EXFOLIATE!

1) Daily, leave-on (not a cleanser) BHA (aka salicylic acid) unless you are allergic to aspirin or aspirin products. This gets into your pores, and cleans them out.

2)Twice-a-week scrub in the shower after you cleanse with a non-bar soap product (bar-soaps can be very drying due to the process of saponification.) This helps to lift up and off the flaky dead skin cells from the surface of the skin.

Ergo, if BOTH pores and surface are cleaned, exfoliated, and FREE of blockades, then your hair can get out (no ingrowns!), and your oil can escape, too! (no red bumps, cysts, or break outs!) Everything is growing out as it should!

Clean skin is happy skin…

Well I’m here to set the record straight: yes, women get waxed during pregnancy! It is perfectly healthy. And it is normal for you to want to be prepared for the big day. It’s like even though doctors and nurses see twenty times more god-awful things than our unkempt lady business we still feel the need to pretty it up for them. It’s like we feel guilty that they have to see us being so unladylike that it’s the least we can do for them. Perhaps it’s also because our pregnant bodies at times make us feel so fat and disgusting that removing our pubic hair will somehow increase our sexy factor. Maybe you just want to actually SEE your baby crowning without having to visually filter through a tangled nightmare of hair. Or perhaps you’ll be taping the birth of your little bean and just want to be ready for that special Kodak moment!

At any rate, whatever your reason for wanting to spruce up the garden, it is perfectly understandable. But if you are used to shaving, there will be a point where you just simply cannot even SEE your lady parts, let alone shave them. But if you let someone else do it, i.e., a licensed esthetician, you won’t need to be bothered with it  and your hair will be gone for weeks, not just days, like shaving. But one thing: if you do get waxed down there, whether it’s a basic bikini wax, a Brazilian wax, or anything in between, don’t wait until the week before your due date to get your first wax. You’re much more sensitive during pregnancy (in more ways than one!) and the earlier you get started with your waxing, the easier it will be in the long run; for your skin, the amount of time the hair stays gone, and most importantly: your anxiety level.

And this: Lord knows when you’re going to have as much opportunity for self-care as you did pre-pregnancy. After your beautiful bean makes his or her first big jump into the world, it’ll be all you can do to even want to look at your vagina again. But you’ll do it, and it will be with newfound respect. But I’ve said too much! You’ll learn in due time (pun intended).

Recently I listened to an interview with a filmmaker about her documentary on hair removal (all kinds, not just bikinis) and why women do it. Her opinion and the focus of her documentary was that women do it out of a subservience to men, society and/or expectations of society as a whole. As a feminist, she believes that hair removal stands in the way of her feminist sensibilities. But does it? I don’t think so. According to official definitions a feminist is “an advocate or supporter of the rights and equality of women.” It’s about freedom of choice, the rights of expression. The right to have or to not have hair. Does removing my hair make me un-feminist? No it does not. I am a proud, hairless, feminist, who just happens to also be, feminine.

Now. IF there are some women who shave or get waxed to look pretty for their partner, fine! That’s great. But is she doing it because she feels like she has to or her partner is making her, or is she doing it because it makes HER feel pretty and sassy? Yes, there are some women who feel embarrassed about body hair and have it removed because of society pressures, but most women (in my experience as an esthetician for many years), whether it be a bikini, leg, arm, or other body wax, do it because of HER needs, not HIS. And in the case of the bikini or Brazilian wax, so what if it is to please your partner? What’s wrong with igniting a few sparks to start a fire? What’s wrong with wanting to make your partner happy? And why does this equate to “oh, your partner must be a pervert for wanting you to look like a prepubescent little girl.”? Why does it have to go there? I’m sure that element exists in some cases, but why can’t it be a simple case of wanting a visual treat so you can see each other’s business? Yes, men get “cleaned up”, too. Does removing my hair mean that I am objectifying my body or that I am an unwilling player in the hyper-sexualization of girls and women? No. Again, I am sure that element exists. But if you ask most women why they wax or shave, you will hear this: We do it because it’s smooth. We do it because it’s clean. We do it because it just looks and feels better. And come on, it’s sexy (not a dirty word!) To many women, myself included (and now you know) having little or no hair down there is freeing. There are so many other weights on our shoulders already, if there is something I can do to make myself feel a little sassier to get through the day, then so be it. Off with her hair!

Here’s the interview:

http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/Pitstache.mp3/view?searchterm=body%20hair