What is after epilation care? Do you need to do anything special after epilating? In fact you do.
My focus will be on taking care of our facial skin but let’s first cover what the post epilation care for the body involves.
Contents
After Epilation Care for the Body: What to Do After Epilating
The whole process of post epilation care for the body is pretty straightforward.
I want to first remind you that you should exfoliate before you exfoliate – this is the pre-epilation step you should perform.
Once you’re done, moisturize immediately after removing the hairs from your body.
I take a quick shower with lukewarm water, pat my skin dry gently with a soft towel, and then I immediately moisturize with a rich, nourishing body lotion/body cream.
That’s about it for the body. The legs are the easiest to take care of.
When it comes to my bikini area, I recommend moisturizing after each shower in the first 3-4 days at least. I moisturize my entire body after each shower because I have sensitive skin and thanks to that I don’t get any itchiness or irritation.
Once a couple of days have passed, you should start exfoliating to prevent ingrown hairs. And because it offers the best feeling, the skin feels silky smooth after exfoliation.
In regards to your device, you should clean your epilator after each hair removal. You can read more about it here. Basically, wash the head, the cleaning brush, and any attachments you’ve used with hot water and then pour rubbing alcohol over all of them. The let them air dry for a few hours.
Best Body Products for Post Epilation Care
1. Moisturizer: Eucerin Advanced Repair Cream, 16 oz.
This is a heavily nourishing body lotion that has two main advantages: it comes in big quantity and it’s really affordable. The main ingredients are: glycerin, urea, shea butter, sodium lactate and lactic acid, ceramide, and arginine (boosts collagen production).
2. Body Scrub: Tree Hut Sugar Scrub
This is one of the best body scrubs for post epilation care, for keeping the skin smooth and for preventing ingrown hairs. It has an affordable price, comes in a huge quantity, and we get a wide variety to choose from. It’s easily one of the most popular body scrubs on the planet.
What to Do After Epilating Your Face
What I really want to focus on is post epilation care for the face because that’s where most of the problems can appear. Our facial skin can be extremely sensitive. Simply put, epilation can lead to breakouts. So can waxing and threading.
My after epilation care tips for acne-prone or sensitive skin are not at all limited to women who epilate their facial hair. They can be used by those who wax or use threading as their preferred facial hair removal method.
These 3 have methods have one thing in common: they remove the hairs from the root, which can be quite irritating to a skin that’s already acne-prone and sensitive.
To put it in simple steps, this is what you have to do as part of your after epilation care for face:
- cleanse your skin both before and after epilation – wash your face with a gentle cleanser, preferably one for sensitive skin
- apply an aloe vera gel if you have really sensitive skin because it’s the best for soothing the skin
- apply your favorite moisturizer, the one that works best for your skin type and gently massage your skin
- once a couple of days have passed since you’re removed your facial hair, you can start to exfoliate – you can use a facial chemical exfoliator with salicylic acid or glycolic acid or you can use a product like Tend Skin Care Solution
Best After Epilation Care Products for Face
1. Cleanser: First Aid Beauty Pure Skin Face Cleanser
The FAB cleanser is perfect for sensitive skin, full of natural ingredients, antioxidants to sooth irritated and sensitive skin plus aloe vera and allantoin to nourish the skin.
2. Aloe Vera Gel: Organic Aloe Vera Gel with 100% Pure Aloe
Using an aloe vera gel is highly beneficial for sensitive skin since it has the ability to calm irritated skin, the redness will be gone sooner, too.
3. Moisturizer: Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Water Gel
It contains hyaluronic acid, which is a perfect humectant for any skin type, even oily skin will not get clogged pores from this moisturizer.
4. Exfoliate: Tend Skin Care Solution
The Tend Skin Solution is highly known for being applied immediately after shaving to prevent razor bumps and a bit can be applied on the face right after epilation or waxing to reduce redness.
5. Chemical Exfoliator: Glycolix Elite Glycolic Acid Treatment Pads
This exfoliator can be used daily or 2-3 times a week by those with really sensitive skin. The pads are really affordable, they contain glycolic acid and remove dead skin cells.
6. Facial Mask: Aztec Indian Clay Mask
Clay facial masks are famous for one thing in particular: preventing pores from getting clogged and you won’t find one that’s cheaper or a clay that comes in a larger quantity than this one.
Why You Need After Epilation Care for Face
Having a prone-to-acne or breakouts sensitive skin can be challenging, to say the least. It not only makes the affected person to feel self-conscious about her appearance but it also complicates things when it comes to hair removal.
It’s definitely unpleasant, time-consuming, and expensive. Especially when it comes to methods that remove the hairs from their follicles.
Which is why I came out with this post about after epilation care tips for both the body and face, with a major focus on facial products to use after epilating. These tips apply to waxing facial hair, as well. And to threading.
Prevent breakouts
My post-epilation tips for acne-prone, sensitive skin apply to all methods that involve removing hairs from the root. These methods can irritate the sensitive facial skin and cause even more breakouts.
I have dry sensitive skin that’s very prone to breakouts so I know all about that, even if I’m in my 30s now. I have noticed that the older we get, the more complicated things become and the more products we end up using.
Hair removal should be easy, even when talking about facial hair removal.
In theory, it’s simple.
For most women, removing facial hair is reduced to only choosing the devices that would best serve their needs.
Some women want something that doesn’t involve pain and they choose shaving (a taboo option still) or hair removal creams.
While others want something more long-lasting and they go for waxing or epilation or threading. The latter involves a professional and it’s a bit more gentle on the skin but the first two can be easily done at home.
For other women, like myself, it’s also about adding some extra steps.
After you’ve removed the hairs from the root and your skin is silky smooth that’s where my after epilation care tips come in. They address what should be done post epilation to prevent breakouts from storming our faces the next day(s).
My Top 6 After Epilation Care Tips for Sensitive Skin
When hair is removed from the root, that’s usually when breakouts happen for a person that’s already acne-prone.
These tips also apply to women who have sensitive skin and want to avoid any potential irritation. You don’t need to follow all of them exactly. I will tell you which are the most important.
My most important tips
- using a clean epilator (if you wax you are spared this step) – check out my post on how to clean your epilator (in short: wash the tweezers head, facial cap, and cleaning brush with hot water and pour rubbing alcohol over them)
- cleansing your face both before and after hair removal
- hydrating the face immediately after hair removal – you need to instantly sooth the irritated skin (applying an aloe vera gel before the moisturizer can really make an impact), the redness will be gone more quickly, too
There are additional steps that I follow but these are the basics of my post-epilation tips that shouldn’t be ignored at all.
I started out by using cold facial wax strips for my facial hair and continued to do so for many years.
After that, I started epilating a few years ago and the transition didn’t pose any problems for me because my skin was already used to the shock caused by the hairs being pulled from their follicles.
I also have an intense daily hydration process because of my dry sensitive skin that needs extra maintenance.
My recommendation is to get used to waxing your facial hair and then switching to epilators, especially for those who have acne-prone skin. These tips also call for waxing, just call them post-waxing facial care tips instead.
Tip 1. Get a Good Cleanser for Your Skin Type
Using a good cleanser or a face wash that’s designed for your skin type is essential. It’s the foundation for a healthy skin and one of my most important post-epilation tips.
I wash my face both before and after epilation. It was the same when I was using cold facial wax strips. That’s beside the daily morning and night face cleansing.
It will help immensely in fighting breakouts.
Pick a facial wash that is suitable to your skin type.
If you have dry sensitive skin, you don’t want to use one that will dry out the skin. That will lead to even more breakouts because it affects the skin barrier.
First Aid Beauty Pure Skin Face Cleanser
The facial cleanser that I’ve selected to recommend in this post on post-epilation tips for prone-to-acne sensitive skin is not exactly the cheapest.
You can choose between the 5 oz. and the 8 oz. tube. Still, the First Aid Beauty Pure Skin Face Cleanser is perfect for sensitive skin.
It’s sulfate-free, fragrance-free, oil-free. And it works for all skin types.
The ingredients are nourishing and hydrating, the FAB products are focused on incorporating the best ingredients:
- FAB Antioxidant Booster, which is a powerful botanical antioxidant blend comprised of licorice root, feverfew, and white tea extracts – they’re great at soothing irritated sensitive skin
- aloe and allantoin – two ingredients that sooth and nourish
- and it’s pH-balanced
If your budget is quite limited, I recommend a CeraVe facial wash. They have the CeraVe Hydrating Facial Cleanser (16 oz) that I love.
If you want an even more powerful face wash, you could try out the CeraVe Acne Foaming Cream Cleanser, which contains 4% benzoyl peroxide, which is famous for its properties against breakouts, especially against mild to moderate pustules.
It has the potential of being quite irritating so, only use it once a day, preferably at night, and follow it with a deeply hydrating cream.
In the morning, use a more gentle facial cleanser, followed by a vitamin C serum, a moisturizer, and a sunscreen (or directly use a moisturizer with SPF to combine the last two into one product).
Check out my post on face washing tips for more in-depth on how it should be done and recommendations for the best facial washes.
Where to Buy?
Check Price & User Reviews Here
Bonus tip: Clean your epilator and your facial cap and even the cleaning brush that comes with the epilator with rubbing alcohol.
Tip 2. Calamine Solution + Aloe Vera Gel
If you have a really sensitive skin and, at the same time, one that’s prone to more than a couple zits per week, use this combination.
The calamine solution soothes the skin that has been either waxed or epilated.
The aloe vera gel is known for reducing inflammation, heals the tissue, and it treats acne.
Both of these fight acne and calm the skin. That’s why this is a winning combination for post-epilation sensitive skin.
Apply the moisturizer a couple of minutes after massaging the aloe vera gel into the skin.
Where to Buy?
Check Price & User Reviews Here
Tip 3. Moisturize
There’s nothing better for soothing the skin than a nourishing facial cream.
Immediately after I epilate, I apply mine in a thick layer, more generous than I would use in normal circumstances. Thanks to that, the redness is gone in under an hour. The skin is left smooth, hairless, and glowing.
Like cleansing, this is the actual after epilation care or post-waxing tip that you can’t escape. Even if you don’t have acne-prone sensitive skin. But especially in that situation.
If your skin is not hydrated properly, it can produce more oil to compensate for the lack of hydration, which in turns clogs out the pores even more, and leads to more breakouts.
It can be awful and the skin can get easily irritate from absolutely anything: from skincare products to even a drop in temperatures or living in an area with strong winds.
Removing hairs from their follicles will definitely irritate it if the skin barrier is weak.
Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Water Gel
It only contains hyaluronic acid, which is well know for attracting and retaining water for keeping the skin moist throughout the day and night.
This cream is focused on one ingredient, one that is known for its properties of attracting and holding onto 1000x its weight in moisture.
This is one of the most popular moisturizers for face. And very affordable. Get the one for extra-dry skin.
It’s not actually a cream but a gel-cream. It just means that it gets absorbed quickly and really hydrates the skin.
It’s one of the best choices one could make.
Another good choice is the La Roche-Posay Hydraphase Intense Light Face Moisturizer with Hyaluronic Acid but it’s a bit more expensive than the Neutrogena.
Where to Buy?
Check Price & User Reviews Here
Tip 4. Try the Tend Skin Care Solution
The Tend Skin Care Solution is a fascinating product. And an excellent one to have around, for both men and women.
These are just a few of the reasons why I’m saying that:
- it is primarily a chemical exfoliator that’s used to prevent ingrown hairs and razor bumps
- it’s great for legs exfoliation but it can be used on the face, too
- it’s one of the most affordable chemical exfoliators, I don’t think it gets cheaper than this one
- you can apply it both before and after waxing/epilation
- definitely apply it after because it will also help reduce redness
- wait 5-10 seconds and apply an aloe vera gel followed by a facial cream (you can skip the aloe vera gel if you don’t have any)
- the main ingredient that makes it such a good exfoliator is acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin)
If you want a different chemical exfoliator, check out my next post-epilation tip.
Where to Buy?
Check Price & User Reviews Here
Tip 5. Exfoliate with a Chemical Exfoliator
If you’re already using the Tend Skin Care Solution, which is a chemical exfoliator, you can skip this post-epilation tip entirely.
Otherwise, welcome to the fascinating world of facial chemical exfoliators.
Exfoliation removes dead skin cells, it clears out pores, and helps a lot with preventing breakouts. It’s a very good step to incorporate in a beauty routine, even for those with dry sensitive skin.
Chemical exfoliators even help with the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
They’re also more efficient that facial scrubs and more gentle of the skin. I want to place emphasis on the word gentle.
If you use too much force on a sensitive skin that suffers from acne, you’re going to make the matter worse. Which can easily happen when using scrubs, unless you’re using very gentle facial scrubs.
The Glycolix Elite Glycolic Acid Treatment Pads
These are really affordable and you get 60 pads that will last a long time.
These pads come in 3 concentrations (10%, 15%, and 20%) – for those with dry sensitive skin, the 10% is more than enough.
The Glycolix Elite Glycolic Acid Treatment Pads contain glycolic acid, which is the most effective AHA (alpha hydroxy acid).
Besides glycolic acid, there are other ingredients that they incorporate: witch hazel, retinyl palmitate (like retinol but weaker), vitamin E (tocopheryl acetate), ascorbyl palmitate (a vitamin C derivative), Co-Q10.
In the beginning, you should only use them twice a week and increase the pace gradually – the manufacturer recommends using them 1-2 times daily but if you end up using a pad every other night, I think it’s perfect.
The pads are very easy to use: run them over your face and neck until the pad gets dry.
Don’t rinse it off, the idea is to let the glycolic acid act overnight, to deeply penetrate the skin and remove the dead skin cells by breaking the bonds between them.
Another good exfoliator is Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid Salicylic Acid Exfoliant.
If you want even more choices, check out my post on the best face exfoliators, you will discover some awesome products for every skin type.
Where to Buy?
Check Price & User Reviews Here
Tip 6. Facial Masks
In addition, you could consider using a facial mask. This is pretty much my last tip for post epilation care and it’s something that not many people do and it’s perfectly fine.
There is a wide variety of facial masks that sooth and stimulate the skin. The Aztec Indian clay mask is one of the best out there.
It’s actually incredible! And recommended for acne-prone skin. It also has healing properties, it’s affordable, and you only have to use it once a week.
Another option is to look up DIY recipes.
Make sure to choose one that will match your skin type, whether is homemade or not.
Where to Buy?
Check Price & User Reviews Here
Final Thoughts
I’ve always suffered from breakouts. They haven’t ever stopped but what I’ve always striven for is having a healthy-looking skin.
I don’t use any makeup so, that’s very important to me. A pimple here and there is fine but I want to overall look healthy and glowing.
All of the above tips have worked for me, whether I’ve waxed or epilated my facial hair.
I know that it sounds like a lot of work, on top of the actual work that goes into removing facial hair.
It has turned into a routine for me.
However, if all of that sounds like just too much for you, there’s another option.
You could use a facial razor, like the Tinkle razor. It’s pain-free, cheap, good for peach fuzz and coarse hair, and it doesn’t irritate the skin because it doesn’t remove the hairs from the root, it just cuts them at the surface of the skin.
All in all, I hope that these after epilation care tips for body and face have thought you more about epilating and all it entails.
