Ticked off

Pet expert Julia Szabo's stylish solution for removing pesky pests from beloved pets

The older and better I get, the more I resemble my pets. Nowhere is this phenomenon more evident than in the whisker department: new ones seem to pop up on my chin almost daily, requiring a precision tweezer to nip them in the bud.

Whiskers look adorable on my Border Collie Sheba, who also wears a glorious sable coat that once prompted me to dye my own hair to match. However, whiskers are a look I'd really rather not adopt. Finding tweezers that really work can be difficult. Happily, RED TWEEZER DUOS BY KISS are just the instruments I've been looking for: ending in two different tips, slant and point, these beauty tools are a cinch to handle and they get the job done in style.

Now happens to be the height of tick season. These ubiquitous arachnids are on the prowl, carrying and spreading the dreaded Lyme disease, and looking to attach themselves to a furry host. Your best friend could be next, so gird yourself for battle. I can think of no safer, more stylish way to remove these pests from a beloved pet than these perfectly precise tweezers. Incidentally, prime tweezing times are in the morning, when rested skin responds and heals quicker, or after showering, when pores are open and clean.

Here's another stylish tip: Keep a bottle of vodka in the freezer. Before removing a tick from your best friend, splash a small amount of vodka on the varmint. This will simultaneously disinfect the area and stun the nasty sucker long enough for you to find a spot with the brightest light, get a grip with your tweezers, and remove the tick, safely, in one piece, pincers and all. Whew.

Then use some of that vodka to fix yourself a hair-of-the-dog drink. Cheers!