The Skin Nerd: Tips to stop ingrown hairs ruining your skin this summer

These pesky red, inflamed bumps can be a result of shaving and waxing

It’s important that you shave with the grain to prevent ingrown hairs

Ingrown hairs are the dreaded aftermath of removing unwanted hairs. Shaving, waxing, plucking, threading – they can all cause ingrown hairs. They don’t crop up every time you try to de-fluff, but it’s super annoying when they do.

The cause of ingrown hairs is actually pretty simple. They occur when the hair grows downwards or sideways back into the skin and gets trapped. This can happen when there’s a buildup of dead skin cells clogging the hair follicle, which causes the hair to grow abnormally. Ingrown hairs can appear anywhere, but men tend to suffer from them on their beard area, neck, chest and back, whereas women will find that their hotspots are on their legs, underarms and bikini area – basically anywhere they choose to remove hair.