Keeping Things *Fresh*
As we’ve spoken about before on the blog, your vagina is a self-cleaning machine, so there’s very little that you need to do to keep your pubes clean besides using a little soap and water (and don’t forget to keep those suds outside – anything inside can mess up your pH).
Trimming The Hedges
Be careful down there, you all — shaving any part of your body can be dangerous if you don’t take the proper approach! Start by giving the hair a trim, exfoliating with a loofah, and then go crazy with the shaving cream. It’s ideal to shave towards the direction of your hair follicles as best you can to avoid ingrown. After you’re done, moisturize with a fragrance-free lotion, and avoid super hot showers or baths — those might seriously irritate your pores. Most importantly, go slowly and be careful (aka, not in a rush after 1.5 glasses of rosé in between after-work drinks, and that birthday thing you’re already late for). Pro-tips: *Never* dry shave, don’t use dull blades, and take a mirror into the bathroom so you can see what the hell is going on down there.
Accidents Happen
If you do nick yourself, apply gentle pressure to stop the bleeding, and follow up with something like Aquaphor or hydrogen peroxide to prevent the cut from getting infected. Stay away from the areas down there that *don’t* have hair — the skin there can be super sensitive and prone to becoming irritated and inflamed. Of course, if something feels not quite right after you shave, giving your gyno a visit can’t hurt just in case something else is going on.
Got An Ingrown?
Whether you’re waxing or shaving, ingrowns are a real pain (on your V, your legs, and anywhere else they show up). An ingrown hair happens when your pubic hair grows back into the skin, instead of up and out of the surface. The body responds by thinking it’s a foreign object. (Cue some not-so-great swelling, redness, and itching.) If you’re suffering from ingrown hairs, make exfoliation part of your shower routine — and definitely try to lay off the hair removal from that area, at least while the ingrowns are real angry. There are a bunch of oils and creams you can use to reduce ingrowns (a few gals in the office swear by Fur Oil – let me know your faves in the comments). Plucking the hair out with (clean, please!) tweezers is fine if part of the hair is above your skin, but if not, resist the temptation to go digging — doing so can cause some pretty nasty infections that are not worth the instant gratification. Wearing cotton undies until your bikini area settles down can also do wonders for *breathability* So tell me, what are your hair care tips for down there! Natural ingrown remedies you swear by? Removal tricks we need to know? Share your secrets with us in the comments![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]