I went to see the new Sex and the City movie last night - my girlfriends couldn't believe I hadn't ever seen the TV show!
Anyway it was a great feel-good movie - fantastic for a girlie night out…
One of the funniest scenes (you'll know it when you see it) is where they spot the tell tale stray hairs and tease Miranda for not having kept up her bikini waxing appointments - hilarious.
Enjoy it when you see it - and remember to do your bikini line girls :)
Image from Allposters.com
Just read today Harrison Ford has had his chest waxed in protest against earth deforestation.
As vice chair of the global environment group Conservation International, presumably he felt that he wanted to draw attention to the painful affects of deforestation by getting his chest painfully deforested.
Apparently the whole waxing event was witnessed by Melanie B of the Spices Girls (How come she got an invitation to the waxing party and where are those pictures, girl?!)
Mind you, in his Indiana Jones movie poster there Mr Ford does not seem to have a thick thatch on his chest anyway.
So maybe removing his body hair was not so painful after all.
Or maybe he had his chest waxed for the Indiana Jones movie too.
While my friends gripe about their waxing appointments and regrowth I simply don't have any appointments to attend to keep my legs smooth. Regrowth can be taken care of in 5 minutes after my shower whenever I like.
Plus, an epilator must be the most economical way of keeping legs smooth. After the initial modest outlay for the machine you keep smooth and hair free without any additional cost (unless you count a little recharge from the electricity supply now and again). I probably save the price of a foreign vacation every year because of that little machine.
I started with the original Epilady which used rotating spirals to trap the hair and I can honestly say that after I got used to the sensation I had no problems with it at all. But after years and years of faithful service it finally gave up the ghost last year and I had to choose a new epilator.
I would have bought the same Epilady model if i could but it was no longer to be found. After reviewing all the available models, I chose the Philips Satinelle epilator with massaging device which is designed to reduce pain.
I didn't really think that the massaging device would do very much but I was interested enough to try it out and I trusted the Philips brand enough to know I'd be buying a good product. But the massaging attachment had to be a gimmick to make more sales I thought and as I was used to the sensation of the Epilady (which didn't have any pain reduction mechanism at all) I wasn't really that worried.
But I was very pleasantly surprised - even amazed by - the difference it made. In fact the massaging device is easily removable so you can instantly see the difference - there is simply less of an "ouch!" factor with it than without it!
The Philips Satinelle model works with a kind of multiple tweezing motion which I was worried would be less effective than the rotating spirals of my trusted Epilady but I find it is every bit as effective (if not more so) at trapping even very short hairs. So with a quick 5 minutes once a week I am back to having completely smooth legs all year round.
If you are thinking of getting an epilator then give the Philips Satinelle epilator a try.
It is becoming more and more fashionable not just to remove hair from legs and underarms but to remove hair from all over your body and this applies as much (if not more) to men as women.
For men, this is due to the increased interest in grooming and image, the constant bombardment of advertising with attractive male models sporting completely hair-free bodies in skimpy clothes and to the continued interest in the sport of body-building where a hair-free body is required to properly show off muscle definition.
But a hair-free body, whether you're male or female, is easy to wish for and not so easy to achieve.
Traditionally, competitive body-builders employed personal body-shavers who would prepare their body for competition just before the event - shaving the whole body and leaving them smooth and hair free ready to apply oil and show off their muscles.
But body-builders have also experimented with other hair removal methods.
As laser hair removal became more accessible in the 1990s some body builders thought it was the answer to their prayers but, as you may know, laser hair removal does not remove all the hair at once or it it does not achieve a permanent result. So it is not always easy to get a complete hair-free look just at the right time for competition. Plus the expense is enough to prevent is being an option for many.
And though waxing sounds like a good idea, as you can wax your whole body in one (painful!) session, you will know if you have ever tried it that it does not leave your skin in the best condition. Waxing tends to pull tender skin and leave it looking red and irritated. Not the best look for presenting your body before a panel of judges. By the time your skin has settled down you may be experiencing regrowth. Depilatory creams have the same problems with causing skin redness and irritation due to the harsh chemicals they contain.
Electrolysis, though it is a permanent solution, is not for everyone either. It's? painful and expensive and oh so time-consuming to treat your whole body single hair by single hair. And so most body-builders and many others are back to shaving.
Luckily the market is answering the demand for products to cater for the trend of all-over body grooming and you can buy specialist electric body-shavers these days rather than employing the services of a personal shaving assistant to do the job.
If you want a natural remedy for soothing your skin after shaving and helping to prevent razor bumps, this solution might help courtesy of the Beauty and Personality Grooming blog.
It's a recipe for a 100% natural soothing lotion using Yogurt and Cucumber.
You just take a cup of yogurt and half a cucumber and combine the two in a blender to get a puree.Then you smooth the mixture onto the area that you have shaved and leave it for 15 minutes.
That's it!
It doesn't sound that complicated but I can imagine the mess involved on the carpet.
I must admit, I could not be bothered with all that when using something like Baxter of California Razor-Bump Relief would work just as well without the fuss and mess involved. Plus you don't have to sit there covered in cucumber puree for 15 minutes while it works its magic - that has to be an advantage 
Threading, which originated in India in ancient times, is a great way of dealing with unruly brows. Although plucking and waxing are more common, threading has been gaining in popularity recently as a way of dealing with eyebrow hair, and with good reason.
Threading is quite gentle on the skin compared to waxing which tends to pull and irritate the skin - the action of the thread merely has a light exfoliating effect. An experienced beautician can treat eyebrows just as quickly too and the action is very precise compared to painting on wax. While plucking (or tweezing) is slow removing one hair at a time, threading can cover a larger are faster.
If you have never had your eyebrows shaped in a salon (or it is a while since you had it done) why not treat yourself to a treatment - professionally shaped brows can really "lift" your eye area and your whole face benefits from the change.
It seems that as many as 80% of women and 50% of men have to cope with unwanted hair in some shape or form.
Although women have removed unwanted hair for decades while men just shaved their faces, it is a relatively new but growing phenomenon for men to remove body hair.
Today, salons report that between 35% and 60% of their clientele are male.
But does removing hair make any difference to how attractive you are?
Well it certainly seems that way for women. Experiments have shown that women with body hair are viewed by both males and females as less intelligent, less sociable and less happy.
For men, the jury is still out - except where hairs between eyebrows (the "unibrow") and on shoulders and backs are concerned plus those pesky hairs sprouting from nose and ears. Any more is probably unneccessary but hair is often removed to show off good musculature (body builders have a task and a half here) and for sexual reasons.
The bottom line is that, no matter what anyone else thinks or believes (and different cultures view body hair in different lights anyway), the need for hair removal is purely personal.
If removing hair makes you feel better than not removing it then you'll go through the hassle of waxing, shaving, depilatory or laser. And the more you dislike that excess hair and the more attractive you feel without it the more hassle you'll put up with!
Is laser hair removal in Chicago any different from laser hair removal in London? I don't think so. Essentially the same equipment is available both sides of the Atlantic - yet very different rules control what you can CLAIM about the process.
In London and the rest of the UK laser hair removal clinics are able to claim that the process will permanently remove hair and that it is pain free. Yet in Chicago or New York (or any other US state or city) companies who advertise laser hair removal in this way will be in trouble with the FDA.
And the truth? Laser hair removal is neither permanent nor pain free wherever you have your treatment. No doubt the UK authorities will be on the case soon.
Interesting article from Janice Turner of the Times online about the politics and social climate behind body hair removal contrasting the meaning of hair removal in the West and in Islamic culture. My view? Bikini line waxing and/or body hair removal is a personal choice which you make on whatever criteria are important to you - whether that is social custom or religious belief or your own view about what is acceptable or pleasing aesthetically.
When the bikini line turned to a battle line - Times Online
Tags: bikiniline waxing, body hair removal
Not something to read over breakfast but if you really want to make yourself cringe take a look at Christopher Hitchens’ excruciating account of his recent back, sack and crack wax.
Waxing your legs will seem like floating on clouds after reading this.
But really guys, you don’t need to go through these agonies for us in the name of beauty (or vanity). Get rid of the hairy back, if you like, but as for the rest we love you just the way you are.
Tags: backsack and crack waxing, Christopher Hitchens
