Tips for Styling Your Pubic Hair

Dressing to impress or getting a manicure is par for the course on date night, but what about grooming the more, ahem, private areas? There are many different options out there for genital grooming, and depending on your personal preference, you can wax, shave, tweeze, or go au naturale.

However, when considering your options, you should take several things into account. Consider the following:

Follow your heart, not the trend. Like all beauty trends, pubic hair styles are subject to change. From full, wild styles to landing strips to completely bare, pubic hair trends come and go. That’s why it’s important to make sure you are comfortable with your choice. In other words, if you want to wax it all off, great — but make sure it’s because you love the smooth feel and not because you feel pressured into it. Pubic hair is natural and beautiful, so groom it, and style it however you prefer!

Get creative. There are so many different ways to groom down there. Not only can you go bare, you can also get a design of a certain shape (such as a heart) or even a design of your partner’s initials. Some salons even offer va-jazzling (in which safe crystal-like beads are placed strategically down there to offer you that extra sexy oomph.

Pick a reputable salon. Going bare can go with some risks. Make sure you go to a reputable salon and ascertain that your aesthetician doesn’t “double-dip” her waxing sticks. Each new customer should have her own waxing sticks to prevent the spread of bacteria.

Stay away from the alcohol. Last but not least, don’t try to drum up “liquid courage” before you go. Alcohol thins the blood and can make your waxing more unpleasant. Instead, aestheticians recommend having a couple of Ibuprofen to help cut down on the potential pain and swelling.

While picking a sexy new style can be fun, there’s more to consider when taking care of your hair down there. For example: What happens as you grow older? Unfortunately, the hair on your head isn’t the only hair that is prone to thinning and graying. So what happens when the hair downstairs starts to gray and thin? You can't exactly demand a dye job from the corner beauty shop, and your local drugstore probably doesn't carry a lot of products for pubic hair. What can you do?

For starters, certain nutritional deficiencies can speed up the hair loss that happens naturally around the time of menopause. Eating right and taking a multivitamin will help keep you healthy during the drop in estrogen and testosterone that precipitates hair thinning (on both your head and your genitals). Hormone replacement therapy can help too, but that's something to explore with your doctor given its potential risks.

Cosmetic concerns are trickier. Waxing can help minimize what's there or give the illusion of more hair in a smaller space. Dyeing actually is an option, but only select salons offer it and you should never try it at home. Ultimately, hair thinning or graying is simply a fact of life. Though it can be shocking when it starts to happen, your partner is likely right there with you. Adjusting your attitude and embracing the changes in your body may be the best beauty treatment of all.