Tip 1
Don’t use shower soap to shave. Use shaving soaps, gels or creams.
The primary purpose of adding gel or soap to the area before we shave is to provide lubrication, and the soap and gel do a good job of lubrication.
So, it’s all good, right? No. Shower soap’s primary purpose is to cleanse your skin, so it has ingredients that clean the skin.
Let me explain…
All cleaning ingredients are harsh on the skin – only the degree of their harshness varies.
And so when we apply shower soap and shave that area, we are scrubbing that area with that soap (razor blade on that soap!).
The ingredients in the shower soap, when scrubbed like that, will leave your skin dry.
The dryness on the skin will leave the skin inflamed.
Inflammation on the skin will eventually lead to pigmentation. Pigmentation in the underarm area is nothing but darkness in the underarm area.
Tip 2
Check the ingredients in the shaving soap/gel/cream.
Make sure the product does not have fragrance.
Fragrance is a sensitising ingredient. Sensitising ingredients, over time, will leave skin inflamed.
Inflammed underarm skin will eventually lead to dark underarms.
Make sure the product does not have nickel. Many people are allergic to nickel. An allergy to an ingredient can leave the skin red and inflamed.
Inflammation eventually will turn into darkness in the armpit area.
Tip 3
Check the blade. Make sure it is sharp.
If the blade is not sharp, it will lead to ingrown hair.
Ingrown hair will lead to inflammation, eventually leading to pigmentation in the underarm area. And that’s nothing but darkness in the area.
The two most overlooked factors that lead to dull blades:
Tip 4
Apply calming ingredients to the area after shaving your underarms.
Calming ingredients will soothe the area and reduce any inflammation that could be there.
Always remember that sometimes inflammation is visible – sometimes it is not.
And so, the best practice is to apply calming ingredients to the skin after we do something harsh to it – like waxing or shaving. So, the best practice is to apply calming ingredients to the skin after we do something harsh to it,
Important Recap
The common theme in the above tips is to prevent inflammation.
Inflammation will eventually lead to pigmentation in the underarm area, which is nothing but darkness.
Avoid products that cause inflammation!