I started waxing my bikini line when I was 16. Nothing outrageous, just to tidy up the stray pubic hairs peeking out from my bathing suit at the beach or pool. I wasn?t too self-conscious back then about my thick, dark hair?it just felt like a nuisance in the grooming department. But by the time I was in my early 20s, I started following the lead of my girlfriends who raved about how ?clean? and ?fresh? they felt after their Brazilian waxes. We?re talking early 2000s and Brazlians were everywhere?magazines, talk shows, even a full episode of Sex and the City. For the record, Carrie Bradshaw was right?I did sort of feel like a ?freaking hairless dog.? But it was also supposed to be sexier, you know, for sexy-sex-sex, and pretty much a courtesy to anyone you?d want to go *down there.* I personally opted for the modified Brazilian, a style choice that leaves a little triangle or ?landing strip? on the top. I was told that even those novelty hairs should be trimmed so they were ?never longer than a grain of rice.? In short, it was a lot of work. This hair-removal ritual became my painful, expensive and time-consuming monthly routine till I became a mother a decade-and-a-half later, at 35. I even got a Brazilian wax before my first daughter’s due date, I suppose to spare my midwives the horrors of an unkempt bush. (Remember, dear reader, that pregnant women are already swollen down there due to increased blood flow, so it hurt like hell.)
It wasn?t until after the birth of...