Ladies, Do You Shave Your Face?

Ladies, do you shave? I’m not talking about your legs. I’m talking about shaving your face? Not to get rid of your mustache or side burns, but to exfoliate? It’s the new self-care trend for ladies. As difficult as this will be for a lot of guys to hear, women are shaving their face. Not only is it a way to remove unwanted hair and fuzz on your face, but also to exfoliate your skin.

Dermaplaning, or full-face shaving has recently taken over TikTok and YouTube with influencers posting tutorials. One of those influencers is a woman named Meagan Carboney and she says she’s on a mission to normalize female facial shaving. So does this really mean anything, coming from a social media influencer? What do professionals say? Well, aestheticians and dermatologist actually promote the practice.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Dr. David Kim, a dermatologist in San Francisco, says shaving your face can accomplish a lot of the same things you’d get from a dermaplaning treatment. If you’re wondering what dermaplaning is, Dr. Kim says you take a very gentle, blunt scalpel and you scrape over the surface of your skin on the face or anywhere else on the body to gently exfoliate. The process is done to remove dead skin cells, dirt, and oil accumulation. He says the goal is to achieve smoother, brighter skin and to equip your skin to absorb products more effectively. Dr. Kim did say that he doesn’t recommend this for anyone with any sensitive skin conditions like rosacea or eczema, or anyone with acne, moles, or active infections.

Is this really a new thing though? According to The Wall Street Journal, it’s rumored that Marilyn Monroe shaved her entire face to smooth her skin. And Woodblock prints from the 16th century Japan depict women shaving their faces with long thin blades. Also Queen Elizabeth I removed all forehead hair including eyebrows.

Will your hair grow back thicker and longer if you do it? Supposedly, that is a myth. Dr. Kim confirmed that this is improbable and explained that you’re not damaging the hair follicles themselves. You’re just cutting the shaft of the hair.

So if you’re wanting to have youthful looking skin, you can start removing your peach fuzz, dead skin cells, and debris. Just head out and get your dermaplaning tools and shave away.