Growing up, my friends largely learned their beauty hacks from their older sisters. I, myself, was sister-less, but I did belong to a cheerleading team stuffed with older girls with wisdom to share. And in the future at practice after I was 15, I learned the one trick I might carry with me until this very day: shaving your legs with conditioner as an alternative of shaving cream. It made the hair softer, some senior told me, and I never went back to the fluffy, aerosol formulas that clogged my razors again. 

Through the years, I’ve tried — in vain — to search out a body wash that might prep my legs for a smooth shave just as efficiently, as using up my conditioner twice felt wasteful (and expensive.) But even a number of the more high-end body cleaners I’ve tested don’t provide the identical glide, and just lead to razor burn and ingrown hairs. And if you have got sensitive skin or are particularly ingrown-prone, you already know that repeatedly shaving over these irritated areas can extrapolate the difficulty. One latest body-care launch, though, has made me a convert: the Soft Services Comfort Cleanse Ultra Soothing Shower Gel. 

I’m already a fan of the brand’s exfoliating products. Its ketosis pilaris-fighting Buffing Bar lives perpetually in my shower, so I used to be excited for a soothing formula to follow it up with. 

“We knew we would have liked a every day body cleanser to enhance our targeted treatments for individuals with combination body skin,” explains Annie Kreighbaum, cofounder of Soft Services. “One which is insanely effective at removing grime, but that [provides] hydration, is fragrance-free, and  secure for sensitive skin.” Cosmetic chemist Ginger King agrees that even those that have reactive skin can safely use this wash.

“They used mild surfactants — ingredients that help to remove debris from skin — and [made it] fragrance-free, which is able to help individuals with sensitive skin issues,” she says. Beyond simply cleansing the skin, Kreighbaum says that shaving was top-of-mind through the product development stage. 

“We knew that having an ultra-soothing razor glide is so necessary to stopping most of the skin concerns we address, like ingrown hair and inflammation because of razor burn,” Kreighbaum says. The team was in a position to tweak the thickness of the water-gel to best cling to skin during shaving once it found nailed the correct ratio for its hydrating and cleansing ingredients.