Hey Ann Marie,

My boyfriend of two years and I have a great relationship. He loves my body and my curves, and our sex is great. The thing is he wants me to go 100 percent bare "down there." In the past I have endured the pain of waxing and the irritation of shaving, all in the name of compromise. But I feel like I shouldn't have to be bare like a baby all the time! What can I do to help avoid irritation when I do decide to shave? Any ideas on how we can compromise?

—Mely, Washington Heights, NY

Hola Mely,

Relationships are about compromise, but that does not mean only one person in the relationship needs to compromise all of the time! One way to begin to address this issue is to find out what it is that your man loves about you being completely bare. Is it just the sensation of the smoothness, or is it also the "youthful" appearance of being bare?

I have to shave anywhere from once to six times a week and have absolutely no time to allow enough hair growth for waxing—so I'm pretty much an expert on this topic. A good compromise could be to keep some sort of a "landing strip" or patch of hair above the pubic bone while keeping everything below bare. That area is generally less sensitive to razor burn than the area above the pubic bone. You can even keep it fun by surprising him with new hairstyles in the shape of a heart or even the initials of his name!

There's also some good razor burn–preventing products. I like the blue Bikini Zone aftershave gel, which you can find at almost any drugstore; there's also this great stuff called Bump Stopper which you can buy at drugstore.com. I have seen what years of untreated razor burn looks like, and girl, it is not pretty! Some other easy tips are to make sure you shave only in the direction of the hair growth to prevent unnecessary irritation and to change your razor very often. More than one week's worth of shaving on a single razor is out of the question. Check the razor blades often and toss at the first sign of rust. Hopefully at least one of these tips will help you and your man find a happy hair medium and both stay happy!

Con mucho cariño,

Ann Marie Rios

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