When you slide your freshly shaved legs across each other, you may wonder if there’s anything more luxuriously soft in the world.
Actually, there is—freshly shaved and scrubbed legs.
In fact, using a body scrub can help you get the silkiest, softest legs possible. But the question remains, do you use body scrub before or after shaving? And how often should you exfoliate? In this guide, we’ll explain everything you need to know about incorporating a body scrub into your leg shaving routine.
Shave Then Scrub or Scrub Then Shave?
Shaving and scrubbing are both compelling valuable body care habits, but you might wonder how exactly they work together to deliver silky smooth legs. Should you be scrubbing before you shave or after?
The answer is both!
On the days that you’re going to shave your legs, you should use a body scrub immediately before shaving. And, in between shaving days, you’ll want to should periodically scrub as well. If all this sounds like body exfoliation overkill, allow us to explain.
- Scrubbing before shaving – Using a body scrub immediately before shaving helps to remove all the dead skin cells around each hair shaft. Not only can this exfoliation help you get a closer shave, but it’ll also reduce the risk of razor burn by keeping your razor unclogged and performing with peak sharpness.
- Scrubbing between shavings – Scrubbing between shaving days helps keep your skin clean, minimize clogged pores, and ward off painful ingrown hairs.
Five Steps For Oh-SoBaby Soft, Smooth Legs
So, how can you incorporate a body scrub on your leg shaving days? With 5 easy steps, you can get your closest, smoothest shave ever:
- Step 1 – Make sure the water in your shower is warm to help open your pores.
- Step 2 – Prepare your skin by applying body scrub and gently scrubbing it in a circular motion.
- Step 3 – Thoroughly rinse the scrub from your legs, and apply shaving cream, gel, or mousse.
- Step 4 – Shave against the grain of your leg hair, washing rinsing your razor frequently.
- Step 5 – Rinse, dry, and immediately apply body lotion to your legs (our founder Kate LOVES the combo of our ExfoliKate™ Resurfacing Body .Scrub, followed by Dry Skin Saver)
On the days you’re not shaving your legs, you can simply follow steps 1, 2, and 5.
The Benefits of Scrubbing and Shaving
Remember those Venn diagrams from middle school? The two overlapping circles that compare similarities and differences? When exploring the benefits of shaving and scrubbing, you can picture them in a Venn diagram because while these two beauty practices are distinct, they share common benefits, as well.
Why Use A Body Scrub?
In general, using a body scrub can be a great way to remove dead skin cells and reveal a fresh layer of smooth skin on your legs, arms, and torso.
And if you think you don’t have dead skin cells, think again. Your skin is in a state of constant regeneration (which is amazing!). Old skin cells die, slough off, and are replaced by new skin cells. In fact, you lose approximately 40,000 skin cells every day. Sometimes, these skin cells fall away easily, but other times they can linger, sticking to each other and to your skin’s natural oils. This can lead to the appearance of skin dullness, dryness, and flaking.
When used Utilized 2–3 times a week, body scrubs can help keep your skin clean and fresh by wiping away dead skin cells and encouraging the regeneration of new skin cells. By doing this, body scrubs can also:
- Help minimize clogged pores
- Ward off ingrown hairs
- Make dry skin more receptive to moisturizer
Body scrubs are available in a plethora of formulations, and finding the one that works best for you might take a little testing. Look for high quality ingredients that combine manual, enzymatic, and chemical exfoliants, as well as hydrating moisturizers ingredients that restore for healthy-looking skin.
Why Shave Your Legs?
If you want to remove hair from your body, there are three basic hair removal choices:
- Wax it off
- Shave it off with a razor
- Burn it off with chemicals or a laser
For most people, shaving with a razor is the preferred method of removal because it’s effective, relatively inexpensive, and convenient. A wide variety of razors are available, including:
- Fully Disposable
- Electric
- Cartridge
Our Skin Health Experts are passionate educators when it comes to how to shave for optimal skin health. Whether you know it or not, But shaving isn’t just about removing body hair. It’s also about skin care. Similar to scrubbing, using a razor —whether it be your legs, armpits, arms, or face—helps remove dead skin cells and reveal the new cells underneath (younger, healthier-looking cells).
Get Your Closest Shave Yet With ExfoliKate® Resurfacing Body Scrub
So, the next time you step into your shower, try exfoliating with a body scrub before shaving (and in between shaves) to see for yourself there’s nothing softer than scrubbed and shaved legs.
At Kate Somerville, we’ve made finding the best body scrub easy. To help you get the silkiest shave possible – while revealing smooth, baby soft skin - , we’ve created our ExfoliKate® Resurfacing Body Scrub with best-in-class exfoliating ingredient Pumice. While theOur exfoliating body scrub is inspired by ExfoliKate™ Intensive, Kate’s at-home clinic super facial that reveals smoother texture and pores in just two minutes. Both products deliver instant results thanks to expertly formulated ingredients like itself helps remove dead skin cells, lactic and salicylic acid work together to help polish and refine your outermost layers of skin; , while papaya, pumpkin, and pineapple enzymes help reveal your inner glow.
One thing to keep in mind as you look to maintain healthy, radiant, baby soft skin – do not use a body exfoliator on the face and vice versa. Your body skin is about 3x thicker than your face skin, and body skin cell turnover takes about 2x longer than your face so it needs an additional kick start to get the fresh, baby soft skin on the body. Which means that ingredients that work to polish body skin are most likely too harsh to use on the face.
Try our ExfoliKate® Resurfacing Body Scrub today. For head-to-toe glow, also try our ExfoliKate™ Intensive.
Sources:
Cleveland Clinic. Skin. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/10978-skin
Scientific American. Fact or Fiction?: If You Shave (or Wax), Your Hair Will Come Back Thicker
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-if-you-shave-or-wax-your-hair-will-come-back-thicker/
Healthline. Razor Burn: How Long Does It Last? https://www.healthline.com/health/how-long-does-razor-burn-last
