by Paula Szuchman
You'd think that grooming the hair on your
nether regions would be an intensley private endeavor. Nah. Nowadays,
the the Brazilian bikini wax---in which all of the pubic hair
is stripped off, save for a small patch or strip in the front--is
the de rigueur muff cut amoung young women. Getting one requires
you to give your aesthetician almost as much access to your private
parts as you do your gynecologist.
While no one tracks the number of women getting bikini waxes each
year, analysts say it is safe to assume that hair removal is a
multimillion-dollar industry. In fact, the number of people employed
by salons has jumped 24% since 1999, while, sccording to the market
research firm ACNielsen, razor sales for men and women have dopped
18% in the last two years.
Beleive it or not, the Brazilians weren't the first ones to sport
scant hair down below. Ancient Egyptian woman eliminated unwanted
areas of pubic hair with a sticky mixture of honey and oil, which
was removed with a thin cloth. And for centuries, women in the
Middle East have used a process called sugaring, in which a paste
of warm sugar, lemon juice and water is spread on the skin, then
removed with a strip of fabric. The practice, often begun just
before a woman's wedding night, was and still is intends to make
a woman clean and pure for their husbands.
In 1922, the Sears catalog started carring razors and depilatories,
furnishing American woman with the ability to defuzz in the privacy
of their own homes. But it wasn't until World War 11, when Uncle
Sam called for a 10% reduction in the fabric used in women's bathing
suites (the birth of the bikini), that unruly hairs peeking out
of skimpy bottoms became a real issue. Unwanted wisps were shaved,
burned, or --- thanks to rationing of razors --- rubbed off with
sandpaper (ouch!). By the '60's, soft resin-based waxing
kits made by companies like U.S.- based GiGi and the French company
Cirepil were being sold at salons. By the late '80's and
early '90's, a few trendy salons began whittling away more and
more strands, says Lori Nestore, owner of the Oakland, California,
cosmetics manufacturing company Eva's Esthetics.
The term Brazilian bikini wax was actually a marketing concept
cooked up by the J Sisters --- of the trendy Manhattan waxing
salon J Sisteers International---who hail from Brazil, where young
women have long kept very bare bushes in order to wear teeny-tiny
string bikinis. Aided by the media and celebrity endorsements,
the Brazilian took off. The trend was further fueled by
the popularity of thong underwear (sales of which have risen more
than 13.5 percent in the past year alone) and super-low-rise jeans.
"But it goes beyond aesthetics," explains Karen Risch,
author of Hot Pink: The Girls' Guide to Primping, Passion,
and Pubic Fasion. "It's about what's going on in the
bedroom---and sex and fashion have a way of getting mixed up together."
Says J Sister Jonice Padilha: "Women tell me that everything
feels more sensual. Sex feels amazing; so does taking a
bath and wearing satin panties."
And, as with every other trend, a celebrity following fuels popularity.
Blatantly hanging on the wall at the J Sisters salon are handwritten
thank-you notes from famous patrons such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah
Jessica Parker, and Christy Turlington. On Sex and the City,
cooch-queen Samantha once argued, "Your pubes say as much
about you as your shoes" ---implying that if you're not spending
time and cash to tidy things up down there, it will have a negative
impact on your image.
What Guys Think
Cosmo asked more than 700 men: What Kind of "Down-There
Hair" Turns You On Most?
34% Completely hairless
32 % Neatly trimmed and groomed
27% Mostly bare, with a thin strip of hair
Back to our waxing page
7% Wild, as in full untended bush
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