Her Shameful Body Secrets Five beauty rituals women don't want you to know about. By Bethany Lye/ Lifestyle: Men

We may act like it's effortless, but "real" female beauty is a delicate mix of gloss—anti-wrinkle moisturizers, Wonderbras and sucking it all in at just the right moment. And just like you hide the porno books in the attic, we women sneak in and out of the neighborhood spa with suspiciously little to say about how we passed the time. So, finally, here are five of our beauty routines revealed. Maybe now you'll realize exactly what we go through for you.

1) Brazilian Bikini Wax: A flexible sadist's dream.

"Guys love the look," says Heidi Lamar, owner of the Lamar Everyday Spa [www.thelamar.com] in Scottsdale, Ariz. Too bad few men could withstand the pain involved in getting a Brazilian, where all pubic hair is removed save for a slim landing strip. At the Lamar, employees train with a video called "Nooks, Crannies and Crevices: The Whole Ball of Wax." And for patrons in search of hair-free crevices, the treatment involves an assortment of leg-in-the-air poses and hot wax in tender places.

"A Brazilian wax is a little like childbirth: Everyone says it is a miracle, but nobody really wants to watch it happen," says Lamar. "It's just easier to let guys keep thinking it involves beautiful technicians and a pillow fight."
Price at the Lamar: $75+
Time: 30 minutes to one hour

2) Threading: Not quite Granny's favorite pastime.

Threading involves twisting two cotton strings around a hair, usually on the face. The twisting motion lifts the hair out of the follicle without stressing the surrounding skin. It may sound painful, but it's actually one of the most delicate hair removal procedures around, says Michelle Ornstein, owner of Enessa Spa [www.enessa.com] in Los Angeles. It's so gentle, women can get it done on the sly—during lunch breaks, after work, in between errands—without any tell-tale puffy red marks memorializing their recently departed hairs. "Men don't know about the upper-lip peach fuzz that women just thread away," says Ornstein. "And so many women have just a few hairs on their chin, but no woman would ever talk about it."

Price at Enessa: upper lip, $18; combination lip and chin, $28; eyebrows, $28
Time: 30 minutes

3) Fake Tanning: Get golden without the sun.

"Everyone wants a healthy glow," says Joanna Czech, owner of Sava Spa [www.savaspa.com] in New York City. "And guys love their girls tan because they think it looks sexy." But sunless tanning is not quite as simple as rotating positions on the beach. At Sava, women are given a few instructions even before they arrive for treatment: wear dark, loose cotton clothing—no jeans—and shave and wax beforehand. The other instruction in this procedure that's not said, but very well understood, is that patrons must leave all bashfulness at home. "We do a whole body tan," sayz Czech. This means stripping down to a pair of paper panties you get upon arrival and letting a set of skilled hands roam where they shall please –- first, they scrub the dead skin away and then they rub self-tanning lotion all over your body. "Women prefer not to say their tan is fake," says Czech. "And my lips are sealed."

Price at Sava: $110
Time: one hour+

4) Spanxs and the Push-Up Bra: Helping the cup spilleth over and the curves run smooth.

Every woman has a little slinky number that makes her feel sexy, but what men may not know is that our hourglass silhouette gets help. Two of the most widespread tools that women use—but we'd die before telling you about—are Spanx and the venerable push-up bra. Spanx is a line of suck-it-in and smooth-it-out undergarments. The company's Slim Cognito Seamless Mid-Thigh Bodysuit "accentuates your waistline, minimizes your tummy and thighs, lifts your rear and makes inches seem to disappear," according to the Spanx Web site [www.spanx.com]. And it does the trick—that little black dress hugs our perfectly primed curves for your viewing pleasure. We also have the push-up bra, which helps a woman's breasts instantly double in size. Push-up bras, like the Frederick's of Hollywood [www.fredericks.com] Exxtreme Cleavage Bra, allow women to customize their own cleavage with removable push-up pads. The end result is a superior show we're happy to let our men admire—just don't ask us to dish about our methods.

Price: bodysuit, $68; bra, $28
Time: instantly

5) Hair Extensions: Like animal pelts, only prettier.

Sure. The idea of gluing and ironing someone else's hair to your head may give you the willies, but the end result is a gloriously full-bodied mane worthy of several hundred slow-motion hair tosses. Women will drain their savings accounts for hair extensions, but they won't utter a word about where the money has gone. "Hair is a big thing for men," says Jasellynne Brown, a stylist at the Antonio Prieto Salon [www.antonioprietosalon.com] in New York City. "Extensions make your hair look sexy, long, thick, healthy and shiny, and [women] don't want to ruin this perception once they've gotten someone's attention." To add oomph to a woman's locks, stylists use a mini flat-iron to bond bundles of real human hair near her scalp. "The bond is actually the same color as the hair, so it blends in completely," says Brown. And men across the country are none the wiser.

Price at Antonio Prieto: $800-4,000
Time: one to six hours

Freelancer Bethany Lye specializes in health and human-interest topics, and she has written for MSN.com, Health and People magazine.