Any mild DE is likely to help you, but my favorite,which I now use almost every day, is this razor:
The Original Phoenix DOC Safety Razor - New NICKEL Plated!
It looks like this:
If you order using the following link to access the phoenix site, I get a small commission, but nonetheless (commission or no), it's my daily driver for reasons outlined further below:
I love this razor because....
o It is a mild razor, which is less likely to nip my skin than any other razor I've tried
o Yet it still shaves close enough to give me a shave as good as any that didn't result in skin injury; I just have to pay closer attention to my shaving technique for optimal closeness
o It has a single shaving edge (like any DE razor) so it CAN'T cut hair below the skin level, thus reducing the chances of ingrown hairs
o It's a dual-open-comb design (both the base plate and top cap), which allows for shaving even very long hair, and also allows for buffing-type shaving strokes
Because it is a very mild-shaving razor, one must be aware of the angle of razor to skin and stroke speed (slow is more effective) to optimize shave closeness. However, because of your propensity for ingrown hair, you really don't want a baby-smooth shave anyway.
Hope this helps.
Best regards,
Doug
Doug Hansford
Shave Like Grandad weblog
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