Posted on 21st Jun 2011 @ 6:13 PM

Is Shaving the Cause of Your Sensitive Skin?

Sensitive skin can largely be attributed to the modern cartridge or multi blade razors coupled with chemical filled products. Both are readily available form the supermarket aisles.

Think about the old Gillette advert with "one blade to shave you close the other blade to shave even closer". The old television advert from the seventies showed the first razor blade pulling the hair out of the skin, then the second blade cutting the elongated hair follicle followed by the hair sucking back below the skin. When hair is cut like this it is really cut too close so the hair is actually under the skin and this can lead to a number of issues. A layer of skin can form over the top of the hair the next day when the hair has grown a little the skin is pushed up causing a razor bump.

When the hair is too short it can regrow in any direction sometimes not even surfacing, you have heard of ingrowing hairs well this is what has happened. If the wayward hair does breach the skin it can be growing in the wrong direction. Now you have to shave through the bump of skin and that's going to become red and inflamed. If your razor blades aren't new then chances are the old blades will be dirty and this can cause infection of the fresh cuts all over your neck and face.

Thirty years on and we now have five blades on the razor head. What does this mean for causing sensitive skin? Having so many blades getting choked with stubble and product makes the razor ineffective. So to get a close shave you have to press harder and harder on your face to scrap away at your skin. These blades are hard to clean so dirt is building up in the heads with each use. The replacement heads are quite expensive, a pack of four will pay for a box of beer, so you try to make them last as long as possible. The steel used is making the razor blades is of a poor quality so it blunts in no time. Thats's okay for the manufacturer he wants you to buy more but that's not great for the customer who is locked into the latest razor and blades system.

Now take a look at your favorite shaving products even the ones for sensitive skin. What does the list of ingredients say, do you recognise many of the names? You would not want to wash your car with some of these chemicals so why would you put them on you face? Foam from a can is the worst product to use due to the propellants used.

What this means is that as you shave your face it is being aggravated by the stress and germs from your razor and then your raw skin is exposed to all kinds of toxins in the chemicals found in your foam.

Put a stop right now to torturing your face and start to save money. Start by using a traditional razor that you will never need to upgrade other than the scent of your favorite soaps and creams.