Dr. Jody Comstock has some advice for women:
Shave.
Your face.
“I’ve been recommending it for over 20 years,” says the dermatologist. “Shaving gives a beautiful glow. I would shave any area of the body.”
The concept has been around for awhile — Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe, among others, supposedly shaved their faces, and Comstock says word is Cleopatra did it, too.
But when Caroline Manzo of “Real Housewives of New Jersey” fame owned up a few years back to shaving her mug, well, interest perked up.
Comstock likens shaving to dermaplane, a treatment in which a tool with a blade scrapes dead skin cells and peach fuzz.
“It exfoliates dead skin and gives the skin a brighter glow and stimulates collagen,” she says.
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Hair does not grow back thicker, longer or more wiry, says Comstock. It feels wiry when shaved hair begins to grow out, but it becomes softer as it tapers and curves.
Liz Moncivaiz, a patient service representative in Comstock’s office, admits to shaving her upper lip — she’s been doing it for a little more than a decade.
“I do it about once a week,” the 37-year-old said. “I’m a hairy person.”
She first went the route of a depilatory cream, but quickly became disenchanted.
“My skin just got burned with the creams,” she says. These days, she’s happy with her razor.
While the trend may be growing, Michelle Roque, a Tucson aesthetician, isn’t a fan.
“It’s not what I recommend,” she says. “Our skin is not like a man’s skin, and the response is not as it would be for men. They have thicker skin because of testosterone. Razors should not be on (women’s) faces.”
Shaving can cause ingrown hairs and scarring, says Roque. She recommends dermaplaning instead.
“The single blade is made for the procedure, and it’s held at a specific angle,” Roque says about the process. “It gets rid of the hair in a softer way.”
There you have it:
Differing opinions from skin care specialists. If you do decide to put razor to face, here are a few tips from Comstock:
- If you have acne or other skin problems, don’t shave until they have cleared up.
- Start with warm skin.
- Use a shaving cream for sensitive skin. “Most are fine, but those for sensitive skin are less irritating in general. And use on body hair first to make sure you are not allergic.”
- Be gentle. Just a light shave, going in the direction of the hair.
- Go slowly. “If you go too quickly you could get a shaving burn.”
- Shave as needed: Comstock has patients who shave as often as once a week and as infrequently as every three weeks.
