We’re deep diving into the debate of when to exfoliate during your shower routine, plus an easy sugar scrub recipe you can make at home!
Shaving is such a drag, and there are so many things you need to do to make sure you don’t get things like razor bumps or nicks. And you may be wondering, do you use a sugar scrub before or after shaving?
Exfoliating is a super important skin care step you don’t want to skip when it comes to shaving. But how you exfoliate is a game-changer if you want to prevent things like razor bumps or ingrown hairs.
Should You Exfoliate Before Shaving? Or After?
The short answer is that you should be doing both! You should exfoliate before you shave, and again afterwards a few days later to keep the area free of dead skin cells.
You’ll be doing yourself a huge favor if you use sugar scrub instead of regular shaving cream. Although if you do prefer to use a traditional shaving cream, I recommend you use one of these nontoxic options.
Exfoliating your body shouldn’t be an everyday thing, because you don’t want to over exfoliate your skin and leave it feeling raw. Those dead skin cells need a decent amount of time to regenerate!
The best practice for when to exfoliate is about once or twice a week. Then you can follow up with shaving right after if needed. Sugar scrub after shaving should be more of an occasional maintenance kind of thing.
If you plan on shaving once every few days, then you can simply exfoliate before shaving and call it good. But if you like to shave once a week, you’ll have to fit in an extra exfoliation session before your next shave.
How Long Should You Wait to Shave After Exfoliating?
I personally think that the time you exfoliate and the time you shave should be one after another. So in other words, you should exfoliate then immediately shave.
If you use sugar scrub as shaving lubricant, don’t even bother rinsing it off! You don’t have to rinse off sugar scrub because you’ll also rinse off that valuable oil.
You can totally use sugar scrub after shaving, but I think that defeats the purpose because your razor won’t get rid of all that turned-up dead skin and leave new skin behind.
Don’t forget that you’ll need to exfoliate the area again a few days afterward to prevent any ingrown hairs. This is crucial if you shaved a sensitive area!
You don’t want any new dead skin cells to get into your follicles and cause irritation. This goes especially for the pubic area. You should be regularly exfoliating before and after shaving for good maintenance.
The Best Pre-Shave Exfoliator for Legs
This DIY sugar scrub recipe I’m about to show you combines exfoliating, moisturizing, and shaving gel all in one go! And the ingredients are super easy to find! You probably have them laying around the house already.
There are a couple components that give you a close shave with this sugar scrub. One of these components is the moisture provided by the oils in this recipe.
What makes a good sugar scrub is not just the sugar, but the oils that go with it. The oils that you rub into your skin with the sugar gives some much-needed lubrication for your razor.
You will be able to glide your razor right over your skin without any problems, which means that you’ll get those razor blades closer to your skin for a longer-lasting, smoother shave.
Shaving without some kind of lubricant is like trying to go four wheeling in a city-bound sedan. It just won’t work as well. And yes, I have actually gone four wheeling in a sedan without any accidents, but that’s beside the point.
The Power of Exfoliating
The second major component of using sugar scrub when shaving is the exfoliating power. This is one of the most underrated parts of good shaving habits!
You don’t want all that dead skin to get into your freshly shaved hair follicles. And sugar is one of the best natural exfoliators out there.
The small granules of the sugar enable it to get rid of every little piece of dead skin, leaving behind glowing new skin. Sugar is also gentle enough to use on sensitive areas, like the bikini line.
It can even help open up ingrown hairs! You can read more about how to heal ingrown hairs in one day if you suffer from regular razor burn like me.
I can certainly see a difference in my legs whenever I use a sugar scrub. Beforehand, I can usually see the dead skin starting to form all over my shins. After my shower, all the dead skin is gone, and my skin is smooth and looking fresh!
You’ll not only have better-looking skin, but healthier skin too. All of those dead skin cells can’t get into your hair follicles and cause nasty ingrown hairs.
Believe me, I’ve been there. Using leg scrub to remove dead skin should be part of everyone’s personal care routine.
Overall, sugar isn’t abrasive to irritate the skin, and it’s great for getting rid of the dead skin you didn’t even know you had. It’s the best exfoliator for legs before and after shaving, in my opinion.
Sugar Scrub Recipe
This easy sugar scrub will buff away dead skin to reveal glowing moisturized skin underneath! It also makes a great shaving cream.
Materials
Instructions
- Measure your sugars and combine in a small bowl.
- Add in your carrier oil and essential oils of choice and mix thoroughly
- Add additional ingredients, like tea leaves, if using.
- Spoon your sugar scrub into an airtight mason jar and store in a cool, dry place.
Notes
If you want to use a different container, just make sure that half the container is full of white sugar, 1/4 is full of brown sugar, then add your carrier oil fill up the remaining 1/4.
How to Use Sugar Scrub
Now before you get started, I want to give you some pointers on these ingredients. When it comes to white sugar, try to avoid granulated sugar and go for raw.
The least processed you can get, the better. Mostly because the larger sugar granules are better for exfoliation than the typical white sugar you see. But if you only have granulated sugar on hand, that’s totally fine!
I’ve included both white and brown sugar to give a bit more variety to the size of the granules. The slightly bigger size of the brown sugar against the smaller white sugar granules will get every piece of dead skin.
Plus, brown sugar tends to stick together better than white sugar, so it’s a great bonding agent.
I also love using mason jars for sugar scrubs! This recipe makes about one mason jar’s worth of sugar scrub. If you want to make less or more, I go by a simple measuring system.
Whatever container you want to use, half of it should be white sugar, a quarter of it brown sugar, and the last quarter your carrier oil.
The essential oils should follow safe dilution rates, which is usually about 12-24 drops, or 1% of the carrier oil’s volume. I’ve used this method for several different containers, and it hasn’t failed me yet!
You can customize this sugar scrub recipe however you like! My personal favorite combination is to have jojoba oil with tea tree, lavender, and peppermint.
You can take this recipe one step further and add stuff for fun! Think peppermint tea leaves, lavender buds, whatever makes you happy! Just don’t use larger add-ins if it’s meant for shaving so it doesn’t clog your razor.
You can see what I mean in my DIY peppermint mocha sugar scrub recipe, which is essentially the Christmas version of this post. It was a great DIY body scrub gift for my family!
So have fun with this recipe and give it your own personal style. That’s what clean beauty is all about.
How to Exfoliate Legs and Body Before Shaving
If you’re going to exfoliate anywhere on your body, the process is still the same. Simply take about a quarter-sized amount of sugar scrub and rub onto your skin in gentle, circular motions.
This should not hurt!! If you feel any kind of discomfort, apply a lighter amount of pressure.
Or make sure that the granules of your sugar scrub aren’t too big. You don’t want to rub yourself with a bunch of small rocks.
Once again, make sure that you don’t rinse off too much of your sugar scrub before shaving. You want to keep all those nourishing oils on your skin so it can act as a shaving lubricant.
After you’ve finished applying your sugar scrub, simply shave as normal. Make sure you practice good shaving hygiene and clean your razor afterward!
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REVIVE has a great selection for nourishing carrier oils, some of my favorites being sweet almond and jojoba oil. I would recommend either one of these carrier oils for learning how to use sugar scrub when shaving.
If you have no idea what a carrier oil is, they’re super important to maintain safe essential oil practices. I’ve got an essential oil safety guide that explains everything.
You can add in some essential oils for an extra kick. Some essential oils I recommend are tea tree, lavender, peppermint, or orange.
They can provide some nice aromatherapy benefits, but you also want an oil that’s good for the skin. I personally love to do a combination of tea tree and lavender, because of the soothing and antibacterial properties they possess.
How Do You Shave with Sugar Scrub?
While this sugar scrub is great for shaving and the health of your skin, I’ve got a few tips to make things go smoother than your freshly shaved legs. If you do these things regularly and take some precautions, you’ll have zero issues.
Always clean out your razor head after shaving! Especially after using something dense like a sugar scrub.
Those little granules will get caught between the blades and hinder your razor from doing its job. Plus, it will dull the blades faster.
What I like to do is open my razor and take out the blade for a little rinse-off. I absolutely love a safety razor over traditional razors! There’s no moisture strip that’s riddled with hundreds of gross toxic chemicals, and I get a much better shave.
If you’re curious, I’ve got the complete guide on how to use a safety razor. It’s one of the best decisions I made during the beginning stages of my clean beauty journey because it so drastically improved my quality of shaving.
And if life happens, no worries! Annoying things like ingrown hairs are bound to happen sometimes. Or all the time if you’re like me and not careful. But I found a great remedy for ingrown hairs and razor burn.
It’s just two ingredients that you probably have lying around the house already. I tried it on myself with truly amazing results. All of my razor bumps were gone in just a couple of hours!
Lastly, make sure that you do a body scrub before you shave! You need all those good oils on your skin to lubricate your razor and prevent any nicks from happening.
Using your body scrub after you shave is wasting some good oils. Plus, I like how the razor takes away any excess oils that are lingering on your skin, so you don’t leave the shower feeling too greasy.
Final Thoughts on If You Should Exfoliate Before or After Shaving
If you’re wondering whether you should use sugar scrub before or after shaving your legs, the answer is both!
Thanks to the gentle exfoliating power of the sugars, and the moisturizing power of the carrier oils, your skin will be looking and feeling its best. Plus, you can add essential oils from REVIVE Essential Oils for something extra!
Just make sure to follow proper shaving etiquette, like cleaning the razor blades and always practicing preventative care. This includes exfoliation and disinfection to prevent ingrown hairs.
Do you wash your body before or after shaving? Let me know in the comments below!
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