This is probably the question I get asked most often — usually by someone who's been shaving for years and is starting to wonder if there's a better way. My honest answer? It depends on what you're looking for. But for most of my clients, once they make the switch, they don't go back.
Let me break down what I've seen, both sides of it, so you can decide what actually makes sense for you.
Shaving Gets the Job Done — Until It Doesn't
There's nothing wrong with shaving. It's quick, it's cheap, and it works in a pinch. But it has a ceiling, and most people hit it pretty fast.
The problem is that a razor only cuts hair at the skin's surface. The root stays completely intact, which means regrowth starts almost immediately. Depending on how fast your hair grows, you might have stubble within a day or two — sometimes less. For areas like the bikini line or underarms, that rapid regrowth combined with repeated razor passes leads to irritation, razor burn, and ingrown hairs that can be genuinely uncomfortable.
Over time, shaving can also make skin in those areas feel rougher. The repeated friction, the nicks, the constant removal of the top layer of skin — it adds up. A lot of my clients come in and mention their skin just feels chronically irritated in certain spots, and shaving is usually a big part of why.
What Waxing Does Differently
Waxing removes hair from the root. That's the core difference, and it's what makes everything else downstream better.
When the follicle is cleared out completely, you're looking at three to five weeks before hair even becomes noticeable again — and for many people, longer. That alone changes how you think about your routine. Instead of something you have to manage every few days, hair removal becomes an appointment you make once a month and otherwise don't think about.
But the longer-term benefit is what really converts people. With consistent waxing, hair grows back progressively finer and thinner over time. The follicle weakens with each session, which means less density, softer texture, and — for a lot of my Brazilian wax clients especially — significantly sparser regrowth after several months. It's one of those things where the results genuinely compound.
Ingrown Hairs: A Tale of Two Methods
If you've dealt with ingrown hairs from shaving, you know how frustrating they are. They happen because the sharpened tip of a shaved hair can curl back into the skin as it regrows, especially in coarse or curly hair.
Waxing isn't completely immune to ingrowns — I want to be upfront about that. But because the hair is removed whole from the follicle, and because the regrowth comes in with a tapered tip rather than a blunt cut edge, the risk is meaningfully lower. Keeping up with gentle exfoliation between appointments helps even more, and it's something I always talk through with my clients.
Technique matters a lot here too. A professional wax done correctly — with the right temperature, the right application, and the right removal angle — produces very different results than a rushed at-home kit.
The Routine Question
Here's something worth thinking about: how much mental and physical energy do you spend on hair removal right now?
For shavers, it's often daily or near-daily, plus the skin management that comes with it — the products for razor burn, the time in the shower, the last-minute scramble before a beach trip. It becomes background noise you don't even notice anymore.
Waxing flips that. You come in, we handle it, and then you genuinely don't think about it for weeks. A smooth skin routine built around waxing is, paradoxically, a lot less work than one built around shaving — once you're on a consistent schedule.
So, Which Is Better?
For convenience in the moment, shaving wins. For everything else — longer-lasting results, softer regrowth, less irritation, fewer ingrowns, and a routine that actually frees up your time — waxing is the better long-term choice for most people.
I see it every day. Clients come in skeptical and leave already planning their next appointment. That's not a sales pitch — it's just what tends to happen when people experience the difference firsthand.
If you're ready to find out for yourself, I'd love to see you at AKG Skin.