How to Shave Your Legs: 8 Tips for Smoother Skin

If the world had been like a Nora Ephron film, your mother, older sister, or greatest pal would provide a chatty lesson on the best way to shave your legs someday across the sixth grade. However in the actual world, you might need to determine the entire thing by yourself. And that would contain numerous sub-par shaves and uncomfortable razor bumps.

Studying the best way to shave your legs might sound easy (and it largely is!), however there’s an artwork to getting the absolute best outcomes—particularly since shaving can doubtlessly be fraught with slip-ups like nicks, cuts, and ingrown hairs. Determining the proper approach can assist you forestall all of these items from occurring along with providing you a more in-depth shave, Marina Peredo, M.D., F.A.A.D., assistant scientific professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York Metropolis, tells SELF.

That’s the place this helpful information is available in. We chatted with board-certified dermatologists for the news on all (and we imply all) the leg shaving suggestions. However there’s one key factor to bear in mind with any hair removing technique: “It’s all about private desire,” Azadeh Shirazi, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist with Scripps Inexperienced Hospital in La Jolla, California, tells SELF.

Forward, you’ll discover all of the deets on the most effective sorts of razors and the way typically you must change them, plus the best way to forestall painful razor bumps and ingrown hairs. And we dig into some regularly provided recommendation, like what it truly means to shave within the path of your hair development. After all, you don’t must shave any space of your physique for those who merely don’t need to, however for those who’ve been making an attempt to get these legs as smooth and clean as potential, then you definitely’re in the proper place. Let’s do that!

1. Select a razor you’re feeling comfy utilizing.

There are such a lot of sorts of razors on the market, so it’s greatest to decide on one that you simply like and discover straightforward to make use of, whether or not you’re a newbie on the subject of shaving your legs otherwise you’ve been doing it for years. For instance, an electrical razor can assist you ease into the thought of shaving for those who’re not fairly prepared for a pointy metallic blade. “They’re nice for newbies as a result of they forestall pores and skin irritations and ingrown hairs when used on dry pores and skin,” Dr. Peredo says. The one draw back? Electrical razors can tug on longer hairs, so utilizing one on untouched leg hair is likely to be a little bit uncomfortable.

In case you’re utilizing a handbook razor, one with a versatile head that strikes simply may give you extra management across the bumps and curves of your knees and ankles, which can assist you keep away from nicking your self. “I like Gillette Venus Comfortglide Plus Olay ($10, Amazon). It has 5 blades and the Olay moisture bar provides an additional layer of hydration,” Dr. Peredo says.

2. Rinse and retailer your razor in a dry space.

It solely takes a single stroke to clog your razor’s blades with hair, shaving cream, and lifeless pores and skin cells, sacrificing the smoothness of the remainder of your shave. So though it’d look like quite a bit, you must give your blade a rinse after every swipe, based on the American Academy of Dermatology Affiliation (AAD). Whenever you’re completed utilizing it, place the razor in a dry spot (like the toilet counter) as an alternative of leaving it within the bathe or tub. That’ll forestall the expansion of micro organism and yeast that would trigger an an infection for those who lower your self shaving subsequent time, Dr. Shirazi says.

3. Change your razor blades typically.

Even the most effective razor gained’t provide you with an in depth, clean shave eternally. A uninteresting blade makes the shaving course of longer and will increase the danger of reducing your self or normal pores and skin irritation. So, how typically must you change your razor? The AAD recommends swapping it out for a brand new blade after 5 to seven shaves. You must also change your blade if it’s holding onto gunk that gained’t simply rinse out, even when the blade is pretty new. The buildup can harbor micro organism that would enhance your danger of an an infection if the razor cuts your pores and skin, based on the Cleveland Clinic.

4. Keep away from dry shaving your legs.

Dry shaving will increase your probabilities of pores and skin irritation, based on the Cleveland Clinic. Utilizing a foam or gel shaving cream, alternatively, can assist the razor glide effortlessly over your pores and skin for smoother outcomes. “Utilizing shaving cream can assist to situation the pores and skin and soften the hair follicle,” Dr. Peredo explains. Utilizing extra than simply cleaning soap and water may also assist your pores and skin keep smooth and flake-free after shaving, since many soaps may be inherently drying. In case you don’t need to take care of shopping for an extra product, your face cleanser or hair conditioner may also work for those who really feel comfy utilizing them for shaving (we all know these merchandise are inclined to get dear!). “You may simply use a milky cleanser like CeraVe ($15, Amazon) or Cetaphil ($11, Amazon), which supplies some slip,” Brooke Jackson, M.D., F.A.A.D., a board-certified dermatologist and dermatologic surgeon at Pores and skin Wellness Dermatology Associates in Durham, North Carolina tells SELF.

5. Prep your pores and skin (and do your different bathe stuff first).

Heat water softens your pores and skin and helps you get a more in-depth shave with much less danger for cuts or nicks. So it’s value hanging out within the bathtub or bathe for not less than 10 minutes earlier than reaching to your razor, per the Cleveland Clinic. Keep away from utilizing tremendous sizzling water if you bathe, although, since this could make your pores and skin dry.