In this article, we will be talking about shaving and why your clients shouldn’t shave their legs before having a pedicure.
There are a lot of people who will shave their legs before they head to a salon to get a pedicure because they believe that when it comes to salon treatments, their legs and their feet have no relation. However, it’s very important that if you or your customers are going to have a pedicure that they don’t shave beforehand. There are a lot of reasons for not doing this and while we’ll go into more detail shortly, it all comes down to the fact that it can affect your skin and in some cases, your health.
This might seem like an exaggeration but trust us on this one, it’s not worth the risk. If you’re shaving your legs and getting a pedicure for a special night then the best thing to do is either shave your legs after the pedicure or at a very minimum, 48 hours before. Below, we are going to be discussing why your customers shouldn’t shave and how it can impact their health.
What Are Skin Pores?
In order to have a better understanding of why your clients shouldn’t shave before a pedicure, understanding what skin pores are and what role they place is important.
Skin pores are very small gaps in your skin which are used to release skin oils and, as disgusting as it is, sweat. Some people have bigger pores than others which is typically a result of either sun damage, oily skin (excessive sebum production), using harmful makeup or skin products, or the dreaded one, acne.
It can be tough to deal with large skin pores and most people spend their whole life dealing with them. Unfortunately, there is no way for you to make your skin pores smaller although, there are a lot of things that you can do to maintain your skin and prevent your pores from becoming infected.
When you shave your legs, and when men shave their faces, your skin pores are exposed and your hair follicles are opened up. This might seem insignificant, but this provides bacteria and particles of dirt a means of getting under your skin and even into your bloodstream. Needless to say, you want to avoid this from happening at all costs.
Of course, there are treatments that can be applied to your skin after shaving which will prevent dirt and bacteria from becoming a problem. However, when these treatments are only a temporary fix and when you submerge your feet or legs in water, the treatment will be washed away rendering it pointless.
Shaving Before a Pedicure
Now that you have an understanding of how skin pores work we can now discuss how shaving before a pedicure can be unhealthy.
When you shave, the first thing that you apply is either shaving gel or shaving cream. These types of products will open up your hair follicles, weaken the roots of your hair, and open up your skin pores to make shaving much easier. Each of these things makes you vulnerable to bacteria or dirt entering your system in one way or another.
Now, while this will make it easier for you to shave, these things won’t reverse as soon as you are finished shaving. Your hair follicles will still be opened, your roots will be weaker, and your skin pores will be opened up – it can take several days for each to repair themselves.
During the time that it takes for these to repair themselves, if you choose to go and have a pedicure then you need to remember how many other people will have used the pedicure chair. If the pedicure chair has a piping system which pushes the water out to create a whirlpool, and if a salon doesn’t do the proper cleaning procedures, then there will be a lot of bacteria lingering. When someone with shaved legs puts them into the chair’s basin, they are risking this bacterium entering this system.
Even when a salon goes to extreme lengths to clean their pedicure chairs there is no way to guarantee that there are absolutely no bacteria, there will always be a risk.
As you can see, it’s simply not worth it to take the risk. Instead, recommend that your customers get a pedicure before they shave – this will completely eliminate all the risk and all it takes is a little patience.
Preventing a Skin Infection
If you or one of your clients decide to shave your legs before a pedicure anyway, you’re most likely going to encounter a problem with your skin in the near future. In some cases, the issue will be short-lived and you’ll be able to deal with it without too much bother, although it’s not unknown for worse skin conditions to arise. In fact, it may even go beyond a skin condition and become a general health issue.
Starting at the bottom, if dirt gets into the skin pores then this will typically cause a pimple or a blackhead. These are very easy to eliminate and they will be gone within days. However, if we go to the worst of the worst, you could get a bacterial infection causing some very severe health issues.
So, how can you prevent a skin infection after shaving? First, clean your legs and anywhere else that you shaved. Warm water and soap will do fine, then dry off with a clean towel. Next, use a generous amount of hydrocortisone cream or if you don’t have any, moisturiser or aloe vera will do fine.
Hydrocortisone cream will prevent any dirt from getting under your skin and will also soothe your skin.
Lastly, if you have taken all of these precautions but you still experience some sort of health issue after having a pedicure, whether it is skin related or not, contact a doctor. The earlier that you catch a bacterial infection, the better chances you have of getting the right treatment and fighting it off.
What About Waxing?
Waxing has a similar effect on your skin. When you wax your legs the hair follicles are opened up and exposed. This means that anything which touches your skin risks being absorbed into your skin or into the open hair follicles.
Similarly, make sure that your clients don’t wax their legs before they drop in.
To Conclude…
So, now that you know everything that you need to know about shaving and pedicures, if you have a client who has made an appointment to come into your salon for a pedicure, make sure that you inform them that they shouldn’t shave until after they’ve had the pedicure. You could even go a step further and create some brochures so that your clients have an understanding of why they shouldn’t shave and what risks there are to it.
