LOS ANGELES—According to The New York Times, a new trend is rearing its hairy head as more women decide to forgo the Brazilian bikini wax in favor of, as writer Marina Meltzer puts it, "a fuller look." As evidence of this new trend, the Times cites famous people like Lady Gaga, Gweneth Paltrow, Gaby Hoffman and Cameron Diaz, each of whom has recently extolled the pubic in one way or another, including pictorially.
In fact, writes Meltzer, "In certain corners of Manhattan, the bald look of the Brazilian has become déclassé, more suggestive of a naked Barbie doll or a reality television starlet than an organic lifestyle of cold-pressed juice and barre classes."
The owner of a West Village spa supported that observation, commenting, “We have noticed a massive decrease in requests for Brazilians and high bikinis. Our clients in particular are eco- and health-minded, and the grown look certainly suits a girl who is more au natural.”
In other less affluent parts of the country, a shift in what women want has also been noticed, but not to the degree that is being seen in the Big Apple. For the owner of three Urban Waxx locations in the vicinity of Portland, Oregon, business has held steady but more women are asking for less hair rather than no hair.
“Sometimes as women get older, they feel self-conscious about having no hair,” said owner Shannon Conley. “So leaving hair at the top gives the illusion of having normal bikini hair, but is still groomed.”
Indeed, grooming appears to be the key to happy follicles and people. Said Alexis Steinman, a Seattle-area customer who for the last six years has honed what she calls “the Alexis”—a full front and bare everywhere else—“I have been ridiculed by many waxers, but having no hair, you look like a stripper or a kid. Neither one of those things are what I’m aspiring as a woman to resemble.”
Which brings us to the one word we expected to see in the Times article, but did not: porn. Our assumption going in was that one of the reasons women would begin forgoing no pubic hair would be a backlash against the ubiquity of bald porn pudenda.
But even within the ranks of female porn stars, there seems to be a trend among the younger women toward more hair, if not the overgrown shrubbery of yore, or even the landing strip style, which may have run its course, but toward a cute, fully manicured bush designed to enhance and yet not hide anything. In many ways, the best of both worlds.
Perhaps the advice tendered by actress Diaz to the Times in an email says it best, not just for women but for producers of explicit erotica: "Trim it, tease it, dye it like an Easter egg ... just bear in mind that trends and preferences change and you should think about keeping your future options open for yourself (and your future lovers).”
Image: Courtesy of Coconut Waxing.
