If you’ve waxed, shaved, vajazzled and given your crotch a vajicial (that’s a facial for your intimates, BTW), you might be asking yourself: what exciting new beauty trend can I subject my vag to next? New York has the answer: the full bush Brazilian.
Described by The Cut as ‘normcore for pubes’, it involves removing the hair from your vulva and buttcrack but leaving a full bush up top. Stephanie Kaulesar of Manhattan’s Completely Bare salon has noticed more women are going for it: ‘More natural bikini shape on top… still keeping the labia and inner buttocks completely bare.’ Think of it as a reverse mullet for your ladygarden.
I’m not going to lie: this makes total sense to me. It wasn’t too long ago we were rolling our eyes at the latest, totally ludicrous innovation for our pubes, pubic dye kits. So maybe this is the ultimate compromise: a return to au naturel body hair, with a down-there concession that sex sometimes can feel better if you’re bare where it counts. (Emphasis on “can” – I don’t want to diss any hairier sisters who enjoy having a little pubic cushion for the pushin’.)
Sadly, I may be alone in my enthusiasm for the normcore bush. Chloe Scriminger from Ministry of Waxing tells The Debrief that, contrary to our New York counterparts, London girls are very much still opting for an ‘everything off’ approach – and an increasingly permanent one, at that.
‘I don’t think the full bush Brazilian will take off here,’ Scriminger says. ‘In fact the beauty trend in the UK is now… barely anything underneath.’ According to the wax expert, 70% of the customers at the chain of salons are on IPL courses. That’s intense pulsed light treatment, which uses blasts of high-intensity light to damage hair follicles and permanently prevent their regrowth.
‘Women like the feeling of being completely hair free,’ Scriminger explains. ‘With IPL, it’s a short term investment for a long term gain – waxing aftercare can be costly, with ingrown hair creams and exfoliators. IPL eliminates all this.’
I’m not going to lie: the thought of permanently meddling with my vag – even if it’s just the hair follicles – makes me shudder. There’s also good proof that it’s better health-wise to have some hair between your legs. In her upcoming book, Love Sex Again, gynaecologist and author Dr. Lauren Streicher argues that pubic hair actually keeps the genitals warm and decreases friction during sex, too much of which can lead to nasty skin infections, staph boils and ingrown hairs.
We might poke gentle fun at Cameron Diaz’s over-enthusiastic campaign against permanent hair removal, but I think she’s right – you could give facials to your vajazzled crotch all day long, but these are fundamentally temporary measures. But removing it permanently? Pass me my basic white trainers and practical overalls, I’ll take the normcore look any day.
Follow Zing on Twitter @misszing
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.