Skincare: How To Get Rid of Razor Bumps

Looking for expert tips to get rid of razor bumps? Razor bumps are annoying, painful, and ugly, especially as a working professional who needs to look their best. Whether your razor bumps are a result of a bad razor, ingrown hairs, or sensitive skin, it’s important for guys to find ways to prevent and reduce razor bumps fast.

Learn how to get rid of shaving bumps with these naturally effective hygiene and grooming tips!

What Are Razor Bumps?

Razor bumps (also known as pseudofolliculitis barbae) can be attributed to a few different causes. Often, razor bumps are ingrown hairs. Ingrown hairs happen when, instead of growing up and out, hairs begin growing back into the skin.

As new skin cells grow, the hair becomes trapped under the skin and a bump forms. Razor bumps can also be caused by skin irritation resulting from using an old blade or passing your razor against the grain of hair growth.

Overall, razor bumps are often an unfortunate effect in the aftermath of shaving, waxing, tweezing, or otherwise grooming your facial hair.

Razor bumps can vary in appearance, ranging from a small red rash to large acne-like sores filled with pus. They can be a cosmetic inconvenience, but can also be quite painful. There are several ways to combat razor bumps.

Whether your razor bumps are mild and pain-free, or noticeable and tender, these tips and tricks can help you smooth the way to a smoother face.

How To Get Rid of Razor Bumps

Here are the many different ways to treat and get rid of razor bumps fast!

Don’t Shave

Razor bumps are often the result of sensitive skin that is irritated by daily shaving. Give your face a break and skip shaving for a few days every now and then. This will help your skin feel less itchy and inflamed and can give a rash some time to clear up.

If you skip shaving on Friday mornings, you can then take the rest of the weekend off too for three straight days of shaving respite. Or, for another strategy, skip the shave on Wednesdays and weekends, so you’re never shaving more than two days in a row.

Just because you’re not shaving though, it doesn’t mean you’re off the hook for caring for your face. Use the time you’re saving by not shaving and devote a little extra effort into your daily grooming routine by taking time to exfoliate, cleanse, and moisturize the skin on your face.

This can help clear up existing ingrown hairs and razor bumps and prevent future ones from forming.

Another alternative is to not shave with a razor anymore. Beard trimmers can get you a close trim without cutting the skin or irritating your face. But be sure to invest in a good trimmer – one with sharp blades, a robust motor, and long run times. We recommend picking one off this list of the 10 best beard trimmers for men.

Forget Your Hair, Brush Your Skin Instead

One of the biggest contributing factors to bumps is dead skin cells and other detritus. Use a gentle brush to clear away dead, dry, and flaky skin so it won’t clog up pores.

You can purchase special brushes designed for skincare online and in drugstores. Don’t have one handy? A soft-bristled toothbrush can also help clear away flakes and gently untangle ingrown hairs from clogged pores.

Brushing skin helps clear up razor bumps you already have. It can also prevent future razor bumps from forming by clearing away dry skin before it can clog pores.

Good Skin Care: Exfoliate

In addition to sloughing off dead skin cells with a brush, you can try out an exfoliation and cleansing routine designed to make skin silky smooth. There are many great exfoliating cleansers on the market that use everything from sugar to salt to ground-up fruit pits to microbeads to remove dead skin cells and clean pores.

Choose a gentle facial scrub. The skin on your face is very delicate, especially if it’s already feeling sore and red from razor bumps or a rash.

You don’t want to go overboard and scratch and irritate your face even further. A combination exfoliator and cleanser will help clear away dead skin, and also unclogs oil and eradicates dirt trapped deep within your pores.

Turn Up The Heat

One way to unclog pores is to open them up. Using heat is a great way to open up your pores so you can clean out dirt, grime, and ingrown hairs.

Apply a warm, wet washcloth to your skin to soften it and open up pores. You can also open up your pores by spending time in a warm and humid environment like a sauna or a hot shower.

Just remember that once you’ve steamed your face and wiped it clean, you also need to rinse it off with cool water. This will close your pores back up so that you’re not walking around with them wide open and attracting dirt and debris.

Change Your Shaving Style

We’ve all had to rush through our morning routine before, but shaving is one area where you really need to take your time. Rushing through shaving can leave you with patchy, itchy bits of hair and inflamed, irritated skin. Be sure to take your time.

Once you’ve applied warm water and shaving foam to your face, be sure to shave along the grain of your hair and not against the grain. Shaving in the direction that your hair grows minimizes the risk of ingrown follicles forming.

A lot of men still opt to shave against the grain so that they can get a closer shave and perhaps have to shave less frequently. But this is a bad idea for men with sensitive skin as this technique can cultivate a rash.

You can also change up what tools you use. Instead of using a razor to shave your face, trim the hair down with electric clippers. It won’t get you the cleanest shave, but because hair will be left a bit longer, it will be more difficult for hairs to become ingrown.

Drop Some Acid Into Your Routine

Certain skincare products are revered for helping clear up acne and razor bumps. Glycolic acid (also known as alpha hydroxy acid) helps peel old, dead skin cells away from the surface of the skin. Salicylic acid (also known as beta hydroxy acid) also exfoliates and peels away dead skin cells.

Further, it penetrates oil glands in the skin and also fights the inflammation that accompanies most rashes. Try adding products with these razor bump-fighting ingredients.

You can find them in everything from astringent toners to moisturizing facial creams, so you have plenty of options depending on your skin type.

Facial Skin Care Treatments

If you have a rash or razor bumps that are especially persistent, you may need to bring in the big guns. Indulging in a relaxing spa treatment is the perfect antidote for a sore and itchy face.

Use a calming face mask or cream with soothing ingredients like aloe vera, green tea, or honey. These ingredients help combat redness and make skin feel less tender to the touch.

After your face mask, you can use something a little more medicinal to clear up razor bumps. An antibiotic cream can help with dumps that are particularly sore and oozy. Retinoid products are also a surefire way to clear away razor bumps.

They come over the counter or prescription strength, in creams and serum form, and are one of the most reliable products to fight against razor bumps.

Images from MMSCENE PORTRAITS: Blake Carr by Jon Wong – See the full story here