Hot legs: Simple solutions for smooth, beautiful legs just in time for the beach - Essential Guide to Summer

Shape, May, 2002 by Leslie Pepper

* Use the right razor. Dull blades cause more nicks than new ones. And triple-blade razors with a moisturizing strip cost more, but give a closer, nick-free shave. Try Gillette MACH3 Turbo ($9; at drugstores).

* Smooth on rich shaving cream or gel. Shaving cream creates a lubricated environment for the razor, preventing cuts and leaving skin silky smooth. We love BeneFit Sweet Satin Shave ($24; benefitcosmetics. corn), Skintimate Moisturizing Shave Gel Tropical Splash ($3; at drugstores) and Philosophy Razor Sharp ($18; phiosophy.com).

* Experiment with waxing. Home waxing products have gotten much easier to use. Try the all-natural Aussie Nad's No-Heat Hair Removal Gel ($30; nads.com), which comes with Kiwi-Chamomile Prep Soap and Smoothing Lotion.

* Soothe ingrown hairs. Tend Skin Lotion ($20; tendskin.com) is a salicylicacidbased product that, when applied post-waxing or shaving, helps those red bumps disappear.

Leslie Pepper is a free-lance health and beauty writer based in Merrick, N.Y.

RELATED ARTICLE: Tried & Tested

Everyone envies the thick, curly hair on my head, but not so when it comes to the hair on my legs. So, after having had no luck with past laser-hair-removal procedures, I decided to try the new Lightsheer Diode laser at the office of Noam Glaser, M.D., medical director of Glaser Dermatology & Laser in Massapequa, N.Y. Each time the laser hit my skin during the two-hour procedure, it stung. Some places hurt more than others (the fewer the follicles, and with each subsequent visit, the less it hurts). Immediately afterward my skin looked a bit red and hivey, though by that evening the redness had disappeared. Glaser explained that some of the hair may look like it's growing back, but that it would fall out within a few weeks or disappear after more sessions. After just two treatments, my hair definitely is thinner - and even completely gone in some places - and I still have two treatments to go.