4 Popular Ways for Women to Groom and Style Pubic Hair

Pubic hair is there for a reason: to ease friction during sex and prevent bacteria from accessing your genital area. While it plays an important role in keeping your vulva healthy and clean, it’s also safe to remove, reduce or trim your pubic hair to your preference and for your comfort.

Over time, changing societal values, fashion movements and even wartime scarcities have shifted and swung pubic hair trends all over the spectrum. One current and popular trend is to simply go bare, but there’s also been a revival of women growing out more body hair in general, including around their vulva, as a counterculture feminist statement.

Of course, how you groom your pubic hair doesn’t have to send a political message. What you do or don’t do to your body should depend on your comfort. But if you’re looking to experiment or simply want to learn more, I’ll walk you through some of the top pubic hair styles for around the vulva.

The Brazilian

Some women prefer to be completely bald down there. The Brazilian is named after a waxing technique in which all pubic hair is removed. While this style refers to a waxing method, you can achieve the same look with shaving or laser hair removal. It’s also possible to give yourself the Brazilian style with at-home waxing kits.

If you’re a fan of going bare, it’s important to know the risk of spreading sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and infections (STIs) might increase when you have no pubic hair. The jury is still out on this one, but it’s something to consider.

The bikini

This pubic hair style leaves some room for interpretation but is named after another waxing method: the bikini wax. The bikini method removes any pubic hair that shows outside the bikini line, though some women remove hair inside that line as well. You can get this style through waxing, shaving or laser hair removal. Chemical hair removers are also effective.

The landing strip

This style features a thin (or thick) strip of pubic hair that leads down to the vulva, while all of the pubic hair to the sides of the strip is removed. Women with a landing strip can care for their remaining pubic hair much more easily.

The landing strip is especially popular for women who enjoy a Brazilian style but are wary of ingrown hairs, which can occur as a result of hair removal. While the landing strip can be achieved through shaving or waxing, it’s become much more common to create it with laser hair removal.

The full bush

Not everyone cares about precisely trimmed, groomed or removed pubic hair. Some women are happy to let their hair grow however it wants to grow, resulting in the colloquial “bush.” This look has become popular again thanks to an increase in political feminism and a push toward more natural and organic ways of living.

Some women do like to trim their pubic hair but avoid shaving it, while others opt to rock their natural growth as is.

Which pubic hair style is best for you?

It’s likely that your pubic hair preferences will evolve and change throughout your life, and there’s no right or wrong way to wear your pubic hair, as long as it feels right for you. If you suffer from ingrown hairs and irritation, switch to better hair-removal products, use alternative hair-removal methods or let your hair grow.

At the end of the day, your pubic hair style is uniquely your own.