I style my hair, my face with make-up, my body with clothing and my nails with toxic chemicals that look both beautiful and poisonous. Some may call aesthetic and hygiene a chore, but I do not mind these things. In fact, I often enjoy it and the bonding rituals these activities inspire with my fellow human beings who participate.
The other day I was sitting on the toilet trimming my pubic hair and it dawned on me that my pubes had developed as much in style as the hair on my head. My pube style was a part of my own personal feel-good confidence but also a part of my sex appeal. There’s a whole goddamn industry built around being able to wax, bejewel and style your pubic hair, so I decided to ask a few of my vagina-holders around North America about their pubic style.
Jess Plummer | 28 | Brooklyn, NY
Pube profile: I find pubic hair aesthetically pleasing and it makes me feel like a grown woman. That being said, I can, however, find it uncomfortable and I'm rather fond of bikinis. I suppose I have a ‘60s approach at the dawn of the bikini: I wax the sides but I also remove anything below the labia majora for my own personal comfort. I take about an inch off the top in account for the low rise of bikinis and because I have an adorable freckle dead set center that is the beauty mark of my vagina.
Courtney | 30 | Seattle, WA
Pube profile: My pubes are light brown and not super thick, so I let them grow wild and they don't look too intense, really. Not that I'm against having wild and crazy bush, I just wasn't blessed with one. During the two weeks of summer that we get here in Seattle, I'll shave the parts that show outside my bikini. I can't wax cause I'm a wimp and I think it hurts too much. My stripper friend taught me to use coconut oil as a skin prep and moisturizing agent, then to apply antiperspirant (I prefer to use Dove, hippy shit won't cut it here) to the area immediately after shaving to reduce the red bumps you normally see after shaving this sensitive area. The antiperspirant is antimicrobial and moisturizing, which will reduce ingrown hairs later on as well. It works, I swear! This tip seriously changed my life. Smooth as a baby's bum every time. Other than that I'll occasionally give the old butt hole area a shave if I'm feeling sexy but hold off on the Dove for that area as it doesn't seem to need it.
Zohra | I've had pubes for years | New York, NY
Pube profile: Tastefully natural. Having grown up with a religious upbringing where cleanliness was of the utmost and then growing up in the era of porn ladies with infantile Vs, I felt the pressure from all the things a little punk gal would like to rebel against - parental religious expectations and expectations of dudes. So I am au naturel mostly, but not in that ‘70s wild woman porn way. I keep it trim, and in the designated areas.
Josie | 26 | Los Angeles, CA
Pube profile: I wear it shaved down around the sides into a small fuzzy diamond shape. I'm into my bush, it makes me feel more womanly. I actually went completely bush-less from 13 til about 21 years old, when I all of the sudden felt uncomfortable and even a little juvenile about having no pubic hair.
Anita | 34 | Vancouver, BC
Pube profile: After years of spending money on so-called good waxes (which none of them were), I practice my own maintenance now. I hated forking out $40 plus tip and ending up with the pubic hair of a prepubescent girl. I hated having to talk about my job or boyfriend while lying on my side with my ass cheeks spread and I hated the random comments regarding "keeping it up.” In all due respect, those estheticians have jobs, which they do and did things for me that I wasn't flexible or brave enough to pull off and out myself (and trust me, I tried). But all in all, after every wax, no matter what I had asked for, they always gave me the same thing, that tiny and sometimes totally crooked vertical line of hair. I'm so over it! Pubic hair is not repulsive, it's sexy and I don't agree it should look a certain way. I do my best to keep mine trimmed and neat, shave the sides, a bit off the top, give it a nice geometric shape (rectangle, triangle or a diamond) and then suffer with a small amount of razor burn. Yippie! Oh man, in the summer those sweaty bike rides, the jean shorts rubbing…very unforgiving. But hey, I get over it.
Tina | 34 | San Francisco, CA
Pube profile: Basically I shave everything that underwear doesn't cover. I also trim around the vagina and shave around the butt sometimes, and trim the whole bush. It changes seasonally. I do a lot more upkeep in the summer than the winter. The guy I'm with doesn't give a fuck, so I basically do whatever makes me feel good. I've gotten Brazilians before and I hated it. It made me feel weird during sex and when it grew back in it was super itchy.
