You know those little bumps you get along your bikini line — that is, if you happen to wax or shave the hair down there? Sometimes they look like a rash, other times just isolated raised spots. They're usually ingrown hairs: These are hairs that curl and grow back into your skin, or grow sideways through your skin, instead of growing out. Needless to say, your skin finds that irritating. And as you've seen, it doesn't look too great, either. So what do you do? Aside from going back to nature, there are a few things you can do to prevent and to treat those bikini-line bumps.
1. Make an aspirin mask: This sounds crazy, but it can work. Make a mask with crushed, over-the-counter aspirin. It contains salicylic acid, which helps exfoliate skin.
2. Shave in the same direction: If you shave, move the razor in the same direction as your hair, instead of against. Shave with warm water, and rinse after each stroke.
3. Exfoliate: Every day, gently rub the area with a washcloth, loofah, sugar, baking soda, or exfoliating soap.
4. Apply tea tree oil: This is antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. You can dilute tea tree oil with warm water or mix with olive oil, leave on for 10 minutes, and then rinse off.
5. Use a bikini area treatment: These 7 products are for post-waxing, but they could be helpful to shavers as well.
6. Remove with sterilized needle or tweezers: This makes doctors nervous, and many recommend against doing it. But here's the WikiHow on removing ingrown pubic hair. We're not recommending this, we're just saying … the information is out there.
7. Laser hair removal: I am doing this as soon as a money blizzard hits my home, or after I finish paying for my son's education, whichever comes first. I've heard a few reports of ingrown hairs still happening after laser hair removal, but it's rare.
How do you usually deal with bikini line ingrown hairs?
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