Keeping Your Lady Princess Pretty ( or Grooming Your Bikini Area )

Now this is a pretty delicate topic -  literally and figuratively but we are all women here and I'm pretty sure we can handle it. I am aware that some persons are uncomfortable with a certain 'v' word and since I don't want to get tagged for inappropriate content let's call it 'lady princess' for the sake of this post. All agreed? Fantastic.

From time to time, we explore different ways on how to keep our bikini area groomed. Some women like theirs completely naked, others take to landing strips or other styles, some even bejewel and dye their lady princesses while others are content with a trim from time to time.

What is important though is to ensure that you keep the area clean and healthy and since you’re gonna be looking at it at least once a day, attractive. I encourage all women to visit a gynaecologist to ensure that you get a pap smear done, your vaginal health is optimum and if necessary to get a HPV vaccine.

That said, this post is not meant to be a lecture on vaginal health since I am NOT a doctor but simply some suggestions on how to keep it looking pretty.

First things first, get yourself checked out and speak to your doctor about any potential allergies or infections etc etc. Once you are in the clear, you want to remind yourself of the three prongs to an attractive lady princess:

1. 1.       Prep
2. 2.       Groom
3. 3.       Maintain

Side note: Now, any products you use should be as natural as possible or made specifically for feminine use. And you always always want to remember that you do not insert anything up there. If you get nervous then you can always clear it with your doctor first or enjoy your vegetation in its natural state.

Prep

In the same way that you want to exfoliate away dry skin when shaving your legs you may want to gently exfoliate the skin on your bikini area. This is especially important if you are a shaver. Before you cringe at the idea of granules getting stuck inside your lady princesses, the type exfoliation I am talking about here is with a wash cloth or a rag. So don’t panic okay?

You want to wash the area and pat it dry gently. Then dampen a wash cloth  and add a teeny bit of soap and rub the entire area gently in small circles. Remember the area needs to be dry and the washcloth wet for proper exfoliation to occur. Now, this is your lady princess, don’t be rough with her or she’ll never forgive you.  If you are going for a wax or using an epilator, you can use warm water to help open up the pores.

Groom

You can wax, shave, epilate or use hair removal creams. This is a 'to each her own' decision and you can try out options to see what suits you best. There are pros and cons to every option. What you need to keep in mind is what suits your needs. 

Also you may want to think about what is your growth cycle and how often do you need to groom yourself? Are you annoyed by the idea of having to shave twice a week to keep the area hair free? Try waxing or chemical hair removers. Want your hair to stop growing back eventually? Then maybe an epilator is for you. Like the convenience of doing it yourself and changing it up all the time? Then find the right razor and get your stroke on.

But remember there isn't only one way so instead of suffering through give something else a try. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Maintain

This is what makes the difference. Hate that awful prickly feeling of the stubble growing back? The trick to deal with this is to moisturize. 

I know right? Moisturize your lady princess? Who does that?! But think about it. If you groom that area regularly then it is bound to affect the texture of the skin there. So to keep the area soft and smooth, to reduce the occurrence of ingrown hairs try to apply a teeny amount of all natural vitamin e, olive or coconut oil to the area making sure not to insert it into your actual lady princess.

You can apply this right after grooming to help with soothing as well. You can decide how often you need to do this, whether once per week or every other day. You can always consult your doctor if you are nervous about this being safe and you can use feminine products on the market made for this purpose.

So that's it ladies. Be kind to your lady princess and she will be kind to you.

 I hope this post was helpful and as always, if you have any questions you can leave them below, or shoot me an email. 

Till later,

**Jane

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Once You go Shellac, You never go Back!!! maybe...

I am always looking for the easy way out, anything to skip the long, tedious process of staying groomed. Sooo Shellac seemed like it was something right up my alley. Brilliant, no chip nail colour that lasts fourteen days or more? Lovely!

Brief explanation: shellac is basically the application of gel nailpolish to the nail, dried and bonded to your nail by a blue uv light. The entire process from cleaning your cuticles to staring in amazement at the high gloss, completely dry finish is about 30 minutes. I kid you not!

Someone seems to have really thought this through- the range of colours is pretty decent, and they seem to have covered the bases - they range from very dark to very light and some even offer pearlescent finishes. It can be done with french tips or gem stones but the designs that can be done are more on the subtle side. If you are into pure colour this is definitely the best idea for you. 

The cost will vary depending on where you are but if you are in Kingston Jamaica, then head on over to The Face Place at 3 Carvalho Drive (off Hope Road near where Colour World used to be, on the road where the comestic surgery building is). You will only pay $2500JMD for the process. The environment is clean, spacious, chic, comfortable and the ladies who serve are cordial and quick.

Check it out:

Do you see how shiny it is ? and do you see how thin it is?? U cant even see it!  sooo happy!

Watch this space for an update at 7 days then 14 days :)

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How To Stay Groomed - The Cheap, Easy Way

Worldwide, women spend most of their money and time keeping themselves groomed. The problem is however that though we spend hours and dollars getting ourselves to look how we want to look, we spend way more hours undoing it- by neglecting the upkeep necessary. I fully fully support beauty professionals but there are too many easy, cheap ways for us to take care of ourselves for me to keep it quiet. Personally, I'd rather spend money on something I cant actually do for myself, like a massage. (Wouldnt it be lovely if that 3-5k you spend at the hairdresser be reassigned to something like a full body massage?).


There are two main ways you can cut your grooming bill down.
 1. Maintaining yourself at your best in between appointments
Are you that client who is always getting the full package all the time because you don't do anything to maintain yourself in between appointments? If you take easy steps to care yourself between appointments it will cut down the time you spend and the money you spend. It sounds like work but I promise, its easy.

Hair:

• Sleep on a satin pillowcase
• Wrap or set or braid your hair before you go to bed
• Tie your hair up with a soft fabric like satin or silk
• Deep Condition your hair
• Use products with protein
• Lay off the heat. Avoid using curlers, blowdryers, straighteners. If you absolutely have to then use a heat protectant

Nails:

• Before bed rub a moisturizing oil, vaseline or thick cream into your cuticles
• Paint clear nailpolish or a top coat over your manicure every other day to make it last
• Wear gloves when doing chores 
• Dont pick or bite your nails
• When your polish chips remove it and replace it with a light shimmery or pearlescent nailpolish. Mistakes are harder to see wth light shimmery colours
• Clip hangnails as soon as you can

Skin:

• Wash and moisturize your face twice a day every day
• Use witch hazel as a cheap toner and astringent to keep acne at bay
• Always remove all your makeup before going to sleep
• Exfoliate once a week- use a gentle scrub for your face.  A baby toothbrush used very gently with regular cleanser is an alternative for a pre-packaged scrub. For a body scrub, use sea salt or brown sugar and mix with body wash, oil or conditioner and scrub down.
• Drink lotsa lotsa lotsa water and get sleep! 

2.Do-it-yourself
Almost everything you pay for you can do yourself. It really just takes the right tools, products and practice. I do not recommend doing chemical treatments yourself unless you really really know what you're doing. Everything else you can do yourself.

Start by taking note of what you like specifically about your appointments then ask the three magic questions when you go in- what, how, and when. What is the product being used and the treatment being applied, how is it done and how is it applied, when/how frequently it should be used/ Once you are armed with the information then go out and buy the products (they should be cheaper than paying for your appointment over time, or else dont bother lol). Get advice from the store and check reviews online.

The how-to is easily learned from youtube. If you practice you can teach yourself anything from youtube videos. Later on I'll post videos of basic how-tos. The frequency will be a combination of the answers your consultant gives you, instructions from the products and how you respond to it.

I will be exploring this further with blog posts/videos to come on: how to wash, treat and set your hair; how to revive dry, damaged hair; diy masks; easy fail-proof skincare; how to manicures and nail art; and eyebrow grooming.

The biggest thing is to trust yourself. Once you do that and you open yourself up to learning it will be fun and easy.

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