About Dana Renee` Expertise I can answer all sorts of questions regarding daily/weekly skin care, make-up techniques, shaving, waxing, breakouts, oiliness, ingrown hairs, etc. Please specify your skin type and location.
Experience Skincare/Makeup/Waxing
Education/Credentials Esthetician
~BASIC SKINCARE STEPS~Each Day, Morning & Night: Cleanse, Tone, Moisturize...Once a week: Cleanse, Tone, Exfoliate, Tone, Steam, Masque, Tone, Moisturize ~All products should be specifically for your skin type and within one product line!
Question Hi,
I've been trying to get rid of my underarm hair for weeks and maybe months. I've tried waxing but not all the hair could be removed and after I did the waxing, it left a really ugly skin. I could see the pore clearly. The question is how can I get rid of underarm hair efficiently and leave the skin smooth?
Answer Nicky,
It could be that the hair wasn't long enough, or it hadn't had enough time to grow each cycle - there are three cycles of hair growth. You should let your hair grow for about 3-4 weeks, so that it's long enough and so that the cycles have all grown out. It's pretty normal for your pores to be more open, when you rip the follicle out of the pore, sometimes they are open for awhile and should return to normal after a few days or so. When waxing, there's some precautions you can take before and after in order to get the best results:
-Waxing can cause ingrown hairs and other painful skin reactions. Also, “Some physicians do not recommend hair waxing for people suffering from diabetes or who have varicose veins or poor circulation as they are more susceptible to infection. Users of Retin-A, Renova, Differin or Accutane are advised not to use hair waxing on the face as these medications tend to weaken the skin and tearing of the skin may occur when the wax is removed." (Reference: http://ezinearticles.com/?Waxing-Hair-Removal:-Answers-to-Frequently-Asked-Quest...)
-DON'T use lotions, oils, or anything with fragrance on the area for about 24hrs or more. Those kinds of things are one of the biggest causes of ingrown hairs, bc once you've shaved or waxed, especially when you've waxed, your pores stay open for awhile and those products tend to clog and/or irritate the pores, causing the new hair growth to go in the wrong direction - into your skin.
-Be sure that the area is clean the skin is healed of any pre-existing conditions (if you already have a rash or skin problem, this could make it worse).
-Use a numbing spray (found at most beauty supply stores) on the area about 5-10 minutes before waxing.
-Apply a bit of baby powder to the area being waxed to keep the wax from sticking to your skin as much.
-Apply the wax in a very thin layer going in the same direction as your hair grows, then place the strip (or cloth) over it and rub it back and forth. Hold the skin tight and pull the cloth away swiftly in the opposite direction of hair growth.
-Instead of lotions, oils, or fragranced products, use a fragrance free, cooling aloe vera gel, immediately after waxing and for a few days more.
- There are also special creams/gels that you can purchase at your local drug/beauty supply store that help prevent ingrown hair that you can use afterwards.
-The next few times you shower, use a loofah to exfoliate the area, this keeps things from clogging your pores and also helps keep your skin from growing over the open pores.
-Now, you may still get ingrown hairs, there are also creams/gels for treatment of ingrown hairs that you can also find at drug/beauty supply stores.
-Another thing you can do is use sharp tweezers to carefully remove the thin layer of skin from on top of the ingrown hair, once you've done that, you should be able to pluck the ingrown hair easily, afterwards, apply a little of the fragrance-free cooling aloe vera gel to calm the area. Removing the ingrown hair with tweezers should be done as soon as you notice it, otherwise the layer of skin over the hair may become too thick.
Your best option would be permanent hair removal. Here's a site that lists all the options for hair removal, along with the pros & cons of each: http://www.hairfacts.com/methods.html
Hope this helps, let me know if you have any more question.
