Nobody works more durable through the vacation season than the pink Venus razor that’s been residing in my mother’s visitor lavatory for the reason that early days of the pandemic. Even if this three-blade disposable was alleged to be trashed after a couple of makes use of, it’s been hanging round for the higher a part of the final three years and—apparently, as I lately and horrifyingly discovered—is utilized by a number of members of my household each time they arrive house.
In case your response to that’s, “GROSS,” effectively, that’s appropriate—there are a complete lot of hygiene points occurring right here. For starters, a “disposable” razor is supposed to be precisely that—disposed of after a couple of makes use of (ideally two weeks), not saved round for years. “From a hygienic perspective, it’s an absolute nightmare, particularly with plastic cartridges,” Leslie Tessler, the founding father of shaving model Hanni, beforehand informed Effectively+Good. “Simply take into consideration the truth that you’ve obtained three, 4, 5 blades, with plastic in between, sitting in a damp surroundings for lengthy intervals of time… We’ve spoken with many gynecologists who typically see bacterial infections in consequence.”
The larger problem, although, is that a number of individuals have been utilizing this identical razor. As any dermatologist will inform you, simply because my siblings and I share the identical mother and father completely doesn’t imply we ought to be sharing the identical razor—whether or not it’s contemporary out of the package deal or outdated AF—and the identical goes for anybody else in your family.
“Borrowing one other individual’s razor is a critically unhealthy thought,” says Rachel Nazarian, MD, a board-certified dermatologist primarily based in New York Metropolis. “The razor collects micro organism because it’s pulled alongside the pores and skin, and until it’s sterilized between makes use of, it truly spreads the micro organism to the subsequent individual.” She explains that if the first consumer (aka the one who truly owns the razor) has particular strains of micro organism on their pores and skin, like staphylococcus, it would contaminate the subsequent consumer with the identical micro organism—which will be probably harmful and will certainly increase their threat of an infection.
“The blade additionally creates microtears within the pores and skin, breaking the tissue down because it shaves the hair, so your threat of pores and skin irritation and an infection is already elevated,” Dr. Nazarian says. “And that’s earlier than we introduce cross-contamination with micro organism. So even when usually, ‘sharing is caring,’ we draw the road at our shavers and blades.”
So in case you, too, are house for the vacations, rethink reaching for that unhappy, uninteresting razor—or another shaving instrument that another person has used. The excellent news? Derms say one of the best ways to get a easy shave is with a fundamental, single-blade razor—so think about selecting up a brand new one on the drugstore as your excuse for getting out of the home when household time begins feeling overwhelming.