If you’re like me, you live your life according the rhythms of women’s magazines editorial.

January: Melt Holiday Pounds
February: Light His Fire
March: Spring Fashion Forecast
April: Get In Shape
May: Secrets to a Sun-kissed Glow

And then comes (cue horror music) June: Swimsuit Season.

As beach season looms, we women can no longer put off the absolute, hurl-yourself-off-the-nearest-bridge-hell that is swimsuit shopping.

Sure, the magazines try to make it painless. They give us tips on how to flatter our body types, tell us what cuts are good for disguising our “problem” areas and provide a nicely edited selection of styles, fabrics and colors.

And we throw some optimism into the mix (Diet! Exercise! Pilates!) to trick ourselves into thinking that looking good in any suit is doable with just a few weeks of teensy amounts of food and tremendous amounts of sweat.

But the reality is, even if you do drop five pounds, run five miles a day, or find the suit that disguises any one of a number of “areas,” bathing suit shopping and the whole idea of being in public in glorified underwear just plain sucks.

Thankfully, I have a friend who stumbled upon a fabulous alternative to bright, unforgiving dressing room lights and post-shopping tears.

Land’s End.

No, seriously. Land’s End.

If you haven’t tried their virtual model technology, you’re missing out. It’s helpful, it’s hilarious, and it’s hours of fun.

Basically, you build a virtual you. You start with the basics: body shape, bust size, height, weight, yadda, yadda. But the fun begins when you start choosing hairstyles, hair color, and the shape of your lips, nose and eyes -- it’s that detailed.

I have to warn you that after you’ve made your selections and your virtual you is revealed, it’s a tad freaky and Brave New World-ish. And of course, you won’t be able to resist going back and plumping up your lips, dropping five pounds and trying on infinite hairstyles. I admittedly reached a new low when I added Angelina Jolie lips and Pam Anderson breasts to mine. At least my “porn star” version of me gave my husband a chuckle.

Like I said. Hours of fun.

But is it useful when it comes to choosing a swimsuit? Definitely. Even if you don’t buy any of the swimsuits from Land’s End, you really do get an idea of what types flatter your body. I was surprised by a few that I thought would look great, but looked terrible on mini-me.

I am grateful to my friend for tipping me off to a great resource and unexpected entertainment source, and for turning last year’s swimsuit hell into something a little more swell.

Summer is just getting started, so give it a shot!