Shaving 101: Dermaplaning & Body Shaving
Shaving is our least favorite self-care/hygiene thing to do ever. We’ve tried tons of different at-home methods to get the closest shave, in the fastest amount of time, with the least amount of pain and honestly think we’ve struck gold with our current process. There are some “non-negotiables” for us below, and some steps that can be skipped or substituted, so we’ll be sure to highlight which is which. Additionally, we’re sharing our dermaplaning process as well because it’s fairly straightforward (takes us less than a minute to do a full face!) and we’ve definitely perfected it in the last 3-4 years or so with finding the right blades. Alright, let’s get into it.
Body Shaving:
The first thing we do before shaving is scrub the area with a physical exfoliant. Ideally, you’d want to use something as abrasive as you can comfortably tolerate, so we tend to skip the sugar scrubs with rich oil bases and instead go for the most intense scrub we’ve ever tried: the Soft Services Buffing Bars. These are microcrystal exfoliant bar soaps that are very densely packed with granules and described by the brand as “moderate to intense” when applied in circular motions and mild pressure. We love these bars for scrubbing our body 1-3x/week regardless, but it’s a non-negotiable step for us right before shaving as physical exfoliation at this level reduces the chances of developing ingrown hairs, but also smooths the skin for a closer shave right then.
This next step is highly variable: shaving cream, oil, or anything in between. The best shaving cream we’ve ever tried was the Perricone MD Hypoallergenic CBD Sensitive Skin Therapy Ultra-Smooth Clean Shave Cream but that stuff is $29/6oz. (currently on sale for $12 though!) and not really worth it unless you have very sensitive skin in our opinion, although it’s very comfortable and a bit moisturizing. We’re currently just using whatever creamy body wash or oil is in the shower and they work similarly for us—as long as you’re using something with a bit of slip, it should do the job. The razor we’re about to discuss does most of the heavy-lifting, so save where you can with the shaving emollients.
We’ve tried every manual razor at the drugstore, and our fair share of electric ones as well. The best electric option we’ve tried—especially for the bikini area—is a men’s option from Phillips, but for easy hair removal on fine-hair areas of the body like the arms (that can also be used totally dry) we like this one from Panasonic. Now, neither of these compare to the efficiency of the manual safety razor of our dreams: the Leaf Razor. This is a completely plastic-free metal razor that is weighty in the hand with three easily replaceable blades. It’s a pricey option at $89, currently on sale for $62, but totally worth it in our opinion—granted, we got it on a crazy BFCM deal back in November so it was only $33, but after trying it for a few months, we can confidently say that if our razors went missing, we’d pay full price to replace them. You get an incredibly close shave with these blades that just glides across the skin for quick and painless hair removal. No need to go back-and-forth as long as you’re using appropriate pressure, which reduces the chances of nicking, ingrown hairs, etc. The device itself is easy to clean as it uses a captive screw that will not fall out, and the blades sit in place decently well even when the razor is un-tightened so if you need to quickly unscrew the mechanism to clean it in the shower, you won’t have to worry about metal blades and/or screws going down the drain. The replacement blades are awesome—they come in a pack of 50, 100, or 200 and are super sharp with a bit of flexibility, but they’re not prone to breaking (none of ours have cracked yet). We were skeptical about this expensive little razor, but we feel it’s one of the most well-designed products we’ve come across in years and it’s made our shaving routines exponentially faster. 10/10 product.
Post-shave, we rinse off and like to do a foamy body wash—any will do. You can physically exfoliate again with the Buffing Bar if you’d like, but we find that it can be a bit uncomfortable. Instead, we like to apply a chemical exfoliant to the area after toweling off. Our best advice as skincare bloggers is to honestly use whatever AHA you have on hand already, no need to purchase an entirely separate option just for your body. We like a milky glycolic or lactic acid blend as they’re a bit spicier than what we typically go for on the face, but can treat texture abnormalities and hyperpigmentation as well as hydrate the skin when used on the body. If you don’t have anything on hand currently and are looking to buy, we recommend the Prequel Multi-Acid Milk Peel, a 15% blend of multiple AHAs, housed in a milky liquid that works great for reducing ingrowns, KP, and other pesky body surface texture conditions—it comes in a nice large size at 7.6oz., so it’ll last a long time, too. If you want a much gentler option, Eadem’s Cashmere Peel works wonderfully on the body (lactic acid is the featured ingredient here, and if you have hyperpigmentation, it may be a better option thanks to the azelaic and tranexamic acids in the blend) and we prefer to use it on a more regular basis beyond just post-shave.
That’s pretty much it! This process has been working for us for years now, however the Leaf Razor really sped it up for us in the last six months.
Face Shaving:
Every time we mention face shaving—AKA dermaplaning, call it what you want—we get bombarded with questions about its efficacy, likely due to the rampant misinformation and fear-mongering out there. Let’s cover a few common questions first then get into the specific products we use:
Do you need to shave your face?
No. There’s no skincare benefit to shaving one’s face, but for aesthetic purposes, we’ve been doing it since like, middle school
Does hair grow back thicker?
No, this has been debunked many times by professionals. The hair is not capable of growing back thicker from just a shave, but a blunt cut may *sometimes* appear thicker as hair begins to grow back.
Does it give you acne?
When skin and the tools used are thoroughly cleaned before and after use, the risk of developing acne or an infection solely from dermaplaning is quite low. We’ll give you some solid tips to prevent this below!
How often should I do it?
As often as you’d like. We shape our eyebrows and remove hair from the upper lip, chin, and between the brows very regularly (about once a week) with a dermaplaner, but we shave our entire faces maybe once every two months or so, sometimes much less.
Does it help skincare and makeup apply and look better?
To an extent, yes.
Will this treat acne, hyperpigmentation, or other skin concerns?
No. There’s a lot of misguidance out there about dermaplaning—it will not treat skin conditions that occur below the outermost surface of the skin!
Can I do it with sensitive skin?
It depends on the kind of sensitivity you have. We’re sensitive to strong exfoliating acids and some essential oils, which has little to do with dermaplaning, but if you’re sensitive to physical exfoliation, be extra cautious.
Now, for our process:
Always start with clean skin. We like to use our gentle cream cleansers here but whatever you have will work just fine!
Next, like the body shaving step, you can apply a cream, oil, or balm layer to add some slip to the skin. If we’re using a cream layer, it will usually be our leftover cream cleansers because they’re not totally opaque to block our view of the hair in these delicate regions of the face. We’ll often take a bit of our cleansing balms on dried skin to create a balmy, transparent layer as well, or you can use a facial oil.
When it comes to shaving the cheeks, forehead, and chin, the dermaplaning tool we use doesn’t matter too much as these are large areas of the skin that don’t require a precise shave, so we’ll use a regular indented scalloped dermaplaning tool. The nice metal options from Tweezerman and Sephora brand are our favorites—actually, Versed made our favorite but it seems they’re in the process of discontinuing it. However, when it comes to achieving a really close, efficient shave around the nose, upper lip, and brows, our absolute non-negotiable product is the Stacked Skincare Precision Dermaplaning Refills. These are the ONLY blades we’ve found that have completely smooth edges, making them incredibly sharp, precise, and easy to use, and although they’re meant for small regions of the face, we regularly use them all over instead of buying separate blades. We haven’t found anything that compares to these blades and tbh we’re terrified they’ll be discontinued one day and we won’t find a suitable alternative. You get a close shave that can be used around the delicate contours of the face to nick individual hairs (so if you’re a plucker, try this instead!). Now, they’re a bit pricey at $25.50 for a pack of three, and unfortunately do not come with a handle so you’ll have to buy a separate one. We used to recommend purchasing the Versed tool because the handle could fit the Stacked blades and you would be able to save yourself the outrageous $75 that Stacked charges for their metal handle, but again, it’s being discontinued. We haven’t had to buy a new handle yet, but when we do, we’ll look for the interchangeable options that allow you to slide the blade into the tool.
Before AND after each use, we wipe the blades down with a bit of isopropyl alcohol, which we’ve found helps dry the blade and prevent rusting, so not only does it ensure a good hygenic practice, but it prolongs the life of the blade as well. The shaving technique itself is pretty simple: we move upward against the direction of growth, in quick, but long motions. If you’ve seen the videos of people scraping their blades downward on TikTok with a hair revealer spray spewing powder and hair everywhere, that is both an incorrect and inefficient way to use the tool. Flip it, point the blade upward, and keep it against your skin in a single, fluid motion. Easy!
Once you’ve shaved your face, you can give it a quick rinse, cleanse again if you’d like (we don’t), and if you’re prone to congestion, you can try one of the following methods:
A hypochlorous acid spray
We’re currently using this one from Personal Day, but any hypochlorous spray will do the job. Personal Day also offers the same formula in a unique leave-on gel form—we haven’t tried it after dermaplaning because we always shower post-shave, but if you’re not, definitely give this a go.
A benzoyl peroxide face wash
Naturium and Panoxyl make the best 5% options in our opinion and you can apply them as face masks for SCT as well.
A benzoyl peroxide face mask for short-contact therapy
Sofie Pavitt’s Reset Mask features 5% BPO + glycolic acid and kaolin clay, a completely unique yet efficient blend for tackling congestion. If you’re sensitive, don’t use this mask directly after dermaplaning because it will sting a bit.
That’s all! Go ahead and apply the rest of your skincare as usual and enjoy that smooth skin bliss. We hope you found these tips helpful!
I really love Leaf. I've had their 3 blade razor for a few years, and when the screw broke I sent it to them at no charge. They repaired it and sent it back to me, again at no charge and with a complimentary pack of 50 refill blades If I recall correctly the whole process took about a week. I actually also have their dermaplaner and it works really well for me. For me I like it better than the Versed I had and the Stacked (regular blade). I also like that the blades and guards are all metal and recyclable, instead of the plastic heads on the others.