I was sitting by to my bathtub, holding a mirror to a painful bump along my bikini line while trying to remove a hair buried beneath the skin’s surface with a tweezer. “Why don’t I have an ingrown hair treatment to take care of this?” I wondered. We’ve all been there: experiencing an aching ingrown in the most unwanted place—wishing, praying for a salve and wondering how we could’ve prevented the pesky little bump in the first place. Turns out, no matter what hair removal train you’re on—from lasers to sugar waxing to good ’ole shaving, the latest crop of exfoliating body serums and lotions ensure that when hair does inevitably grow back, it does so without disturbance. Below, a dermatologist and an esthetician detail everything you need to know about ingrown hairs—plus, the best treatments to heal and avert them.
Vogue’s Favorite Ingrown Hair Treatments
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Best Roll-On: Topicals High Roller Ingrown Hair Tonic
- Why We Love It: There is genuinely no reason not to love Topicals High Roller. As someone who is unfortunately prone to ingrowns, this is a rare treatment that not only prevents them, but makes them go down faster. You have a cocktail of salicylic acid, niacinamide, glycolic acid, and zinc PCA to thank for that. Its a “tonic” rather than serum, meaning it applies more like a toner and sinks relatively quickly into skin. When I consistently apply this 2-3 times per week to my bikini line and arm pits, it’s pretty much guaranteed I will not get any ingrowns.
- Key Ingredients: Salicylic acid, niacinamide, glycolic acid, and zinc PCA, green tea extract
- Size: 50 ml / 1.7 fl oz
Best Serum: European Wax Center Ingrown Hair Serum
- Why We Love It: My line sisters convinced me to start waxing in college. As one does, I drove over to my local European Wax Center and I have never looked back. The beauty of getting a service from them is their full suite of hair-centric formulas, like this Ingrown Hair Serum that has been a staple in my body-care regimen long before my beauty editor days. While I initially purchased it to treat my skin post-wax, I like to apply it to my legs as well after shaving.
- Key Ingredients: Glycolic acid, tea tree oil, lavender oil, coffee extract, camellia sinensis leaft extract, acai extract, glycerin
- Size: 50 ml / 1.7 fl oz
Best Exfoliating Pads: First Aid Beauty Ingrown Hair Pads
- Why We Love It: Exfoliating pads are convenient if you’d like to swipe on your treatment, rather than apply a serum or lotion. Not to mention, they come pre-dosed with just the right amount of product—meaning you don’t have to worry about using too much or too little. First Aid Beauty’s are the best I’ve tried. They’re packed with two powerhouse exfoliating acids (glycolic and salicylic) to keep skin smooth and bump-free.
- Key Ingredients: Glycolic acid, salicylic acid, aloe, witch hazel, camellia sinensis leaf extract, licorice root extract, bisabolol
- Size: 28 pads per tub
Best for Discoloration: iNNBEATY PROJECT Bright & Smooth Body Serum
- Why We Love It: If you’re like me and your ingrowns are often followed by dark spots, you should give InnBeauty Project’s serum a try. Bright & Smooth Body Serum is enriched with 7% AHA & BHA acids to exfoliate, alongside tranexamic acid and vitamin C to fade all traces discoloration with consistent use. I also like that this features shea butter, camellia oil, and ubuntu oil to ensure skin remains hydrated in the process.
- Key Ingredients: 7% AHA & BHA acids + tranexamic acid, papain, vitamin C, 4% shea butter, camellia oil, ubuntu oil, 3% niacinamide
- Size: 5 oz
Best Patch: Fur Ingrown Microdart Patches
- Why We Love It: “In most cases, ingrown hairs will clear up without treatment,” celebrity esthetician Kristin Gunn tells Vogue. “That being said, just about any product used for acne would work on an ingrown hair.” So, using a sort of “pimple patch” for your ingrowns makes a lot of sense. Enter: Fur’s Ingrown Microdart Patches. The tiny dots deliver a blend a salicylic acid, cica, and licorice root straight to the site to reduce inflammation and smooth bumps in just six hours.
- Key Ingredients: Salicylic acid, cica, licorice root, hyaluronic acid, trehalose
- Size: 12 patches per box
Best Drugstore: Megababe Après Shave Ingrown Hair & Razor Bump Roll-On
- Why We Love It: Sometimes using a dull razor is inevitable. When you do, be sure to apply Megababe’s Après Shave immediately after. BHAs and apple fruit extract are the stars of the show here—insuring that hair grows back into a smooth surface free of dead skin cells, but that razor bumps do not appear. Plus, the roll-on applicator makes it easily applied on-the-go, or stored in your toiletry bag.
- Key Ingredients: Salicylic acid, glycerin, apple fruit extract, witch hazel
- Size: 1.9 oz / 56 mL
Best Bar Soap: Soft Services Buffing Bar Microcrystal Exfoliant
- Why We Love It: Forget fancy potions and creams—sometimes, a good ’ole bar soap is all you need. In the quest to smoother, softer skin, this Soft Services Buffing Bar is the way to go. Crafted from superfine sanding crystals enriched with shea butter, aloe leaf juice, and spirulina extract, this delivers gentle physical exfoliation to relieve keratosis pilaris, ingrown hairs, and rough skin textures.
- Key Ingredients: Shea butter, aloe leaf juice, jojoba esters, spirulina maxima extract
- Size: 3.75 oz (net weight) per bar
Best Body Wash: Kosas Good Body Skin AHA + Enzyme Exfoliating Body Wash
- Why We Love It: An exfoliating body wash is Camp’s favorite way to prevent ingrown hairs. Kosas’s is also a personal favorite—bridging an AHA complex (specifically glycolic, lactic, and mandelic acids) with tropical fruit enzymes (papaya and pineapple), and allantoin to stave off body acne and unclog pores—limiting ingrown growth in the process. Not to worry, this maintain’s skins natural oils and soothes irritation via allantoin and glycerin.
- Key Ingredients: Glycolic acid, lactic acid, mandelic acid, tropical fruit enzymes, allantoin
- Size: 9 oz / 275 ml
Best Clean: Tata Harper Resurfacing Body Serum
- Why We Love It: For those in search of a treatment that reads more lotion than serum, Tata Harper’s is the way to go. Despite the name, this is a milky elixir led by plant-based actives like vitamins C and A, plus a host of botanical oils and extracts to provide instant relief to dry, rough patches. Skin is kept smooth through AHA superfruits (think lemon and orange). Pairing the best of hydration and exfoliation, one can even forgo body lotion all-together.
- Key Ingredients: Vitamin C, plant-derived vitamin A, AHA superfruits, orange peptides, hyaluronic acid, calendula flower extract, olive oil, grapefuit oil, rosemary leaf extract
- Size: 4.1 oz / 125 mL
Best Lotion: U Beauty Resurfacing Body Compound
- Why We Love It: If you want your skin to really glow, I’d highly recommend adding U Beauty’s Resurfacing Body Compound to cart. Here, moisturizing agents like shea butter plus peptides and biofermets pair with an AHA blend and papain to promote skin cell turnover, smooth skin texture, and reduce wrinkles—keeping skin soft and ingrown-free. Plus, it’s not at all sticky so that as you go about your day, you’ll likely forget you’re wearing it.
- Key Ingredients: Glycolic acid, mandelic acid, lactic acid, phytic acid, bioferments, biomimetic peeling peptide, papain, shea butter
- Size: 200 mL / 6.7 oz
Best Hydrating: Oui The People Cheat Sheet Resurfacing Body Exfoliant Serum
- Why We Love It: Few brands cater to the body quite like Oui The People. From its hero stainless steel razor to gleaming body gloss, there are many formulas to add to your routine, but this Cheat Sheet serum is a standout of the bunch. Led by an AHA/BHA/PHA blend of gluconolactone plus, glycolic, lactic, and salicylic acids, this works overtime to unclog pores and slough away dead skin cells that can lead to ingrown hairs along the body. Meanwhile Atlantic sea kelp, proline, and botanical oils help boost collagen production and to ensure skin is more moisturized after each use.
- Key Ingredients: Glycolic acid, lactic acid, salicylic acid, Atlantic sea kelp, proline, witch hazel water, lemon, orange, and tangerine peel oil
- Size: 100 mL
What are ingrown hairs?
“Ingrown hairs are hairs that grow underneath the skin and cause the appearance of pimple-like bumps,” explains the New York-based double board-certified dermatologist Brendan Camp, MD.
What causes ingrown hairs?
“Our skin is in a constant cycle of pushing dead skin cells upward to slough off, and that can clog pores of the skin is not exfoliated,” Gunn explains. “The dead skin will block the pathway for hair to grow outward, which can lead to ingrown hairs.” Camp notes that if the hair is unable to pierce the skin as it regrows, it will curl under the skin, which can cause a foreign body reaction. “This leads to redness, swelling, and the appearance of bumps on the skin.”
Is there a way of preventing ingrown hairs?
The best way to prevent ingrown hairs is to use razors with fewer blades and change them frequently. According to Gunn, dull razor blades can not only cause skin irritation and razor burn, but are more likely to cause ingrowns; whereas Camp emphasizes that fewer blades may not give you the closest shave, allowing some hair to remain above the surface to reduce the formation of ingrown hairs. Pro tip: be sure to shave in the direction of hair growth with a foam or gel to reduce friction along the skin. Otherwise, the next best tip is to exfoliate often to slough away dead skin cells that can cover the opening of the hair follicle.
What is the most effective treatment for ingrown hairs?
Gunn notes that ingrown hairs will clear up without treatment; however, if you’re experiencing a really stubborn, painful one you’d like to alleviate sooner rather than later, you can speed up the healing process with acne treating salves. “Soak the area in warm water or apply a warm towel for a few minutes,” she says. Then, apply an exfoliant (think: keratolytic agents, like urea, lactic acid or salicylic acid, per Camp), which will melt away any dead skin in the surface and allow the new skin to breathe. Follow with an unscented moisturizer to help heal dry skin. “If you do happen to see the hair break through, this is good news and means you’re almost in the clear! Grab some clean tweezers and gently pull it out.”
Camp cautions against digging ingrown hairs out, as that can lead to scarring and discoloration. “If symptoms of inflammation or infection are present, such as increased redness, swelling, pain, or the appearance of pustules, a topical or oral antibacterial prescription may be needed.”
Do ingrown hair serums actually work?
Yes, ingrown hair serums do actually work. Per Camp, these can be used to release foreign bodies and ingrown hair from beneath the skin’s surface. “The inclusion of anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and hydrating ingredients treat irritated skin and facilitate the expulsion of pus and ingrown hairs,” he says.
What to Look for in an Ingrown Hair Treatment
Type of Exfoliant: Though body scrubs can remove dead skin cells via physical exfoliation, Gunn is more partial to a chemical treatment. “Our skin has enough to deal with without adding in harsh microbeads, apricot shells and other things that go into a manual exfoliator,” she says. “The chemical exfoliants essentially melt away the dead skin cells and impurities that are causing ingrown hairs. Much easier with little to no irritation.”
Ingredients: Alpha-hydroxy and beta-hydroxy acids (otherwise known as AHAs and BHAs) are best to prevent ingrown hairs because they gently and effectively exfoliate the skin. Specifically, “keratolytic agents found in moisturizers, like urea, lactic acid or salicylic acid, can help facilitate the release of trapped ingrown hairs,” according to Camp.