Some men can take their shirts off and still look like they are wearing a sweater vest. These hairy friends of mine are covered in chest, leg, and arm hair and proud of it. If you are a proud hairy man then this is the post for you! While I am sure you know all about how to trim, shave, and maintain the hair on your chest, you are probably forgetting that there is also skin underneath all that hair. It’s important that you don’t ignore what lies beneath the hair because that skin can still get irritated, sunburned, or damaged. Here are some quick skin care tips for dealing with ingrown hair.

Don’t forget the sunscreen

It’s easy to forget to protect your chest from SPF when it is covered in hair, but your hair (no matter how much of a forest you have on your chest) does not protect your skin from the harmful UV rays of the sun. Choose an oil-based sunscreen that will make it easier to penetrate the thick hair follicles to protect your skin from sunburn and long-term skin damage.

Take a break from hot showers

If the skin under your body hair is starting to feel itchy or scratchy or if you are noticing flakes from dry skin onto your body hair, then you might need to take cooler showers. The steam and heat from hot showers can strip your skin of natural oils and vitamins which leads to irritation and dry skin. Switching to a cool shower every other day is an easy solution for this problem. Make sure you use our face wash which includes charcoal for men's skin. If you have a long beard or cool mustache style, check out the cedarwood beard conditioner.

Avoid scrubs and exfoliators

While I am a true believer in using body scrubs on a regular basis to get rid of dead skin cells and impurities for my hairless friends, this rule does not apply to those of you who are hairy. Your thick, coarse hair follicles actually act like a natural skin exfoliant, so any extra product might actually irritate your skin.

Deal with in-grown hairs the right way

Ingrown hairs are hairs that have curled around and started to grow behind your skin instead of in front of it. It often causes pain and inflammation and is obviously more of malice to men with more hair. The best way to treat ingrown hairs is by using sterilized forceps to pull them out. Most experts also suggest waiting a few days to allow the ingrown hair to revert itself to normal growth. Whatever you do, don’t pop the ingrown like a pimple, or you will cause additional irritation and possibly an infection. Now that you know how to treat an ingrown, there are also some tips that you can use that will help prevent ingrown hairs from developing in the first place.

When you’re in the shower, lather yourself with your body wash in a circular motion to direct your hair to grow toward the front of your skin. If you choose to shave or trim your hair with clippers, make sure that the water you use is warm to help open up your pores. Also apply a cool washcloth onto your skin afterward to reduce irritation. For the ultimate shave, make sure you're using the proper shaving cream and shaving brush.

Now that you know how to treat an ingrown, there are also some tips that you can use that will help prevent ingrown hairs from developing in the first place. When you’re in the shower, lather yourself with your body wash in a circular motion to direct your hair to grow toward the front of your skin. If you choose to shave or trim your hair with clippers, make sure that the water you use is warm to help open up your pores. Also apply a cool washcloth onto your skin afterward to reduce irritation.