Contest: To Shave Or Not To Shave?

That is almost always the question when it comes to dealing with the bikini area. Shaving certainly is convenient. It's there when you need it, you don't have to make an appointment, you don't have to bare your unmentionables to a stranger and it's free (except for buying the razor, that is).

Of course, after even the best of shaves, that little unwelcome visitor, stubble, rears its ugly head and makes you remember why you hate shaving! The itching, the discomfortand that's AFTER the red, raised, bumps and irritation that happen right after shaving. When you put it all together, maybe shaving isn't the best way to clean up that bikini line. So, short of leaving the area untamed and unworthy of even a modest one-piece bathing suit, what's a girl to do?

Today, there are lots of alternatives to sending your hairs under the blade, if you will: Waxing, electrolysiseven laser hair removal. Understanding the benefits and not-so-great sides of each method will help you make the best decision for you.

And even if you're committed to keeping your razor, there are a host of products and techniques that you can use to minimize, or even eliminate, those notorious "bikini bumps."

If you appreciate the always-ready convenience of shaving, there are a few things you can do to minimize the "bikini bump" syndrome that often accompanies this home hair-removal method.

First, be sure to adequately wet the skin and the bikini hair. Since pubic hair is much more coarse than hair on other parts of the body, this saturating step is very important. Using a large amount of a moisturizing shaving cream, such as Aveeno Therapeutic Shaving Gel or Whish Shave Crave - Almond used with Whish Original Body Brush, helps soften the hair even more, making shaving easier.

When you begin to shave, pull the skin tight with your non-shaving hand. Then shave in upward strokes. Make sure there is adequate shaving cream on the hair and skin before each stroke. Without this protection, you're likely to get red and bumpy after you shave.

Some experts recommend rubbing an ice cube over the shaved bikini area to reduce redness and discomfort. A nice application of a soothing after-shave product, such as California North After Shave Care can help make you more comfortable. And if those nasty bikini bumps do appear, try MD Formulations Glycare Acne Gel, which is great for sending them packing.

Rubbing alcohol-based shaving bump products have made a name for themselves but be careful. Alcohol can actually worsen the inflammation. And the active ingredient in most of these products is nothing more than aspirin. So consider taking a Tylenol or Advil before you shave to reduce the amount of inflammation that may arise. You'll be able to skip the alcohol and still reap the benefits.

Another option to reduce skin inflammation: look to GHK Copper Peptides. Best known for their use in skin rejuvenation, these handy little molecules first made their presence known in the wound healing world. Try a dab of Neova After Shave Therapyafter shaving and see if you don't get some well deserved relief.

Are you acne prone after shaving? Then fall back upon a standard, benzoyl peroxide to be precise. No longer relegated to prescription status, using a bpo based product such as B. Kamins Medicated Acne Gel with 10% Benzoyl Peroxide or MD Formulations Benzoyl Peroxide 10 can make a world of difference. Follow this up with one of your favorite options above and wear your bikini with flare!

And finally, to decrease the discomfort of the soon-to-return stubble, make sure to keep the area well moisturized between shaves.

Fashionwithfifi.com is giving you a chance to win SCHICK's Intuition Plus Sensitive Care kit (in Aloe & Vitamin E). The kit contains 1 razor and cartridge and 1 x 0.35 oz (10g) skin conditioning solid.

Official Rules:

1) First you must be a member of the free to join "Fashion Circle" and be subscribed to Fashionwithfifi.com. Click Here: If you aren't already a free subscriber.

2) Next you'll need to leave a comment on this post telling us whether or not you should shave and why (by wording it "to shave because... " or "not to shave because...").

3) Shipping is Free for all participants in the U.S. Winner from a country outside of the U.S. would have to pay for shipping.

4) Contest runs from now - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 through Monday, October 26, 2009. Winner will be announced on here on Fashionwithfifi.com on Tuesday, October 27, 2009.

5) You must be 18 years or older to enter. Under 18 will need a parent's consent.

6) Shipping to P.O. Box is fine.

"Fashion Is Foremost Inspiration"

- Suzanna

To Shave Or Not To Shave?

That is almost always the question when it comes to dealing with the bikini area. Shaving certainly is convenient. It's there when you need it, you don't have to make an appointment, you don't have to bare your unmentionables to a stranger and it's free (except for buying the razor, that is).

Of course, after even the best of shaves, that little unwelcome visitor, stubble, rears its ugly head and makes you remember why you hate shaving! The itching, the discomfortand that's AFTER the red, raised, bumps and irritation that happen right after shaving. When you put it all together, maybe shaving isn't the best way to clean up that bikini line. So, short of leaving the area untamed and unworthy of even a modest one-piece bathing suit, what's a girl to do?

Today, there are lots of alternatives to sending your hairs under the blade, if you will: Waxing, electrolysiseven laser hair removal. Understanding the benefits and not-so-great sides of each method will help you make the best decision for you.

And even if you're committed to keeping your razor, there are a host of products and techniques that you can use to minimize, or even eliminate, those notorious "bikini bumps."

If you appreciate the always-ready convenience of shaving, there are a few things you can do to minimize the "bikini bump" syndrome that often accompanies this home hair-removal method.

First, be sure to adequately wet the skin and the bikini hair. Since pubic hair is much more coarse than hair on other parts of the body, this saturating step is very important. Using a large amount of a moisturizing shaving cream, such as Aveeno Therapeutic Shaving Gel or Whish Shave Crave - Almond used with Whish Original Body Brush, helps soften the hair even more, making shaving easier.

When you begin to shave, pull the skin tight with your non-shaving hand. Then shave in upward strokes. Make sure there is adequate shaving cream on the hair and skin before each stroke. Without this protection, you're likely to get red and bumpy after you shave.

Some experts recommend rubbing an ice cube over the shaved bikini area to reduce redness and discomfort. A nice application of a soothing after-shave product, such as California North After Shave Care can help make you more comfortable. And if those nasty bikini bumps do appear, try MD Formulations Glycare Acne Gel, which is great for sending them packing.

Rubbing alcohol-based shaving bump products have made a name for themselves but be careful. Alcohol can actually worsen the inflammation. And the active ingredient in most of these products is nothing more than aspirin. So consider taking a Tylenol or Advil before you shave to reduce the amount of inflammation that may arise. You'll be able to skip the alcohol and still reap the benefits.

Another option to reduce skin inflammation: look to GHK Copper Peptides. Best known for their use in skin rejuvenation, these handy little molecules first made their presence known in the wound healing world. Try a dab of Neova After Shave Therapyafter shaving and see if you don't get some well deserved relief.

Are you acne prone after shaving? Then fall back upon a standard, benzoyl peroxide to be precise. No longer relegated to prescription status, using a bpo based product such as B. Kamins Medicated Acne Gel with 10% Benzoyl Peroxide or MD Formulations Benzoyl Peroxide 10 can make a world of difference. Follow this up with one of your favorite options above and wear your bikini with flare!

And finally, to decrease the discomfort of the soon-to-return stubble, make sure to keep the area well moisturized between shaves.

"Fashion Is Foremost Inspiration"

- Suzanna

Ingrown Hair Part 2: The Treatment

Now that you know what causes ingrown hairs, the next step is eliminating them: Let's start with what not to do. We've seen some scary examples of removing ingrown hairs using tweezers and needles to pluck hairs from the skin. Um, ouch? Please don't remove an ingrown hair this way! Picking and plucking at an ingrown hair can lead to skin damage, scarring and inflammation around the area.

The safest method for ingrown hair removal at home is exfoliation. Bliss Ingrown Eliminating Pads address all aspects of optimal ingrown hair treatment. These spa-tested ingrown hair eliminators come in a jar of 50 pre-soaked pads. Just grab and wipe over the ingrown hairs. You can even use them between hair removal sessions to prevent ingrown hairs from rearing their ugly little heads in the first place. Bliss Ingrown Eliminating Pads contain glycolic and salicylic acids, which provide the exfoliating action to remove dead skin cells and clear a path for the ingrown hairs to grow out of the skin. Salicylic acid also has both cleansing and anti-inflammatory properties.

What makes Bliss Ingrown Eliminating Pads special is it's Japanese Green Tea extracts. A unique, advanced action ingredient that soothes and eliminates ingrown hairs. Additional soothing agents include: oat extracts, lavender extracts and witch hazel extracts which provide superior skin calming, healing and anti-inflammatory affects that treat ingrown hairs.

Ingrown Hair Part 1: The Cause

What Causes an Ingrown Hair?

An ingrown hair is an irritated red bump that appears shortly after hair removal. An ingrown hair occurs when new hair growth gets trapped beneath the skin surface and begins to grow "into" the skin rather than "out of" the skin (thus the name ingrown hair). Bacteria are often trapped in the hair follicle, which causes inflammation, leaving the skin with red, painful, irritated bumps, which are commonly known as ingrown hairs.



Any kind of hair removal can leave skin vulnerable to an ingrown hair. Hair removal such as waxing triggers the body to heal, so new skin cells tend to form over the hair follicle opening, trapping the new hair as it begins to emerge. The new hair can't "get out," so it grows "in," causing an ingrown hair. Coarse, curly and thick hair is most prone to ingrown hairs. For women, this means ingrown hairs around the bikini area, for men, ingrown hairs occur around the beard area. People with darker skin tones also tend to be more prone to ingrown hairs, because of hair texture. Both men and women suffer from the ugly plight of ingrown hair; however, you no longer have to.


Tomorrow, I'll discuss how you can prevent and rid yourself of ingrown hairs in my Part 2 - The Treatment post.

"Fashion Is Foremost Inspiration"

- Suzanna