I have been shaving my legs for about 2 months. the lower legs work out great, but OMG my upper legs brake out and itch and burn. Baby power seems to stop the itch, but I still get red bumps. :embarrassed: OH yeah does anyone take a bath in olive oil mixed with water it make skin very soft to the touch.
Have you tried waxing or epilating? It hurts at first, and you may get some bad ingrown hairs, but over time the hair gets softer and thinner and eventually you'll be able to shave more easily (or not shave at all).
If you really want to shave, get a really good shaving cream that's meant for legs (one of the ones that come in the pastel-coloured girly cans). Wait until you've been in the bath/shower for at least 10 minutes (to soften skin). Exfoliate with a body scrub. Then shave with the shaving cream using the absolute minimum possible amount of pressure (use a good-quality women's razor, too) - I find that even the coarsest hair can usually be shaved with the razor just gently held between your thumb and fingertip, using several very light strokes in each area rather than a single heavy one. Then when you get out, before your skin dries completely, moisturize the hell out of it with a good lotion. If you do this regularly, your skin will eventually get used to being shaved. (I've shaved some boyfriends...*grins*)
This is the area that is hardest to get to. I tried hair removal cream. No effect. Just shaving with shaving cream and a fresh, high quality multi-bladded razor works best for me!
I use 'female' razors and as Kyril said, waiting until my skin is nice and soft. I also put moisturizer on my legs immediately after, and regularly anyway as part of my care routine.
Home waxing didn't work for me, I will be trying laser on the body bits when my face is under control.
Cindy
If you shave in the direction of hair growth you get less ingrown hairs, although the shave is not as close and you need to do it more often.
The problem is the hair on the thighs grows in various directions so I had to figure out which direction to shave each area in. I have had a lot less ingrowns and bumps though.
Absolute minimal pressure is the way to go for sure, just glide the razor over the skin. Less chance of nicks too.
Hope it helps , Sandra.
The red bumps are ingrown hairs that become infected. What happens is the hair curls under the skin when it tries to sprout back through, causing a minor infection. I used to get this all over my body, and found no relief for it except for HRT. HRT thinned out my body hair so it's not quite as coarse, and also helped soften my skin.
And as stated above, shaving with the grain will help, since you won't usually cut the hair below the skin, so it doesn't have to work to re-sprout above the skin. But that can leave you with itchy results, which you may not like.
I've tried disinfecting my legs with alcohol immediately after the shave (hurts like.... A LOT). I've tried moisturizing my legs, which I still do, but at the time it didn't help my bumps.
We seem to have a lot of similar situations. It's kind of cool actually :)