My bikini line is on fire! Also, lip gloss hating husbands and fresh fragrance fun

I have a serious problem. My bikini line is on fire! I have to shave everyday in order to be bathing suit presentable, and for some reason I keep getting horrible razor burn. What can I do?

The easiest solution would be to find one of those granny suits with a skirt that hangs down to your knees covering up your bikini line. But who wants to actually wear one of those? I suspect you aren't shaving the correct way or using the right products to get the job done. If you can't afford to get a bikini wax every month, and I know I can't, then you must first invest in the right razor. One of those cheapie disposable razors is only going to make the burn worse. Even most of the higher-end women's razors aren't that great, either. You must go to the dark side... and buy a man's razor! I don't know why men's razors are infinitely better than the women's, but they truly are.

I prefer the Gillette Mach 3, which according to their tag line is... "the best a man can get." So why aren't they marketing these razors to women? We deserve the best to shave with, too! It has an ergonomic handle and three blades that basically give you the closest shave possible with the least amount of strokes. The more you have to go over the area with the razor, the more irritation you are going to get.

Now that you have the right razor, you must have the right shaving cream to go with it. Soap or body wash is not going to help the situation. You need a fragrance-free shaving cream. Aveeno's brand new Ultra-Calming Shave Gel ($3.99), "helps calm and soothe red, dry, irritated or sensitive skin." Furthermore, the people over at Aveeno did a study and found that 77% of women were concerned about irritation from shaving. That is a high percentage of people walking around with their bikini line, legs, or underarms bugging the heck out of them! Finally, after you are done shaving, you need to put on something to protect the area. My favorite at the moment is a medicated gel called Bikini Zone ($7) which you can find at most local drugstores. You put it on immediately after each time you shave and it will help to smooth away bumps and redness. I know it sounds like quite a routine to go through to get your bikini line in shape for summer, but at least you only have to do it while pool season is open!

My husband hates to kiss me when I am wearing lip gloss. He says it gets all over him and it stains his skin. At first I wanted to tell him to blank-off, but I like him so I won't do that. Is there a lip product that won't immediately "kiss off" when I give my husband a smackaroo?

There are two categories of men. Ones that don't mind lipstick and ones that despise it. I remember a friend of mine told me that when she was dating a guy in the very beginning, and she was wearing bright red lipstick, the sexiest thing he ever did was right before he leaned in to kiss her he quickly swiped his hand across her lips and wiped off all her lipstick. She said it was completely sexy. Like it was the fastest thing he could think of to get rid of the lipstick to get to her lips. He is now her husband. And he still doesn't like to kiss her with lipstick on!

So here is what you should do. You can buy one of those lipsticks that contain Perma-tone (semi-permanent lip color) that lasts up to eight hours on the lips. It's similar to indelible paint and will not kiss off. My favorite is Laura Gellar's Lip Stay ($13) at Sephora.com. It's a duo that has the long-wearing color on one end and a clear gloss on the other. Apply the lip color first and wait 30 seconds to let it set, and then apply a touch of gloss. This stuff doesn't move for hours, and looks very much like regular lipstick on the lips. Or, if you are out and about at Target, you can check out Max Factor's LipFinitiy ($10). The entire line of LipFinity lipstick contains over 40 shades, so there is a shade out there for everyone! 

Fabulous Fragrance Fun

I don't know about you folks, but I am bored, bored, bored, of my everyday fragrance. I have worn it forever and it just doesn't do it for me anymore. Have you ever tried shopping for a new fragrance? It seems like there are a million choices out there, and if I just head out to the fragrance counter to sniff out a new one, I usually end up with a big headache. Nothing smells good. Everything starts to smell like nothing I would ever wear. Will someone pass me the coffee beans please?!!! (You know you are supposed to smell coffee beans between smelling scents to cleanse your nose palette, right?)

So, I hooked up with the nice people over at Urban Botanic. This is a specialty fragrance company that, after you take their highly entertaining personality test, will profile your fragrance likes and invent the perfect fragrance for you! They also do home-based parties. It's really cool! The test takes less than 10 minutes, and will put you into one of six different fragrance categories. I won't go into which one I am, but after reading each profile, mine was dead on. It's like they read my mind! So I ended up getting a body lotion which we entitled "On Vacation" and it features bright notes of honeysuckle, green apple, and violet. Yum! Here are the six different categories... which one are you?

Floral, Fruity, Herby, Leafy, Spicy, Woodsy, or Sleepy (I added this one in for all the new moms out there)