The bikini area can be troublesome though, because of coarse, curly hair.  It also grows back very quickly and in a very sensitive place on the body.  Stubble can lead to itching and other problems.  Ingrown hairs can become infected, thus defeating the purpose of shaving for cleanliness.

Here are some tips on how to make shaving the bikini area considerably less irritating, and prevent ingrown hairs.

First of all, you must commit to shaving daily or at most, every two days.  Even relatively short stubble can be irritating and tempt you to scratch.  So you need to shave your bikini area about as often as you’d shave your underarms.

Always use a good razor of the best kind that you can afford, and don’t use the same one for more than a week.  It should be a disposable or cartridge twin or triple blade.  A dull razor causes more skin irritation and pulling.  Disposable razors can also rust, so they must be changed after a week.

To lubricate the bikini area for shaving, use a pure soap rather than shower gel or shaving cream.  Soap’s alkalinity naturally helps to clean the skin, and the lather raises the hairs rather than laying them down.  Some shaving creams are also irritating to sensitive skin.

Do at least one of the shaving sessions per week outside of the shower.  If you only do it in the shower, it’s very likely that you’re in a hurry and also not reaching all areas.  To reach every place in the bikini area where there is hair without missing a spot, you will need to squat down.  When you squat, your hand can reach any and everywhere in the area.

These tips should help your shaving to go more smoothly.  If you have any questions or comments you’d like to add, please feel free to share them.

If you’d like to donate online, go to Network for Good’s page on Haiti Earthquake Relief for links to many organizations that are active there now, and need help.

You can also donate through your cellular phone, and have it come out as part of your bill.  As far as I know, this can only be done from the U.S.  I’ll post international links and numbers if I can find any.

American Red Cross Haiti Relief  Text ‘Haiti’ to “90999″ to donate $10. You can also make a donation by calling 1-800-REDCROSS. (this will be charged to your cell phone bill)

Yele Haiti (Wyclef Jean’s organization) Text Yele to “501501″ to donate $5 (this will be charged to your cell phone bill)

Clinton Foundation’s Haiti Relief Fund Text “HAITI” to “20222″ to donate $10  (this will be charged to your cell phone bill)

Thanks, Khamit Kinks, for the cell phone donation information.

If you can’t donate money, you can help out by lending a hand to volunteer organizations sending teams to help find survivors and rebuild.  You can also support your local Haitian diaspora by cooking, being present, and helping them out in practical ways because many are out of communication with their families in Haiti.  It can be very emotionally crushing to not have any word from home when a disaster strikes.  It would be nice for them to not have to worry about certain day to day issues while they are worrying and waiting for calls.

See, we darker skinned people have two disadvantages when we get sick with the flu or a bad cold: the lack of sunlight from being indoors hits us worse, and if our skin gets damaged, we’ve often got a scar for years or for life.  So we have to take special care about our nutrition, behavior, and skin care when we’re ill.

First, let’s handle preparation.  The time to get your supplies in order is before you come down with a cold or flu.  Every year, around the fall, or whenever it’s possible, make a trip to the pharmacy and stock up on medicines and vitamins.  This will keep you from having to run around at the last minute.

Because we tend to have sensitive livers, and certain medicines like paracetamol, Tylenol, and those that contain alcohol are more toxic for us, it’s best not to wing it with mix and match cocktails.  Get specific cold and flu medicines that are not “extra strength”.  You want to have the option of taking the minimum dosage needed to do the job, and stepping it up by 1 1/2 to 2x only if it’s needed.

This will allow your own immune system to do what it’s supposed to do without having to fight the drugs.  You might feel less with more drugs, but you won’t really feel better.  The better comes with the vitamins.

You may have pretty good nutrition most of the time, but when you’re ill, you should take a multivitamin.  Your appetite and tastes probably won’t be what they normally are, so you might not get in the kind of food you normally would.  A multi helps to pick up some of the slack.

At the moment that you’re sure what you’re getting is a flu or flu like virus, you should take a good dose of Vitamin D-3 or some cod liver oil.  You probably won’t get much sunlight, so you’ll need it.  It makes a big difference in helping you to not feel quite so weak and moody.

Taking Vitamin C is a given.  You should do that and try to eat plenty of citrus fruit.  It helps you to recover faster and soothes the throat and sinuses.

Now for the external care…You must absolutely keep your skin moisturized.  Actually moisturized is putting it mildly.  Grease up and drink lots of water.  The best thing to keep your skin from being traumatized by all the nose blowing is shea butter.  If you can’t find any, coconut oil, olive oil, or sunflower oil will do very nicely as well.

Use a light touch when blowing your nose.  Many people are way too rough on themselves.  Don’t dig in the sides of your nose with the very tips of your fingers.  Little by little, you’re scratching off the protective layer of your skin with your fingernails.  Use the balls of your fingertips, and press gently just enough to close one nostril while you’re blowing out the other.

Steam yourself when you can.  Put on a pot of hot water, or make yourself some soup or tea, and breathe in the steam.  It’ll help your head to feel less heavy, and thin the mucous so it isn’t so difficult to blow your nose.

When you can, wrap yourself up warmly, and sit outside or near a window.  Getting some sun will be good for you.

Hopefully, these tips will help you to breeze through a cold or flu with clear skin and a faster recovery.

Dark skinned people need more Vitamin D-3 than others when we live in situations where we don’t get enough direct sunlight, and have to wear clothes almost all the time.  D-3 deficiency is why many of us suffer from conditions that are almost unheard of in Africa or south Asia.  If you find yourself having low energy, blotchy skin, mood problems, irregular periods, low libido, or having trouble maintaining your weight, the problem could very well be a D-3 deficiency.  So please do take advantage of this great offer to stock up because we generally need to take larger doses than other people.

A 2000 IU dose should usually be taken every third day by a medium complexioned person, or every second or third day by a very dark complexioned person, if you are found to have a deficiency.  This can be found out easily by getting a test through your family doctor or clinic.  Usually, the doctor can make a good guess by your symptoms even before the results are back.  This means that if you take a dose on Sunday, you should take the next dose on Wednesday if you’re medium complexioned, or Tuesday if you are very dark.  These both depend on how much vitamin D-3 you normally eat or get from sunlight, which is why it’s better to stagger a high dose than to take a lower dose daily.

You take the dose, and every day that you spend more than 20 minutes in the sun nude or with only a bathing suit or t-shirt and shorts, you can give yourself another day.  What you get from a multivitamin, the sun, and foods will be enough, so there will be no need to take more.  If you go through a period wherein you don’t get at least that much sun daily, you’ll still get enough vitamin D-3 by taking it every second or third day through staggering doses because it is a fat soluble vitamin that your body uses as needed.  Unlike vitamin C, it doesn’t get flushed out with your urine every day.  Once the deficiency has been resolved, you can take a dose every fifth day or once a week.

Take your D-3 with some food that has a bit of fat in it, such as milk, yogurt, eggs, avocadoes, nuts and such.  It helps if you take it with something that also has vitamin A like palm oil, sweet potatoes, or carrots.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics issued the shocking press release on October 11, 2007, and has reminded everyone to check their labels.  Justifications by cosmetics companies, for the sometimes startlingly high proportions of lead in their makeup include shovelling the blame onto the FDA, and the claim that lead occurs naturally in many makeup ingredients and wasn’t intentionally added.

So how is it then, that 39% of the brands tested managed to produce products that were below the maximum allowed for candy, and some even lead free?  Of course, because it is not necessary to use lead based chemicals in makeup.

You can read the full press release from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics here.

You can also find out about the safety level of specific products here.

Bear in mind that words like “safety” and “toxicity” can be somewhat relative.  Some people have a higher tolerance for certain chemicals than others.  Those with hypothyroid, for instance, should avoid soy based products.  Those vulnerable to seizures should avoid anything with clove oil.  People with cats should be very careful of using tea tree oil anywhere that cats might lick or rub against.  What may be reasonably safe for others may be poison for you or your loved ones.

So as a consumer, you should be looking for products from companies that are doing the best they can to provide you the best product possible.

Generally, products that are not tested on animals are going to be on the safer end, but not always.  You may also want to read the label and ingredients to find out whether they also say that they’re mercury and lead free etc.

Quite a few private businesses and makeup artists on the net make mineral makeup, and fragrances based on oils that are properly skimmed or gathered using reasonably safe methods.  The best products often come from people with the same concerns as you.

In a pinch, or if you don’t have a talent for DIY, you should use a lotion that is very oily but based on natural oils.  Lubriderm, Vaseline Intensive Care, and Nivea are good, but they use mineral oil.  Mineral oil is a great emollient, but that’s all it does.  Vegetable oils that are unhydrogenated still have their botanical properties that help to tone the skin’s surface and in the case of sunflower oil, protect it from microbes.

Before using a facial threader, be sure that your skin is very clean and thoroughly dried. Afterwards, use a conditioning lotion that isn’t too greasy. To prevent irritation keep your skin very clean and don’t touch it too much with your hands. Don’t scratch it at all because we humans pick up and store lots of dirt under our fingernails. This is why nurses aren’t allowed to have long or false nails at work.

Curlier hair has a thinner cuticle than straight hair, and because of its curliness, moisture in oils and sweat is held closer to the head.  So the hair shaft does not get heavier from a few day’s worth of accumulation.  Your hair actually needs those natural oils to protect it and your scalp.

You should make an exception however, if you are swimming in heavily chlorinated or salt water daily or almost daily.  In this case, you should wash your hair with a very gentle shampoo, preferably made for your activity.  You should also avoid too much detangling conditioner, as daily exposure to water softens your hair enough.  You don’t want to overdo it.

Rather than detangling, the frequent washer should slicken.  Slickening oils like pure argan oil, and virgin coconut oil make the hair shaft slick without being too alkaline and therefore breaking down the hair’s structure.