Bearradh Shaving – Our First Post – What causes ingrown hairs?

Welcome to Bearradh and thank you for visiting! My name is Meg and my husband runs a men’s grooming website – manlystuff.ie. I’ve been using his safety razor for years and although it’s excellent for shaving, it’s a little heavy and not very pretty. I wanted a shaving razor that was cheaper and more environmentally friendly than a plastic razor and so Bearradh was born. We’re based in Ireland and Bearradh means Shaving in Irish or Gaeilge – our native language.

In this first short post, we’re going to talk about Ingrown Hairs – err Yay?!

What causes ingrown hairs?

An ingrown hair is what happens when a hair curls back and grows into the skin. It’s a red, raised bump that looks like a pimple. They can be itchy and uncomfortable and in some instances, they can become infected and turn into painful sores. No one wants that. Even if you can’t feel your ingrown hairs, they’re frustrating to look at, especially when you want to show off your smooth, newly shaven skin!

We’re here to help. In this epic guide for preventing and treating ingrown hairs, we walk you through what causes them, how to treat them, how to prevent them, and what products to use in your hair removal routine.

What Causes Ingrown Hairs?

Although anyone can get ingrown hairs, they’re most common among people with coarse or curly hair. They often occur when a hair follicle becomes clogged with dead skin cells. We shed about 600,000 particles of skin every hour. If those particles – also known as the “dead layer” or the stratum corneum – aren’t removed, they trap hairs under the epidermis, causing ingrowns.

(Here’s what an ingrown hair looks like via SheFinds in case you’re not sure.)

Various forms of hair removal are also responsible for causing ingrown hairs. Shaving is one such culprit, hence the reason they’re often referred to as razor bumps. Hint: we’ve got something to help with that.

Shaving

Advertisers often tell us that the more blades, the better. That first started when plastic manufacturing was introduced. Companies realized they could produce more low-quality products for less that had to be replaced more often. Because of that trend, two billion plastic razors end up in landfills today.

In order to give you the smooth shave razor companies promise, multi-blade razors are designed with a “lift and cut” system. One blade lifts the hair, the next cuts the hair below the skin line as you shave. The problem occurs when your hair starts growing back. It can become trapped below the skin, causing dead skin cells to find their way into the hair follicle. The result is an ingrown hair that’s painful and inflamed.

Aggressive razors with multiple blades were designed for coarse facial hair so they’d achieve a smoother shave with fewer passes. In other words, they’re better designed for men’s faces, not women’s bodies.

Dull blades can cause the same problem. When you shave with dull blades, they leave the end of the hair jagged as opposed to a clean cut, resulting in irritation as the hair grows back.

Check out our shaving solution here.

Waxing

Waxing pulls hairs directly from the root. Each hair follicle is connected to a small tube, which is responsible for guiding the hair to the surface when it grows back. Waxing pulls the hair so quickly that the follicle and tube become damaged. When the tube’s lining is damaged, it can’t guide the hair. The hair becomes caught under the skin, causing ingrowns.

We think our safety razors are a great solution for reducing ingrown hairs, you might even start enjoying shaving again!