CONDOMS

Diamonds are cool, but c'mon, ladies, condoms are a girl's best friend. Who else but that little rubber guy is gonna shield you from pregnancy and most sexually transmitted diseases and let you enter hump heaven without worry? (We'd love to say it's your boyfriend or the hot bartender you took home last week, but sorry, just not true.) Nothing comes close to the protection condoms provide, which is why nearly 8 million American women are taking control and using them regularly, according to The Alan Guttmacher Institute, a sexual and reproductive
health research organization in Washington, D.C. Whether you're already among the legions of love-glove devotees or are more of a condom-come-lately chick, you'll benefit from our, um, hands-on guide to the popular prophylactic. It covers everything you need to know from the right way to select and store them to avoiding snafus when using one.