The bizarre evolution of ladies' pubic hair care
Many modern women go to extreme lengths when it comes to maintaining their pubic hair, enduring everything from waxes to laser treatments in order to keep the hair down there looking at its best.
But while there are all manner of methods to remove, shape, trim, or even grow, a woman's pubic hair these days, it wasn't always quite so easy, as one new video proves. Nor, as the time-lapse clip reveals, were so many options welcomed - quite the opposite in fact.
The video, created by Glamour, goes back in time to chart the different ways women tended to their pubic hair, revealing a series of mind-boggling styles that range from a full bush, the most popular style in the 1960s, to the ancient Egypt's stone razor shave, and the Renaissance era's vagina wigs.
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Bush or bare? A Glamour video reveals the bizarre ways women's public hair trends have evolved from stone razors, au natural bushes, and curled Renaissance merkins (above right)
Ancient traditions: The woman of old Egypt in 3000 BC preferred a hairless appearance and removed their bush using sharp stones as razors (left) or the sugaring method (right)
Greek chic! The ladies of ancient Greece painfully plucked their hairs individually (right) and would often prefer to partially remove their pubic hair, but not completely (left)
Wiggin' out! The 15th and 16th centuries saw women remove their pubic hair completely but don vagina wigs called merkins to maintain a modest appearance (above)
And as time progresses, it seems women became more and more playful with their designs and in the 2000s, even began bedazzling their vaginas in order to create a rather intimate form of glittering body art.
Women have been shaving their pubic hair since the Egyptian empire in 3000 BC, an era that celebrated a bare-skinned appearance and preferred hair removal from most of the body. However the look required a careful hand and eye to safely control sharp stones or pieces of bronze to use as a makeshift razor.
The video reveals that women of Egypt where also the first to use the sugaring trend - a hair removal process using a sugar paste that is then removed with cloth.
The Ancient Greeks, however, didn't adopt the quick sugaring process and instead plucked each hair individually in 650 BC.
'Some say they went fully stark, while other believe they favored partial depilation, resembling what we know today as a landing strip,' the video clip explained.
While some cultures preferred to bare it all, during the 15th and 16th centuries the trend was to remove all hair as a cautious measure to avoid catching pubic lice. But instead of going commando, the women would place a pubic wig on top, called a merkin, which in the video is fashioned with curls.
'But it is rumored that Queen Elizabeth I kept her pubic hair intact,' the video reveals on the royal's bold choice to go au natural.
From groomed to grown! The 1940s introduction of the bikini called for matching shaving and waxing patterns (left) but the 60s and 70s embraced a full-grown bush look
Snip snip! Baywatch made high cut swim wear and bodysuits popular in the 80s, and caused ladies to shape their gardens accordingly (left), and Nair was a popular tool for the job (right)
Barely there! the 90s was all about going in the nude (left) and the bold Brazilian wax was the hot way to get the job done using wax and cloth strips (right)
The video then fast forwards to the 1940s where the bikini fashion trend changed the way woman shaved, and birthed the bikini line shape pubic hair shape.
But that all changed in the 60s and 70s with the free-spirited movement of fully embracing the body. Growing a bull bush was a sign of the times - counter to the demure trends of the past.
Baywatch suits in the 80s influenced shaving and waxing shapes to fit into Pamela Anderson-esque high cut swimwear and bodysuits.
The video reveals that the hair removal lotion Nair, which was founded back in 1940, became a hot market product in the 80s as a preferred hair removal method.
The famed Brazilian wax took the ticket as the hottest hair care trend in the 90s as a wax that removed hair all over the bottom, instead of leaving some hair in the once popular landing strip and bikini triangle shapes.
Glam in glitter: The 2000s took a fun spin on pubic hair and bedazzled the bare area down under thanks to the 'vajazzling' trend that stuck crystal sticker designs onto their privates
Hairy fun! The 2010s saw hair trends of convention including the landing strip, but also embraced more entertaining shapes such as lightning bolts and hearts
More than art: The Bermuda triangle (left) is still a popular look today while some prefer the more odd shape of a miniature square called the postage stamp (right)
Things took a bizarre turn in the 2000s, however, with the introduction of vagina decor and the 'vajazzling' trend which adds decorative crystals to the bare vagina area.
Jennifer Love Hewitt, the video revealed, even shared her love for the trend in her dating advice book. And she wasn't shy to gush about the fad on the late night Conan O'Brien's show.
'It makes you feel saucy. It’s kind of fun to walk around and just think nobody has any idea how shiny it is down there. It’s cute!' she said during a 2012 taping of the show.
Todays 2010s trend range a variety of removals with woman proudly rocking their gardens au nautral and others baring their goods by waxing, laser treatment, and others shaving into a myriad of shapes that range practical Bermuda triangles and fun thunder bolts, hearts and tiny squares called postage stamps.