Ladies: leave the face-shaving to the men!

If your guy was annoyed when you used his razor on your legs, he is definitely NOT going to be happy about this new skin trend?

Being the huge nerd that I am, I frequently peruse our Google analytics. It?s always interesting to see the words people used to come across our About Face website. Recently, I was amused to see that ?woman shaving face? was a commonly searched phrase that was leading people to us. I assumed it was a fluke for that month, and didn?t think much more of it? until I noticed reputable sites such as Pop Sugar, DailyMail, and the Guardian, (to name a few) posting articles devoted entirely to the very topic.

For whatever reason, the topic of women shaving their face is HOT right now.

And not for the reason you?d first assume.

We have a lot of women who are undergoing laser hair removal for their chins, upper-lips, even cheeks and side-burns in some cases. But the women shaving their faces ironically are not doing it for hair-maintenance purposes. Instead, they are shaving their faces (foreheads included!) as a means of anti-aging prevention.

Sound crazy? Well?

When wondering why men seem to age more gracefully than women, one theory was that due to their frequent face-shaving, they were inadvertently getting exfoliation which allowed their skin to constantly look fresh and glowy. As you drag a razor across your skin, the top layers of dead skin-cells are being removed in addition to any hair present, and this hope of easy age prevention has all sorts of women shaving their faces.

But, if something sounds too good to be true?there?s usually a reason.

If you have normal Caucasian skin with normal peach-fuzz and no break-outs, this could be an option for you.? But, buying the shaving-appartus needed, and taking the time to shave your entire face seems like a time consuming practice when you could attain the same results much more easily by just washing your face with an exfoliating wash. (Anything with Glycolic, Salicylic, Apha-hydroxy or Beta-hydroxy acids will chemically exfoliate your skin.)

If you have any kind of pigmented skin (Asian, Mediterranean, African American, etc.), dark hair on your face, and/or acne, you definitely do NOT want to shave your face.

Consider:

Although shaving your face will not make your hair grow back thicker (that persistent wive?s tale is a complete fallacy) however because the hair is growing back with a blunt tip instead of the natural tapered shape, it may feel rougher and unpleasant to your finger-tips. Darker hairs are usually thicker than blonde peach-fuzz, and as dark hair re-grows with blunt tips, you may be upset to find it is suddenly more visible (in places like your cheeks and side-burns) and you will likely be more susceptible to in-grown hairs.

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Additionally, you are opening yourself up to all sorts of unnecessary risk. Beyond the worry of ingrown hairs, the face has a lot of curves, angles and edges, and nicks and cuts are a very real possibility. This is especially worrisome because if you have darker skin tones, any assault to your skin can potentially leave with you discolored areas that can take months to clear.

If acne is an issue for you, stay completely away from the face shaving trend! Shaving your face makes you 100% more susceptible to in-grown hairs, and in-grown hairs are more often than not the starting place of pimples. Plus, if you accidentally shave over a pimple, you are risking infection, scabbing and scarring. Not worth it.

Truly, if you are looking for a quick, easy way to daily exfoliate your skin, simply invest in a good face-wash. That?s it!