What's new

Exfoliate AFTER shaving?

I use a light exfoliator in the shower after shaving. I find this reduces ingrown hairs dramatically. Then again, I can only manage two passes without inducing irritation.
 
I use Nivea face scrub for men in the bath, but don't do the area that gets shaved. I face lather which does a bit of exfoliating, and then shave which does some more. works for me
 
If you exfoliate, you're supposed to do so prior to shaving. It will remove skin around the hairs (fighting ingrowns) help lift the hair from your face, etc. :smile:
 
Unless your skin is so tough you can strike a match on it, I'd recommend against it. Even the most careful shave is going to beat up your skin to some extent, no point in getting medieval on it.
 
Unless your skin is so tough you can strike a match on it, I'd recommend against it. Even the most careful shave is going to beat up your skin to some extent, no point in getting medieval on it.

Yeah that's what I used to think, but I find I am ok if I use a gentle cleanser like cetphil with gentle exfoliating application. But you're right, when I started I was using clean and clear with micro beads and salicyclic acid and it was scorched earth.
 
I used to exfoliate before shaving but notice it didn't really do anything for the shave, so i now only exfoliate the unshaven areas and the whole face on non-shave days. Don't wanna remove too many layers of skin, shaving does enough of that.
 
If you exfoliate, you're supposed to do so prior to shaving. It will remove skin around the hairs (fighting ingrowns) help lift the hair from your face, etc. :smile:

I agree with this wholeheartedly. Exfoliating prior to shaving gets debris (dead skin cells) out of the way for a smoother shave. Just make sure you are using a very gentle scrub, or consider a face brush, which is essentially a much stiffer version of a shave brush. Remember, that dragging a sharp blade across your face is traumatic enough, so don't overdo it with pre-shave exfoliating prep -- and certainly don't continue the assault after the shave, that's the time to cool things down.
 
Not a good idea to exfoliate after shaving. As mentioned by others, shaving is itself an exfoliation process....
 
Oh man, after? ye-ouch. I use St. Ives apricot in the shower before a shave and find it helps eliminate in-growns on my neck. Disclaimer: St Ives is like rubbing gravel on your face, so I use very light pressure when exfoliating.
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
I was just wondering if its okay to exfoliate with a scrub after shaving? Or would it be too harsh on the skin.

Yes, it's okay. Everyone else is wrong.






















Just wait about 23 hours and 30 minutes between the shaving and the exfoliation. :thumbup1:
 
What would be the point of exfoliating freshly shaved skin? I'm not poking fun, I'm just curious of your reasoning.
 
If your skin can take it, do it. though i think sloughing off your skin with a razor will usually do the trick. but hey, if it makes you happy to exfoliate and your skin doesnt go raw, do it.
 
Using a natural soap and soft brush has made a dramatic change for me. My skin is clean and pliable. The bumps and ingrown hairs are all but gone. I used to have patches on my neck below my ears that were red, irritated, bumpy, and it hurt just to touch them. Running my finger against the grain was out of the question. When my beard began to grow out and I turned my head it felt like someone had scraped my neck with a wire brush. I have been washing my face with good soap and a soft brush (Twice Per Day) religiously for about a week or ten days and now my neck is soft and when I get an ingrown or acne it comes right to the surface and can be fixed instantly. Before the hair would grow in and sometimes I couldn't even dig it out with tweezerman slants. Try a soap that consists mainly of oils and no chemicals. French milled and the like. They last longer and will do wonders for your skin. I think people sometimes think of skin quality only as it pertains to shaving but in order to have a good shave your skin needs to be in good shape first. I have stopped pulling the ingrown hairs too. I merely free them and I try to exfoliate around the troubled area in particular. I would also recommend getting your skin nice and soft with good soap for a few days without shaving. Then free the ingrown hairs, and then exfoliate and maybe moisturize for a couple more days without shaving. This way the ingrown hairs have a chance to get loose and grow out a bit before you try and wack them off. I don't know about the rest of you but the hair on the bottom of my jaw and neck grow out at an angle and often shaving can sharpen them and I feel it is advantageous to have them freed from your face and the tissue around each hair healed before shaving them again. :w00t:

http://www.dialsoap.com/fm-cleanrinse_bodywash.html
Ingredients: WATER, SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE, COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINE, PEG-8, FRAGRANCE, SODIUM CHLORIDE, ANDROSTADIENONE (PHEROMONE), GLYCERIN, PPG-2 HYDROXYETHYL COCO/ISOSTEARAMIDE, COCAMIDOPROPYL PG-DIMONIUM CHLORIDE, POLYQUATERNIUM-10, POLYQUATERNIUM-7, DMDM HYDANTOIN, CITRIC ACID, TETRASODIUM EDTA, RED 40, RED 33, BLUE 1.

http://www.luckyvitamin.com/p-6284-...rus-ultra-sensitive-soap-with-neem-oil-375-oz
Ingredients: Saponified Oils of Palm, Coconut, Olive, and Neem Oil, Purified Water, Our Special Blend of Essential Oils and Nothing Else.

Based on my experience as of lately, the second example would be a much better choice as it is based on oils and has little or no chemicals. Most of the drugstore stuff looks like the first one, water and chemicals are the main ingredients. The dial magnetic I have been using since the beginning of 2009 and it is what got my skin in the terrible state it was in when I started DE shaving. I dont really thing the drugstore holds and answer for some of us unless you want to try Dr. Bonners or Kirk's. They both seem to be good products worth a try based on my readings. LuckyVitamin.com was cheap and fast by the way.
 
Last edited:
I shave before I shower. During the shower I give my face a good wash with a Salux cloth which make it very smooth and then I put some ASB on after I've dried off and my skin then really feels as soft as a babys bum.
 
Top Bottom