Ingrowing hairs - nice!

[mixedpeel]

I got an epilator a few months ago, use it on lower legs, and have been getting more and more ingrowing hairs.

I know you are supposed to exfoliate, but haven't. Oops. Will starting now be a solution?

Better than not!
A good exfoliate might help them come through.

Thanks. I've got some scrub stuff I can try. Also, if I used one of those body puff things on my legs every day in the shower, I assume that could only be a good thing?

My legs aren't hairy, but they're getting a bit bumpy, and it's definitely not a good look.

I mostly use an epilator but occasionally let the hairs grow and get a leg wax which combined with exfoliating and the odd session with my tweezers seems to keep them at bay

I used an epilator for about 6 months, I haven't used it for over 18 months and am sti struggling with ingrowings hairs :( Even exfoliating every other day isn't getting rid of them.

I'd never had them on my legs before I epilated.

I use an epilator and even SHAVING gave me ingrowing hairs! < weird >

I use those rough glove things that even pound land have - they work really well

Rough gloves - great idea, thanks. I needed an idea of how to be a bit more aggressive in the old exfoliating stakes, without going too far.

I think I read somewhere that digging them out with tweezers (as I have been, and let's face it, surely that's the only way) is counterproductive, because the skin closes over the gap you've dug the hair out of, so that when it regrows it's stuck again.

Gah! And I'd been so chuffed with my little buzzing friend, too. (The epilator, obvs.)

Normal exfoliating by itself does nothing to help me, but I find adding regular dry body brushing with a fairly stiff bristled brush helps along with dove pro age body moisturiser. It contains a small amount of salicylic acid which acts as a gentle chemical exfoliant.

Tend Skin really works for me:
www.amazon.co.uk/Tend-Skin-Ingrown-Solution-118ml/dp/B00021DO6Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357639037&sr=8-1

I find that if I drag the epilator down the leg - ie in the direction of hair growth - I don't get ingrown hairs. But if I try to save time by ripping upwards, they go horribly red and bumpy...

cardamomginger thanks for the link to the Tend Skin stuff, I think I might need to give that a go.

And frisky, such a simple tip, I'm going to try this from now onwards.

Thanks everyone on this thread, really useful practical advice!

A pleasure . I read somewhere that if you rip upwards, you're damaging the shape of the hair follicle so the newly-growing hair kind of reaches the surface in the wrong place and can't find the little hole in the skin it's meant to pop out of . Could be rampant bolleaux, of course, but I have never had a problem since I always went downwards.

DO NOT put tend skin on straight after epilating, it will sting like crazy. its very chemically but good. I gave up on my epilator for this very reason, I never get them when shaving.