Better skin in 4 weeks! If your skin appears smooth, hydrated and radiant, you'll look even better in a swimsuit, guaranteed - Essential Guide to Summer

Shape, May, 2003 by Jenna McCarthy

FICTION It takes months to see results.

FACT During the clinical trials of these products, most participants noticed a difference in their hair growth or began shaving less frequently after just two weeks of daily use, with full results noticeable after four weeks.

FICTION The active hair-minimizing ingredients are found only in lotions.

FACT While lotions you apply every day are the most effective (and provide a good healthy dose of skin-softening moisture), shave creams like Aveeno Positively Smooth Shave Gel ($4; at drugstores) now also work in the same way.

Jenna McCarthy, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based freelance writer and radio co-host, authored "Better Skin in 4 Weeks!" when she was seven months pregnant, a time when bikinis held less interest than expandable-waist pants. Still, McCarthy figured it wouldn't be all that long before she'd be back in shape and hitting the beach - her newborn in tow.

As a sun-savvy Southern Californian, McCarthy knows the importance of shunning the region's year-round damaging rays. "I live for self-tanner," she says. "Whoever invented the stuff should win a Nobel Prize -- or at least get really rich!" McCarthy played tennis throughout her pregnancy, reflecting her overall fitness strategy to "do what's fun and do it often."