Tag exfoliation
Ingrown Hairs – Ouch!
http://www.rxmuscle.com/blogs/the-look-skin-attitude-attire-and-persona/3426-ingrown-hairsouch.html
Original post published on MensPhysique.com on Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Men are notorious for neglecting their skin, opting for the quickest methods by which to clean it. As a result, they are often prone to developing ingrown hairs, where hair gets trapped inside a follicle or grows back into the skin, forming painful bumps.
If you want to minimize the chances of developing these nasty bumps, you must exfoliate! This can be accomplished with salicylic acid based cleansers, post-shave products and moisturizers. You can also use a soft-bristle brush or washcloth to exfoliate dead skin cells. Make sure that you are consistent with your exfoliating regimen or else you will find yourself having to treat ingrown hairs instead of preventing them from forming.
When you shave, it is always best to do it in the shower. The moisture and steam from the shower will soften the hairs and open up the follicles. Use a good lubricating shaving cream or gel to increase the glide of the razor. Make sure you use a razor with a sharp blade, and shave with the direction of hair growth.
What do you do if you already have ingrown hairs? One thing you can do is to GENTLY lift the ingrown end out with a pair of tweezers, but do NOT pluck the hair! If the area is swollen, you can apply witch hazel to soothe it.
These days it is completely acceptable for men to use skincare products, so don’t be afraid to check out the many wonderful products out there that are specially formulated for men. ZIRH, Neutrogena, Aveda, Lab Series and Clinique are among the companies with decent product lines. Above all else, please abandon the mentality that bar soap is the only skin care product you need! Bar soap is highly alkaline and strips the skin of moisture. What was supposedly good for grandpa isn’t good for you!
DIY Sugar Scrub
Those of us who compete must undergo intense exfoliation for several days before competition spray tan is applied. This is easily done at home with a sugar scrub which can be purchased at many drugstores. However, sugar scrubs do not travel well and have a tendency to leak everywhere, leaving an oily, grainy mess in checked bags. My solution has always been to purchase a sugar scrub at my destination.
I recently traveled to New Jersey and assumed that I could easily purchase a sugar scrub at Trader Joe’s. Much to my chagrin, there was no sugar scrub product to be found at the Trader Joe’s in Paramus, so I improvised. Since I wanted to avoid leaving an oily film on my skin, I avoided using almond or olive oil and instead purchased a liquid body wash and a bag of turbinado sugar. When I returned to my hotel room, I employed a system in which I would pour a dollop of body wash into the palm of my hand and then scooped up some of the sugar. If you prefer, you could mix the sugar and the body wash together in equal amounts right before you step into the shower, but I went the lazy route. What surprised me was how well this makeshift scrub worked at exfoliating my skin without irritating it or leaving a greasy film on my skin.
So if you find yourself in need of a sugar scrub and cannot get a hold of a pre-made version (by the way, Liquid Sun Rayz has a fantastic sugar scrub), you can purchase sugar and body wash and make one yourself. Just make sure to get a large grain sugar like turbinado for more exfoliative power. 
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