You’ve just purchased a new bikini for the season, stocked up on your favorite mineral sunscreen, and are ready to hit the beach. Wait. What’s the state of your bikini area? Whatever your preferred look, it’s important to know some bikini wax basics to prevent unnecessary discomfort and less-than-optimal results.

Let’s face it. Getting your bikini area waxed doesn’t top the list of most-loved activities. It is uncomfortable, a little bit embarrassing, and doesn’t always turn out the way you expected. And which type of bikini wax are you supposed to be getting these days, anyway?

There are as many types of bikini waxes as there are types of bikinis. In other words, you have options. While there was a definite trend toward the completely bare Brazilian over the past few years, these days (as with makeup) bikini waxes are more personalized and anything goes.

What does this mean for you and your situation? You no longer have to feel self-conscious if you are a bikini line wax sort of gal. That said, if you’ve grown accustomed to the full-on no hair thing, that’s okay, too. If you need an update, here are the most common types of bikini wax.

Brazilian: This baby takes it all off. Bush, labia, and buttocks are all left absolutely hair-free.

Brazilian in the Back: Like it sounds, this waxing cleans up the back end, while leaving everything intact up front.

Bikini: This classic waxing is simply removing hair from the bikini line. Ah, the good ol’ days.

Landing strip: Just like the Brazilian, but a strip, or triangle, or heart (you can get creative, here) of hair is left on top.

Whichever way you go, there are ways to make your bikini wax less uncomfortable and get the best results. As anyone who’s gotten anything waxed knows, not all wax (and waxers) are created equally. Why go through the pain and not get the gain?

7 Tips to a Better Bikini Wax

1. Go organic: Choose a salon that offers organic or sugar waxing. Much safer than those chemical waxes full of harmful ingredients, like artificial dyes and fragrance, and synthetic preservatives.

2. Let it grow: Yep, gross but necessary. Hair has to be at least a quarter of an inch long for the wax to get a decent grip. So, let that stuff grow.

3. Go in clean: This is not like when you get a haircut, showing up with second or third day hair. Do both yourself and your waxer a favor, and hop in the shower pre-wax appointment.

4. Pop a pill: If it’s your first time getting a bikini wax or you have sensitive skin, take a pain reliever, like ibuprofen, before heading to your appointment. This will cut down on discomfort and help with swelling.

5. Skip the workout: Friction from exercise can cause irritation and breakouts on freshly waxed skin. If you ever needed an excuse to not workout, this is it. Give it a day or two before hitting the gym.

6. Stay out of the sun: Of course, you don’t want to go in for a waxing with a sunburn. Ouch! It’s equally as important to avoid sun exposure on freshly waxed skin. Keep this area covered if you plan to spend time in the sun for the next few days. And as always, use sunscreen anytime you’ll be beach or poolside.

7. Soothe and soften: Try using an all natural cream to soften skin and extend the smoothness of a wax. Roots Beauty recommends Love My Muff lotion to moisturize and calm irritated skin.

Related on EcoSalon
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Which bikini wax option is best for you? Here’s the 411.

Okay, so technically getting a bikini wax is all about cleaning up your nether regions before hitting the beach—but like your fashion choices, the style of bikini wax you choose shouldn’t be based on what guys like or what’s trending, but your own individual preferences. There’s no right or wrong way to groom, just your way (case in point: Vajazzling).

Below, 5 grooming options to look into before your bikini wax sesh:

1. Bikini

If you’re just starting to ease into the world of waxing or are only looking for a little freshening up, the classic bikini wax is your best (and least painful) option. It simply removes the hair around your panty line, so you’ll end up with a triangle shape.

2. Bikini Extended

Bikini extended removes slightly more hair than just the bikini line: Choosing this option means removing hair from the sides of the bikini area, as well as a thin line of hair from the labia.

3. Brazilian

Out of all bikini wax options, the Brazilian is definitely the most… meticulous. All hair is removed from the bikini area, inside the labia and between the butt cheeks. Yep, you’ll be as bald as a newborn. While I’m sure it feels so fresh and so clean clean, it’s gotta be pretty drafty down there, no?

4. Landing Strip

Similar to a Brazilian, this option removes all hair except for one vertical line. It can be as thick or as thin as you want, and is perfect for narrow bikini bottoms and barely-there lingerie. Some women also enjoy shaping their landing strip into things like hearts and arrows (because… well, you know).

5. Full-Bush Brazilian

Called the “pubic mullet” by Refinery29 (lololol), the Full-Bush Brazilian is a cross between the bikini and the Brazilian. It involves removing the hair from the labia and butt crack, while leaving the top bush in tact.

Once you’ve chosen your bikini wax du jour, there are also wax options to look into:

• Honey Wax/Sugaring is best for sensitive skin because it’s all natural and can be used cold (sayonara third-degree burns!). Bonus: It doesn’t stick to your skin, just the hair, so it helps water down the pain quota.
• Strip Wax is soft wax that’s applied using cloth strips. It’s quick, but the polar opposite of painless, and is best for larger areas like your legs and arms.
• Hard Wax is smeared on and removed without a cloth strip, since when the wax cools it hardens around the hair. If your pubic hair is coarse and thick, this option is your best bet.

Come on, spill: What’s your bikini wax of choice?

Related on EcoSalon

Bikini Waxing and Brazilian Waxes: Are They Safe?

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Sunbathing image via Shutterstock

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Bikini waxing – let alone a Brazilian wax – is a daunting and often painful experience.

These days, most women in their early 20s are sometimes, or almost always, bare down there. The question though: is bikini waxing safe? We break down the bikini wax for you, in all its variations, so you can better understand the risks involved and how to avoid an unpleasant experience.

What Kind of Wax Are You In For?

When you attempt to go bare down there, first you must decide exactly how much hair you want to get rid of. A full Brazilian wax requires you be naked from the waste down and will leave you hairless from the belly button to every nook and cranny of your pubic area, often including the buttocks. A Brazilian wax is also commonly called the “Sphynx”, bare wax or Hollywood wax.

A natural wax only removes hair that would be visible in a swimsuit.

A regular bikini wax removes hair along the outer lines of your bikini bottoms and doesn’t require you remove your underwear while being waxed.

What Will Happen?

During a bikini wax, an aesthetician will spread hot wax over the target area, lay a cloth atop the wax, pat it slightly so it sticks, then rip it out quickly to remove hair by its root. It will hurt, but the more you get used to it, the more you can deal with the pain. It’s also a cleaner hair removal technique than shaving and it lasts longer.

How To Prep

Getting waxed hurts, so it’s best to prepare for your next bikini wax session with this in mind – anything that will aggravate the pain should be avoided. For example, the pubic area is generally more sensitive a week before and the week of your period. The pain may be felt more acutely during this time. If you went commando in the sun and feel slight discomfort in your nether regions, a bikini wax will hurt way more than it already does. It is also helpful to trim your public hairs so that the rip of the waxing strip is more effective and efficient – longer hairs can mess with the distribution of the wax and cause a less direct hair removal situation.

Schedule your appointment in the morning, after a shower. Later in the day, sweat and oil build up on the skin and create more discomfort. Before you head out to your appointment (or plan to wax yourself at home), exfoliate and condition your pubic hairs – the softer the hair follicles, the easier hair will release.

Is It Safe?

If you avoid doing anything that would cause further irritation to the skin before waxing (see above), bikini waxing can be safe. However, there are other risks involved, after the fact. A French study found that a link between pubic hair removal and a higher risk of sexually transmitted Molluscum contagiosum, a skin virus that causes raised bumps or growths. With 60 percent of American women between 18 and 24 years old sometimes or always free of pubic hair, this is a risk most women at some time or another take. Any damage caused to the skin while waxing pulls the hairs from their roots, can open you up to infection. Bacteria can enter even the tiniest of lesions, often in the form of torn roots. Additionally, waxing can cause burns from wax that is applied while it is too hot as well as infected ingrown hairs and scarring.

To avoid such a fate, especially down there, make your next bikini or Brazilian wax appointment somewhere you trust that has high sanitary and customer service standards. Ask your aesthetician what precautions she takes to prevent infection and discomfort. That way, you can have the best experience possible and attain the results you desire.

Related on EcoSalon

7 Sexy and Sustainable Bikinis for Summer

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Photo Credit: All Kinds of New

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Is it just me, or is the bikini wax is getting kind of old?

On the list of perennial battles that human beings will never win—finding that lost sock in the dryer, having a business card when you really need one, remembering to bring your grocery list to the store—unwanted body hair is possibly the most vexing.

We wax it. We shave it. We laser it. But no matter what, it comes back.

Hair removal is expensive, it’s time consuming, and it isn’t even remotely enjoyable. Our fastidious compulsion to get rid of it fuels a $2.1 billion per year industry in the U.S., with the average American woman spending over $10,000 in her lifetime on various hair removal products.

And before you retort that having hair down there is, like, totally unsanitary, consider this. According to Emily Gibson, M.D., physician and director of the Western University Health Center in Washington State, repetitive hair removal in the pubic region has the potential to cause some serious health problems. Among those: increased susceptibility to genital herpes, staph boils, abscesses, and cellulitis. So. Not. Sexy.

Many a feminist has bemoaned the culturally sanctioned removal of body hair, lambasting the idea that women need to be smooth and hairless—as well as body fluid-less, angelic, and perfectly toned—in order to please our discerning male counterparts.  But you don’t have to be a hippie or feminist to concede that ripping all the hair off of one’s pubic bone with dripping hot wax is about as natural as formaldehyde. Those who have endured a bikini wax know the routine: the awkward feeling of exposure under fluorescent lighting, the intervals of bracing and wincing and sharp inhalations, accompanied all the way through by the overwhelming urge to flee the table.

There are a number of theories on why today’s beauty ideal includes vaginas that resemble those of a pre-pubescent girl. There’s the porn industry’s penchant for infantilizing women, the ever-diminishing amount of fabric used to make thongs and bikinis, Barbie’s plasticky sheen, and the preternatural creatures known as Victoria Secret and Sports Illustrated models.

It’s worth noting that, before ripping out our body hair was de rigeur, there was a very long period of human history where men found women wholly irresistible despite the presence of body hair. Compelling evidence of this can be found as recently as in a 1970s Playboy centerfold.

Unlike big breasts or a shapely backside—which, on a purely biological level, are both signs of fertility and thus fitness to survive—there is nothing about being hairless that should be inherently desirable to a man. Being hairless in no way enhances our ability to survive or thrive as humans. In fact, it does the contrary; pubic hair is meant to provide a buffer zone and serve as protection from unwanted pathogens. So, the male fixation on hairless women is a learned behavior that women themselves are perpetuating.

Of course, the fundamental tenets of Darwinism are no longer determinants of our behavior. It’s unlikely that modern women, myself included, are going to forgo the grooming ritual altogether. Understandably, many women feel that hair removal makes them feel more feminine and makes sexual experiences more enjoyable.

The moderate amount of grooming necessary to wear modern garments is one thing, but the hair-removal equivalent of “going for broke” is quite another. The pervasiveness of this latter practice has equated what’s natural with what’s unsexy, and therein lies the issue. Something tells me that if women put a stop to this no-holds-barred hair removal, the male species would quickly find a way to adjust. They’re pretty simple like that.

Women always have and always will have hair on their vaginas. Lest you have forgotten, you are, in fact, a woman. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

Image: maralyn_cvitanic

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