As a barber I always get the question from my clients asking me how too get rid of ingrown hairs from shaving. The first thing I ask them is what do they use to shave or trim their beard or goat T or when they shave their face. Most clients say they use a store bought razor blade and I immediately let them know that is their first mistake. As African American men we should be very cautious when using a razor on our face specifically on our neck area and the back of our head in the nape area  or back of the neck. I will list the following and share with you the best way to shave and keep your skin healthy the way I have as a barber as well as share some knowledge with you on why we shouldn’t do certain things and recommend certain products and tools best used for your at home grooming needs for shaving and taking care of your beard and mustache and goat t.

1. Razor: I don’t recommend using a razor as a Black man being that our hair is curly and this fact along with the fact that the razor cuts our hair to closely below the skin which causes our ingrown hairs and bumps for the most part. How this happens is once our facial hair begins to grow back from below the skin it doesn’t grow our perfectly straight being that our hair is curly so this creates what we know as an ingrown hair. To reduce this if you do decide to use a razor you can moisturize the area you shaved with the razor. This will keep the skin soft so the hair can grow from under the skin more easily and not be an obstacle for the growing hair attempting to grow through the surface of the skin. Another thing you can do to reduce ingrown hairs using a razor is to shave often in addition to moisturizing the area.  When I say shave often that would be when your feel stubble growing back which should be every other day for most men. To moisturize your face after shaving you can use beard oils or after shave lotions without alcohol.

2.  The best way for all  to shave without the ingrown hairs and less irritation is to use 2 tools which is a hair trimmer/ liners and a electric shaver that your barber uses on you in the Barber shop when you get your fade and shave or beard lined up to perfection only your barber can do.  This will be a bit pricey but it will be will worth it and its only a one time expense, you will be able to keep these tools for years to come as long as you don’t drop them.  What the trimmer is used for will be to cut off or shave any and all hair on your face  or line up your mustache, Beard, Goat t and your own hair line, this is an important step because you wont be able to use the electric shaver on long hair so you must shave with the trimmer and then use the electric shaver to get the close smooth feeling shave that you desire.  How this is achieved is by the shaver not cutting your hair below the skin however it does get it near below the skin which is why it feels smooth, by not cutting the hair under the skin the hair can grow back without curling under the skin which will cause your skin to not be as irritated and and to not be scarred or discolored from the use of the razor and the razor bumps and ingrown hairs it causes.