Waxing vs. Shaving: What Is the Difference for Your Skin?

Shaving cuts hair off at the surface of the skin, so it is quick, painless and back within a few days. Waxing pulls the hair out from the root, so it stings for a moment and the skin stays smooth for weeks. Neither one is wrong. The better choice depends on your skin, your schedule and how much stubble bothers you.

What does shaving do to your skin?

A razor slices each hair at skin level and leaves the root alone. The hair keeps growing, which is why you can feel it again a day or two later.

The blade also takes a thin layer of surface skin with it. That is part of why freshly shaved legs feel so smooth, and also why they can feel tight, dry or stingy afterward. The usual complaints with shaving are:

• Razor burn and small nicks, especially with a dull blade or a rushed shave.
• Stubble. A cut hair has a blunt tip, so it feels coarse as it grows out.
• Ingrown hairs, most often where hair is coarse or curly.
• Dryness from shaving the same skin several times a week.

One thing shaving does not do is make hair grow back thicker or darker. It only feels that way because of that blunt tip.

What does waxing do differently?

Warm wax is spread over the skin, grips the hair and is removed in one quick motion, taking the hair out of the follicle. Because the whole hair is gone, it has to grow back from the start. For most people that means smooth skin for roughly three to six weeks, depending on the area and how fast their hair grows.

When the hair does return, it comes in with a fine, tapered tip, so it feels softer than shaved stubble. Wax also lifts some dead skin along with the hair, which leaves the area feeling smooth.

The trade-offs are real, though:

• It stings. The feeling is brief, and most people find it easier after the first visit or two.
• Skin can look pink and feel warm for a few hours, sometimes into the next day.
• The hair has to be long enough for the wax to hold, about a quarter of an inch, or the length of a grain of rice. That means letting it grow between appointments.
• Ingrown hairs can still happen, though many people get fewer of them than they do with a razor.

Which is better for sensitive skin?

It depends on what your skin reacts to. Shaving is small, repeated friction. Waxing is one bigger event, far less often. People who get razor burn every time they shave often do better with waxing, because the skin gets weeks to rest in between.

Waxing is not right for everyone, and there are times to skip it:

• If you use a retinoid on the area. Retinol, tretinoin and similar products make the surface of the skin more fragile, and wax can lift skin along with the hair. Tell Ashley what you use before she starts.
• If you take Accutane (isotretinoin). Waxing is off the table while you are on it and for months afterward. Your prescriber can tell you when it is safe again.
• If the skin is sunburned, broken or irritated. Wait until it has fully healed.

If you have a medical condition or take a medication that affects your skin or how you heal, check with your doctor first.

Is waxing or shaving better in summer?

June is when the question comes up most. Shorts, pool days and lake weekends mean a lot more shaving, and chlorine or sunscreen on freshly shaved skin can sting.

Waxing takes the daily job away, but it needs a little planning in summer:

• Book a day or two before a trip, not the morning you leave, so any pinkness has time to settle.
• Keep freshly waxed skin out of strong sun and out of the pool for the first day or so.
• Get waxed before the beach, not after. Sunburned skin cannot be waxed.

Can you switch back and forth?

You can, but it works against you. Hair grows in cycles, and regular waxing gets those hairs growing on a similar schedule, which is why results tend to last longer after a few appointments. Shaving between visits resets that.

If you are switching from a razor, stop shaving two to three weeks before your first appointment so the hair is long enough. There is more on that in how to prepare for a wax appointment.

What about cost and time?

Shaving costs little each time and asks for a few minutes several days a week, all year. Waxing is an appointment every few weeks and nothing in between. Which one feels like less work is personal. Current prices are on each service page.

Where to start

At Spathetics, Ashley offers Half Leg Waxing (from the knee down) and Arm Waxing, along with brows, lip, chin and full face. If you have never been waxed, a smaller area is an easy way to find out how your skin responds. You can see all waxing services, and when you are ready, book an appointment online.