Japanese women are blessed with beautiful skin, which is mainly attributed to their fresh diet and great genes. While those might be legit reasons, it turns out they also have a little known beauty secret – shaving their faces!
Credit: ABC News
The trend was pioneered by beauty salons in Japan, and many women now believe that it is the real reason for younger-looking skin.
While men generally shave the areas of the face with the thickest hair growth, Japanese women get rid of their facial fuzz all over. This supposedly creates a silky smooth, porcelain texture that’s highly desirable among the Japanese. The beauty treatment has become so popular that almost all salons offer a shave as a part of their regular services. Some women do it once every season along with a common facial, others once a month, and there are even those who shave at home every day with their own blades. Some prefer to shave their entire bodies, and some go as far as shaving off their eyebrows because they feel that real hair is an unrefined feature of the face.
According to Japanese beauty experts, men have unknowingly been using the age-defying technique for years. They say that the reason men seem to age slower is because they shave all the time. The shaving cream apparently moisturises the face in all the right places, while the shave itself acts as a massage. The shaving process is believed to not only remove peach fuzz, but also provide exfoliation of the dead skin cells on the surface. This promotes a rapid turnover of the skin’s layers, making the application of foundation and other makeup products easier. In older women, it also helps remove unwanted facial hair that appears during menopause.
Women also needn’t worry about bristling like men, because they have softer facial hair. And the old wives’ tale about facial hair growing back stronger and darker after a shave is just a myth. “We tell all our clients that it is the best-kept secret of Hollywood leading ladies for years,” said salon owner Mamika Ozaki. “Marilyn Monroe and Liz Taylor were regular shavers. And you don’t get any more stubble at the end of it than you would if you were shaving a peach.”
American cosmetic expert Mary Schook agreed that a shave once every fortnight makes perfect sense. “Men age quite significantly slower than women,” she said. “This is mainly to do with the fact that they shave every day which helps a kind of stretching reflex, keeping the skin young-looking.” US salons also offer similar services that go by the names ‘dermaplaning’ or ‘blading’, and cost several hundreds of dollars per session.
The procedure is mostly safe, if done by an experienced professional. But shaving isn’t always advised for those with a lot of acne, because the irritation of stagnant oils on the skin may worsen the problem.
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Beauty blog Refinery29 recently featured an article by Cynthia Popper, who had her face shaved for the first time, at Beauty Face – one of Japan’s largest salon chains. “Having a straight razor taken to your face is freaky, but after feeling her (the beautician’s) expertise and precision, I was able to relax,” Cynthia wrote. “The razor passed over my face in short, sweeping motions, and it was essentially painless.”
Once the shaving was complete, the beautician gave her an accupuncture massage and a hot-towel massage, followed by sheet-mask treatment, anti-ageing serums, and a moisturizer. “My skin was so fresh and buttery-soft, I briefly considered never wearing makeup again,” said Cynthia. “When I finally did my makeup, it slid on like a dream. The results last a good two to three weeks, although the length varies depending on a person’s skin and hair growth.”
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Any of you ladies interested in getting a shave?