Are you ready to give up on shaving all together? You love how smooth shaving feels, but hate the bumps and irritation it leads to? The bikini area is a very sensitive area, and the soft skin and curled hair there is more likely to cause bumps and ingrown hair.
Do you want to know how to shave the bikini area without bumps? Follow these tips and it will be smooth sailing.
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Pre Treatment Tips
Soak in the bath for at least 7 minutes
Not only is this great for some relaxing downtime, but soaking has other benefits too.
Soaking the bikini area in a warm tub or shower softens the hair and opens the pores making shaving easier on the blade and more efficient. You will get a closer shave if the hair has been soaked.
That’s why I shave after I’ve washed my hair, put conditioner in, washed my body (exfoliated as well).
But! Can you picture your fingertips after you have been soaking in the bath or in a pool for a while? That is why you should not soak longer than 15 minutes or your skin soaks up some water too and the shave is not as even.
Exfoliate the skin with a sugar scrub
Exfoliating the skin removes dead skin cells, lotions, and oils that are on the skin.
For me, the bikini area was the second-worst area, the legs were the most problematic, so I took my exfoliating seriously and learned how to exfoliate legs properly.
Exfoliation gives many benefits, such as:
- lifts up flat-lying hairs,
- clears debris that may harbor and grow bacteria that can cause razor bumps,
- makes your razor less likely to gunk up and get dull,
- leaves your skin glowing and beautiful.
Avoid salt scrubs. Salt is unnecessarily harsh on the skin, especially in the bikini area. It’s along the same lines as putting salt on a wound. Not something you want to do, plus salt is corrosive to metal razor blades.
Tips While Shaving
Use a quality shave gel meant for women
Do not use bar soap. It is drying to freshly shaved skin, or any skin really. It will leave a residue and dull the razor and can clog it up. Shaving gel allows the razor to glide over the shaving area creating a super smooth surface.
If there is no shaving gel, the razor will drag across the skin instead of gliding which causes irritation that leads to bumps.
Looking for good shaving gels/foams for women? Be sure to check out my article on the best organic shaving creams!
BONUS TIP: if you don’t have shaving gel, a hair conditioner is just as good. Plus, it moisturizes and softens the hair as well. Any super cheap hair conditioner can work just as well as a shaving gel.
Use a fresh razor
Dull razors require you to pass an area several times before it is clear, resulting in inflammation and irritation. A fresh razor shaves clean on the first pass, minimizing irritation that leads to bumps and ingrown hairs.
A new razor should allow you to just glide over the skin without applying pressure to the skin. Applying pressure while scraping a blade across your skin inevitably leads to irritation or worse.
So, you have the option to go for a good women’s razor for sensitive skin (multi-blade) or put aside a bit more money and get yourself one of the best safety razors for women, because you definitely deserve it (I know I’m not going back to multi-blade razors anytime soon).
Personally, I’m using a safety razor, as it’s less waste and the cost of a single razor blade is ridiculously cheap, so you can even change it every shave.
Avoid shavers with moisture strips
These newfangled razors with two gloppy moisture strips and 5 blades are not as useful or effective as advertisers would have you believe. Five blades are not necessarily better that one or two.
The moisture strips are not useful for many reasons.
First, you need the moisture on the shaving area before the razor reaches that specific area, not while you are shaving. The strip also makes the shaving head larger and bulkier, and harder to get around angles and curves in the bikini area.
Also, those moisture strips keep the razor wet after the shave. Moisture corrodes razors, dulling and blunting them.
If I had no other choice, I’d rather stick with super cheap two-blade razors, and use that razor for one time only.
When I have tried razors with 5 blades AND a moisturizing strip, it actually does the opposite of helping me to shave, because the soap (moisturizing) strip starts to dissolve with the wet skin, making the blades clog up much quicker.
The ideal razor for the bikini area, if you want a multi-blade one, would be just a regular multi0blade razor with a tiny lubricating strip at the top (like the Gillette Mach 3 Sensitive, which I used for many years).
Now I’d go for the safety razor, which is frightening because you can cut yourself easily if you don’t hold it properly, but not to worry, I’ve also got a detailed guide on the best safety razors for beginners.
Shave in the direction of hair growth
Shaving against the grain of hair growth leads to ingrown hairs. Going against the grain when shaving is like petting a cat backward. It’s irritating and eventually results in you getting unintended cuts and scratches.
Shaving against the grain means you have to push the razor harder, which can cause skin irritation, and this causes the hair to go back against the hair follicle which can cause irritation. That irritation leads to bumps.
Post-Treatment tips
Use an aftershave serum or aftershave pads
Use this religiously to prevent ingrown hair. You can even use witch hazel, hydrogen peroxide or tea tree oil after the shave. This helps kill bacteria that can infect the follicle and cause inflammation leading to unsightly razor bumps.
For an already-made, easily purchasable product, stick around and read my article on the best aftershave products for women!
I can’t overemphasize the importance and difference this will make. If you are not a believer, try it just once.
Do you have silica packets lying around?
You know, the ones that say DO NOT EAT on them. They come in shoe boxes, pill bottles and in purses.
Save those!
Those silica packets contain silicone dioxide, a water-thirsty compound that can help you keep your razor dry. Yup. Moisture is the main reason razor blades become dull. It’s not actually hair that does all the dulling and blunting of the razor blade.
Store your razor in a container with a few of these bad boys to keep your razor as dry as the desert in summer.
Don’t store your razor in the shower or by the sink
See the tip above. You must keep the razor dry between shaves to keep it sharp and help it last longer. Water, oxygen in the air, and salt from your skin cause oxidation of the metal and microparticles of the blade flake off leaving a jagged and dull blade.
It is also important to rinse it well before storing it because some chemicals in soaps and shaving creams can add to the oxidation.
Blast the razor with some hot air
Give your blade a blast of hot air from your blow dryer before storing it away. The fast-moving hot air will dry moisture trapped between blades.
Summary
If epilators or waxing seem too painful for you, but you’re still irritated by the thought of buying so many razors just to shave every other day the bikini area with a new razor, perhaps look into trimmers!
Women’s trimmers, I believe don’t give the closest shave and they’re not the gentlest to the skin, that’s where men’s trimmers come into the picture. Take a look at my list of the best men’s electric shavers for women.
Or if ripping the hair out and going over the skin with a piece of metal is not OK with your skin, perhaps try some of the best depilatory creams for pubic hair.
But if you want peace for even longer, you might need to look into best laser hair removal machines for home use (just remember there are different lasers hair removal types for different skin and hair types)
It is my hope that these tips, tricks, and hacks help you as you learn how to shave the bikini area without bumps.
Cynthia Stalde
I’m the girl behind Miss Coty. Here I talk about the struggles of womanhood – from hair removal all the way to deep facial wrinkles in your 20s. More about me.
