Hair Removal Treatments & Moisturizing Skin – Why It Matters
Moisturizing After Hair Removal – Why It's Important & What to Use for Best Results
Healthy and smooth skin makes hair removal much easier which is why moisturizing after hair removal is an important step to keeping your skin hydrated.
Dry skin isn’t something new for most people. Whether it’s dry skin from winter weather or from summer air conditioning, dealing with dry skin is something that needs to be considered year round. If you’ve ever tried removing hair with dehydrated skin then you know that it isn’t an enjoyable experience – ingrown hairs, razor burn, and itchy skin are just some of the ways hair removal can exacerbate issues with dry skin.
The best way to avoid dry skin before hair removal is to ensure that you’re taking care of your skin right after your last hair removal, straight through until the next treatment. In other words – skin moisturizing is something you should be doing year round and is an essential step to successful hair removal treatments.
Moisturized and Nourished Skin is Important for Your Overall Health
Most people think of moisturizing as an aesthetic part of a beauty regime, but it’s actually an important part of your overall health. Moisturizing can help prevent sun damage, acne, eczema, rosacea and slowing down the effects of aging – looking good as a result of moisturizing is just a bonus!
There are many causes of dry skin, and while moisturizing is always a good decision, there are other options that could help stop dry skin from developing in the first place. The American Association of Dermatology provides tips for relieving dry skin that could also help.
Of course, with hair removal, moisturizing is an essential part of helping the skin repair itself and prevent the dryness that results in cracking, in-grown hairs and advancing wrinkles.
How Hair Removal Creates Dry Skin
People often think of hair removal as only removing the hair on their body, but in reality hair removal treatments wind up removing both alive and dead skin cells, as well as natural oils, and act as an exfoliating treatment - in addition to removing hair. So not only is the hair being stripped from the body, but also the body’s natural and healthy oils, which winds up leaving skin dry after a hair removing treatment. Dry skin is the main cause of in-grown hairs when the hair does eventually return.
If you’ve ever shaved, waxed, used depilatory creams, or had laser hair removal or used an at home light-based hair removal device you’ll know that each has their own pros and cons to use. Below we’ve got a brief list of how each treatment affects the skin.
How Different Hair Removal Options Affect the Moisture of Your Skin
Some hair removal products cause more dry skin than others.
- Shaving
- Between razor burn, ingrown hairs and having to shave every few days moisturized skin and good exfoliating is a must to prevent flaky, dry skin. As you are literally cutting your skin it’s not surprising that this method results in irritated skin.
- Waxing & Sugaring
- While waxing is great for keeping the hair gone for a long time it does have the highest chance of ingrown hairs compared to other hair removal methods. This is due to flaky skin and so frequent exfoliation (2-3 times per week) is essential to keep skin feeling smooth and ingrown hair free.
- Depilatory Creams
- Chemicals in depilatory creams can be very harsh on skin and can dry the skin out, or worse, you could actually have an allergic reaction. These reactions can irritate the skin, and if that’s the case you should just stop using the cream, rather than relying on a moisturizer.
- Laser Hair Removal
- Laser hair removal can be quite painful as it is burning the hair follicles away. It doesn’t just burn the hair away, it also removes a ton of moisture from your skin. Therefore moisturizing frequently is a necessity when choosing this hair removal treatment.
- At Home, Light-Based Hair Removal Devices
- Light-Based hair removal devices, like the Silk'n Infinity Hair Removal Device do not cause skin irritations because they have a very low setting compared to salon devices. While some moisture is removed it can be easily added back with a body lotion as the skin pores are open from the treatment, and then close naturally, locking in the moisture.
Why Moisturizing After Hair Removal is Essential to Healthy Skin
Moisturizing after all hair removal treatments is one of the most important steps to maintaining healthy skin and is essential to a comfortable recovery and for the skin to be healed enough for the next hair removal session.
Moisturizing with something that has SPF will help protect your skin from sun damage and help the skin retain its moisture. Moisturizing also protects your skin from air pollutants and any bacteria trying to gain access to your freshly exposed skin.
In addition to moisturizing, exfoliating is also an essential step in skincare after any hair removal treatment. Removing dead skin cells from the body helps keeps pores clear, preventing acne and ingrown hairs.
What to Use for Moisturizing Your Skin for Hair Removal
If you are moisturizing after hair removal – which if you’ve read this far you know you should be. There are a few things to consider when choosing your moisturizer. With so many different skin types in the world it’s important to find a moisturizer that will hydrate your specific skin type, so be sure to experiment with different options until you find one that works for you.
For people that have naturally dry skin we’ve written a guide to choosing the best products for dry-skin that should help you understand what to look for in products when choosing a moisturizer.
Waxing can be one of the worst culprits when it comes to dry skin and ingrown hairs after treatment. So, if waxing is your preferred method of hair removal read Beauty USA’s tips on how to avoid dry skin after a waxing treatment.
If laser is your hair removal choice then aloe-vera based lotions, or aloe-vera plants themselves are the best options as they rehydrate the skin incredibly well. Since laser hair removal has similar effects to the skin as a sun-burn it’s no surprise that aloe-vera is the moisturizer of choice for many people who choose this method of hair removal.
If you’re using an at home light-based hair removal device like the Silk'n Infinity Hair Removal Device then any good quality moisturizer should work. Whatever you tend to get along with best. The advantage of an at home light-based hair removal device is that they use a lower energy than salons and so while they are just as effective at hair removal the effects on the skin is compared to salons is much less.
If you are using a hair removal product in conjunction with an anti-aging device we recommend taking a read of our combining creams with devices article that outlines how to choose the best hydrating moisturizer for aging skin.
Conclusion
So, you’ve gone through the treatments and you are completely – or nearly – hair free (YAY!). If you are wondering if you still need to moisturize, the answer is a resounding yes! Exfoliating and moisturizing should always be part of a healthy skin regime. No hair removal system will ever be 100% permanent, so it’s important that you keep your skin the best shape possible for when the hair does eventually return.
Caring for your skin properly is essential to your overall health. Ensuring that your skin is hydrated using a moisturizer will help ensure you get the best results from your hair removal treatments.
