Intimate Care You Shouldn’t Ignore | A Complete Guide

Intimate care

Intimate care is a topic people rarely bring up. When women get together, they usually talk about skincare, makeup, fashion and so on—and that makes sense, since chatting about “intimate care” over afternoon tea might feel a little out of place. Even though topics like intimate care, cleaning and hair removal can be a bit embarrassing, it’s about time we talked about them.

Intimate Care: Cleaning

According to related data, gynecological inflammation is an issue that up to 80% of women will face, and the incidence of female reproductive inflammation is rising year by year. Among the more common conditions—trichomonal vaginitis, candidal (yeast) vaginitis and chronic cervicitis—one of the main triggers is improper intimate cleaning.

1. Everyday

Frequency: once a day is enough

The self-protective function of the intimate area keeps its acidity within a certain range, effectively limiting the growth of harmful bacteria. When it comes to intimate care, many people assume that cleaning more often and staying hygienic can’t be wrong. But in reality, over-cleaning—while it may wash pathogens out of the body—also disrupts the acidic environment of the intimate area and undermines its natural self-protection.

Method: rinse with warm water

When you shower, simply rinse with warm water—but do it in the shower. It really is that simple. In terms of technique, just wipe from front to back. If you don’t shower every day, keep a dedicated basin and small washcloth for proper cleaning. Both the basin and the cloth should be washed daily to prevent dirt from sticking to them. A stainless-steel basin is preferable, as plastic materials can develop bacteria that aren’t good for your body when exposed to hot water.

2. During Your Period

Women, as a species, regularly bleed for about a week every month without keeling over—which seems pretty impressive. But in reality, women are especially vulnerable during their period. If you don’t pay attention to cleaning, or clean improperly during menstruation, all kinds of bacteria can multiply rapidly using the blood, easily triggering various gynecological inflammations. You must take special care to keep the intimate area fresh and dry. Frequency: twice a day. I’ve heard that in some places the traditional belief is that “you can’t touch water during your period.” That’s a huge mistake!!! During menstruation, the most noticeable thing most people experience is that their body carries some odor to varying degrees. Not using water during your period actually increases the chance of infection and inflammation.

The cleaning method is no different from everyday care—once in the morning and once before bed, mainly to wash away any adhered clotted blood. Besides rinsing, pay attention to cleaning after using the toilet. Compared with ordinary tissue, wet wipes are more recommended—their antibacterial function can reduce the likelihood of inflammation and lessen odor.

3. Around Intimacy

Actually, calling this section “around intimacy” isn’t quite precise—cleaning should happen both before and after sex.

The principle to follow is “a light wash before sex, a thorough wash after,” and both partners should clean. Don’t believe what you see in TV dramas—they just don’t show the cleaning steps, that’s got to be it. A “light wash” means cleaning the genitals to remove the bacteria around them. A “thorough wash” means cleaning the whole body to wash away bacteria and fluids hiding in the body afterward, preventing infections of the external genitalia and urinary system.

4. During Pregnancy

During pregnancy, due to hormonal effects, discharge from the lower body increases. Expectant mothers, please don’t panic—as long as it’s white and odorless, it’s mostly helping to keep the reproductive system healthy, and there’s no need to over-clean. Just stick to once a day with a warm-water rinse. But if odor develops, you should consult a doctor. A reminder: during pregnancy, simply rinse the intimate area with warm water and change underwear frequently. Don’t randomly use external genital washes—ingredients you’re unsure about could easily affect fetal development.

Intimate Care & Maintenance

1. Trimming Hair

Honestly, I never used to care much about this either—until one time at the pool, I saw a woman wearing a very narrow bikini, and a bit was peeking out from the side of her swim bottoms… (sorry for her). In reality, whether you shave or not is entirely up to you—it’s a very personal matter. But even if you don’t like grooming, you may want to pay special attention when your outfit calls for it.

1.1 Shape

If you’re someone who chooses to trim, what shape do you want? While researching this, I found there really are quite a few styles. (Things like heart shapes, sparkle-diamond shapes… I’ll leave those for you to explore~~) Besides shaving completely bare, the following are among the most common.

• Bikini style (left)

This shape is popular in Europe and North America. As the name suggests, it lets women wear a bikini without any worries.

• Landing-strip style (middle)

Supposedly the landing-strip style is a favorite among many supermodels, helping avoid any “stray weeds” showing during runway walks. The width of the strip is usually about the width of the vagina.

• Natural/bush style (right)

Supposedly the natural style is a favorite among most people who want to “mow the lawn,” because it’s the least effort. You just tidy up the edges a bit. It basically looks natural, but you’ve actually groomed the messy hair—kind of like a “no-makeup makeup” look.

1.2 Tools

• Ordinary razor

First off, don’t “ruin” your boyfriend’s razor—its blade is too big and isn’t suitable for trimming pubic hair; one slip and you could cut your skin.

• Wax

Some people also mention waxing. It can indeed help you quickly remove hair over a large area, but it’s easy to trigger allergies and damage the skin.

• Women’s shaving tools

Shaving tools designed specifically for women usually have smaller heads, and some come with a comb for tidying hair, making grooming easier. This is the method I personally lean toward: when shaving, go in the direction the hair grows, which helps prevent ingrown hairs when it grows back. A reminder here: if it’s your first time trimming, decide on the shape in advance. It’s best to first outline a rough pattern with shaving cream along your desired design, then slowly trim with the shaver.

2. Firming Exercises

As women age, and especially after giving birth, the vagina can become lax. A well-known TV host once said on a talk show that after having three children, things down there became loose. Some women also experience urine leakage after childbirth. (Note: image was from a talk-show screenshot, copyright belongs to the original creator.)

Although the vagina has some natural repair ability, compared with the muscle tearing that occurs during childbirth, it’s best to strengthen its elasticity through some exercises.

2.1 The “hold-your-pee” method

The so-called “hold-your-pee” method means holding it mid-urination and then feeling which muscle you’re engaging—that muscle is the one we want to exercise. The point of this is to help you locate that muscle, not to make you actually hold your urine, since holding urine can easily cause a number of health problems.

Once you know where that muscle is, you can start exercising. Consciously tighten for 5 seconds, then relax for 5 seconds; do this 10 times, and complete 5 sets a day. This helps train the elasticity of that muscle.

2.2 Squats

Spread your legs apart and, as you squat down, contract the muscles on both sides of your buttocks. The squatting movement helps contract the sphincter and improve vaginal laxity. Keep it up for 15 minutes a day and you’ll gradually see results. Beyond this, there are also specialized devices that can help with practice—but that’s a topic with a lot to cover, so we’ll save it for another time.

Intimate Care Q&A

Q1: Can I use intimate washes?

Many people agonize over whether intimate cleansing products can be used, worrying that they’ll over-clean the area and instead trigger inflammation. In reality, dedicated intimate washes usually have a pH between 4 and 4.5, which won’t disrupt the acid-base balance down there and can also help remove odor. One thing to note: be sure to rinse thoroughly.

Q2: Should pubic hair be removed?

In Europe and North America, removing pubic hair has long been a habit, and in some countries it’s also done for religious reasons. Whether you remove it or not is entirely up to you personally. If you do remove it, just be mindful of hygiene during the process to avoid cuts that could cause infection, allergies and the like.