The trend of facial shaving offers a quick solution for removing facial hair at home. Interestingly, female facial shaving has been practised in Japan for decades now. With its popularity as a beauty and skincare trend only coming to light a few years ago in the Western World.
Skincare experts like Kate Somerville and Huda Kattan, the founder of the famous makeup brand Huda Beauty, has brought more focus to this facial hair removal hack. With the pain of threading and waxing deterring many women from availing these services at a salon, it’s not hard to see why pain-free shaving is increasing in popularity.
While laser hair removal is a feasible solution, the expenses attached are not easy on the pocket. This is where facial shaving comes in. All you need to know is the right technique and have the appropriate tool for face shaving your way to smooth skin.
Why Women Are Shaving Their Faces
Every person has hair follicles on their face that produce hair. Moreover, this hair can be of varying thickness and colour.
In men, the hair is thicker and darker due to the male hormones. But, when men shave their face, along with the hair, they also remove a layer of dead skin cells, excess oil, and grime. So, the freshly shaved, clean look is not just because the facial hair is removed. When this same logic is applied to women too as the same process of facial shaving can provide similar benefits.
Interestingly, there are many women who do use the usual methods of waxing, threading and plucking to remove facial hair. Additionally, chin hair removal and upper lip hair removal are the most common types of facial hair removal services at salons.
The pain associated with these benefits is a major disadvantage that face shaving avoids. However, facial shaving is your own type of the Dermaplaning procedure, allowing you to exfoliate the top layer of dead skin cells from your face. So, female facial shaving is a great option.
Common Misconceptions of Facial Shaving
Like any hair removal trend, facial shaving also has its own share of misconceptions attached. Here, we are calling them misconceptions because that is exactly what they are.
We are here to clear them once and for all for you!
Hair Will Grow Back Thicker and Faster
Not just specific to facial shaving, this misconception is associated with shaving any hair from the body.
When you shave, the blade cuts the hair follicle at the surface of the skin. Naturally, our hair strands taper when they grow out. So, cutting them at the skin’s surface level means this part of the hair is thicker than the tapered end you had felt before. This is the reason that makes people think that their hair is actually growing back thicker and/or faster. However, this is far from the truth.
Note: Facial shaving does not make your hair grow back thicker or faster at all.
Shaving Hurts
Absolutely not! Just like your legs don’t hurt when you shave them, your face won’t either. It is important to remember to hold the razor at a 45-degree angle. Then, swipe it in the direction of your hair growth in short strokes.
A little practice to understand how to move the razor around the natural contours of your face is all you need.
Facial Shaving Reduces Wrinkles
This statement might not be a misconception 100% but it can still be regarded as one. Face shaving, as many claims, does not improve collagen production in the skin.
Sadly, it does not lead to your fine lines and wrinkles diminishing in appearance. However, getting rid of the hair and the dead skin layer by means of facial shaving will help the anti-ageing skincare products you apply to be absorbed better by the skin. Better absorption and the actual mechanism of action of these products will reduce wrinkles.
Suggested Article: Anti-Ageing Skincare Routine for Mature Skin.
Advantages of Facial Shaving
Here we go through the good parts about one of the best facial hair removal techniques.
It’s Quick and Easy
The most obvious advantage of face shaving is that it removes the hair from your face as and when you like it. You can use facial shaving all over the face, or for specific areas such as chin hair removal, as per your liking.
You can do this at home easily and at any time as per your convenience.
It’s Painless
Face shaving is an absolutely painless procedure unlike other common hair removal methods like waxing and threading.
Suggested Article: Top Ten Beauty Tips About Facial Threading: From Procedure to Price.
It Exfoliates the Skin
Female facial shaving will not only get rid of the excess hair on your face but also exfoliate your skin. Since the top layer of dead skin cells is removed during shaving, your skin can also appear brighter in complexion than before.
The dead skin cells that sit on the top of the skin often clog up pores and cause acne, but this can be avoided by facial shaving. Additionally, exfoliation also helps in improving the absorption of moisturisers, serums, facial oils, and other skincare products that you apply on your face. This translates to the skincare products performing their function better.
Suggested Article: DIY Coffee Scrub: 11 Coffee Skincare Recipes for Smooth Skin.
It Creates a Smooth Base for Makeup
An exfoliated and hairless face provides a smooth base for applying makeup. This ensures that your foundation and other base products will go much more evenly. Helping to give your entire look a flawless finish.
Disadvantages of Facial Shaving
The list of advantages of female facial shaving is rather long when compared to its disadvantages. Nonetheless, these disadvantages need to be mentioned.
We are doing this so you are aware of all the pros and cons of this hair removal technique.
Ingrown Hair
The biggest disadvantage of female facial shaving is the risk of having any ingrown hairs developing on the face. Additionally, this disadvantage is universal to shaving any part of the body.
For this reason, it has deterred many men and women from using this hair removal method. But, there is a way to minimise this risk. You can do this by shaving your face in the direction of your hair growth as this reduces the friction generated. It also helps to lower the chances of annoying ingrown hair.
Skin Irritation
Shaving can cause razor burns or irritation, especially because the skin on the face is thinner than the rest of the body. This, again, you can avoid by shaving in the hairs direction to reduce both friction and damage to the skin.
Shaving creams and foams can also be used in conjunction with the Tinkle razor (or any other facial razor) and it is also an easy hack to prevent irritation.
Suggested Article: How to Remove Unwanted Facial Hair On Sensitive Skin.
Shaving Again and Again
The repetition required with this technique is another disadvantage. Depending on the rate of your hair growth, you may need to shave your face once every week even. For this reason, many women often resort to the bi-weekly shaving cycle.
It’s Not As Efficient As Dermaplaning
Female facial shaving may be regarded as the at-home, and cheaper, version of Dermaplaning. But, the effects are not 100% identical. This is because Dermaplaning offers a more thorough exfoliation. Also, only a dermatologist, or a certified aesthetician, should carry this out.
Practice for Expertise
Some practice is definitely required with this method. You need to learn how to move the razor around your facial contours easily and not nick your skin.
What Tool Should You Use?
For facial shaving, you pretty much need just one tool – a good facial razor.
Tinkle Razor
The Tinkle razor seems to be the most popular option among bloggers and influencers alike. It is easily available online or even in beauty stores.
Importantly, the Tinkle razor is for use on dry skin.
Single Blade Razor
Some women prefer to use a single blade men’s razor. However, the sharpness of the blade seems a little risky to play around with. Interestingly, many refer to these facial razors as eyebrow razors and are about one centimetre to an inch long in length. They are also usually attached to a long handle. In comparison to this, the small size of the blade makes it convenient to shave the hair from all areas of the face, such as the upper lip region and even from the temples.
Tip: Be constant with the 45-degree angle as much as possible and use swift and short strokes on the skin.
Battery Operated Razor
Razors or shavers that require batteries are available for all kinds of shaving, including on the face as well. However, the control you have on the female shaver machine might not be as much as holding a razor that needs to be moved manually.
Note: Do not use the same razor like the one you use for your legs. Transfer of bacteria is easy and you definitely do not want to expose your facial skin to that.
As it goes with any other reusable razor that you use, sanitize the facial razor after each use. And, essentially, remember to dispose of it after using it a couple of times.
How to Shave Facial Hair
Shaving should always be done on a fresh and clean face. Doing so will ensure the razor does not get stuck on any residual makeup or excess oil on the face. You should be sure to hold the facial razor at 45 degrees against the skin. This is because it needs to be moved in short strokes in the direction of hair growth. This is an easy technique that you can master and practice at home. Furthermore, you get rid of hair and enjoy the other benefits this technique offers too!
One important thing to keep in mind before we proceed is that facial shaving should not be done when you pimples or active acne. It can aggravate the acne and, additionally, the razor can easily cut your skin at such acne-affected areas.
Suggested Article: Adult Acne: Causes and Ways to Get Rid of It Once and for All.
Aftercare for Facial Shaving
Shaving the face involves removing the hair and exfoliating the skin at the same time. So, the first step in the aftercare should be dusting off the hair from the face and neck. Simply follow this up with washing the face with room temperature water.
Tip: You may use an antiseptic cleanser if you like to rinse the face.
Gently pat the skin dry after this and apply a moisturiser, this is because the process of exfoliation can make the skin dry. Hence, moisturisation afterwards is important.
Tip: Use a moisturiser with soothing ingredients like aloe vera or shea butter to further calm the skin down. Interestingly, it might be best to skip the toner before applying the moisturiser as toners can sting post-shaving.
The other steps in the aftercare depend on your skin type and also your skin concerns. In addition, to minimize irritation after face shaving, apply sunscreen (after the moisturiser). As stepping out in the sun and exposing freshly shaved skin to the harmful UV rays can cause irritation easily. A good sunblock or sunscreen with SPF 20-30 can help you here.
To maintain healthy and flawless-looking skin in between shaves, exfoliate your skin using gentle scrubs to keep the pores clean. Doing so will also ensure that your next shave is smoother.
Suggested Article: How to Choose the Right Sun Protection for You.
Note: Do not exfoliate right after shaving. Use the scrub in between your shaving cycle.
If you plan to shave before applying makeup, then maintain an ideal gap of an hour between shaving and makeup application.
To learn more about facial hair removal, click here to read our article on ‘7 Helpful Hacks To Make Facial Waxing Less Painful.’