How the Pubic Hair Oil Emma Watson Swears by Was Born
You may have heard of FUR oil. In March 2017, Emma Watson revealed that she was an avid user of the line. Google searches for "FUR Oil" increased by 600%, site traffic went up by 500%, and over 100 new retailers started to stock FUR. "I use FUR Oil," explained Watson. "I'll use that anywhere from the ends of my hair to my eyebrows to my pubic hair. It's an amazing all-purpose product.”
Laura Schubert, 35, is the brains behind FUR, a unisex line of luxury products specifically for pubic hair. Admittedly, like most of us, Schubert felt embarrassed discussing pubic hair in her teens yet knew it was time to change the conversation. Here’s how she turned what some originally thought of as a joke into one of Hollywood’s favorite beauty secrets.
I was lucky to have a relatively boring upbringing. I grew up in New York City, in the Riverdale area of the Bronx. My dad is a doctor and my mom was a homemaker; now she works with my dad. He had his own practice and made his own hours.
I was not one of those little kids who knew what I wanted to do when I got older, but I was very involved in competitive gymnastics, which put a large focus on my physical self. So between that and having a doctor as a father, as you can imagine, I was very aware of my own body around puberty.
By the time high school rolled around, I was constantly in a leotard and definitely had pubic hair. At that point, I'd started shaving, but experienced terrible ingrown hairs right where my leotard hit. I didn’t know how to deal with them, but I also didn’t feel comfortable asking my mother. I'm jumping ahead here, but that's part of the reason why I eventually created FUR: because I wanted to make these types of conversations easier to have.
I attended Harvard for undergrad, and then started my career as a Goldman Sachs consultant. Columbia business school came next for me. I wanted to start my own business, but when I graduated, I didn't have any ideas that I felt particularly passionate about, so I went back into consulting. In that moment, it felt like I was giving up on this nebulous dream, but looking back I'm so thankful that I didn't try to jump blindly into a business-I wasn't ready.
In 2014, though, with the idea for FUR swirling, I was finally ready. Leaving my stable, high-paying job was a terrifying jump, but mainly because people think you're absolutely delusional when you first set out to start a business. I was hung up on and laughed at. My parents and friends thought I was crazy to leave a top tier management consulting firm to start a pubic hair and skincare business. But that's the risk of starting something in direct opposition to a stigma that's been cemented for decades. I knew that battling this stigma was going to be more rewarding than any job I'd ever had before.
The problem was...I had no idea where to start. I worked with my sister on the concept and she did a lot of the original branding, but she decided to move on to become a full-time artist. So I tapped my best friend Lillian from 7th grade-we were both gymnastic captains in high school, believe it or not-who happened to be in the mascara space at L’Oréal at the time and was looking to make her next move.
During the trial and error phase, I was basically taking home body and face oils and using them like I would eventually use FUR oil. I remember thinking, this is such a sensitive area that we basically need to create a new category for it and the formula needs to be natural, safe, and sex positive-one that you'd feel good about using.
When we finally launched FUR, there were no other products [on the market] for your pubic area. Our goal was (and is) to dismantle the taboo and shame we have about our bodies. We're determined to get that mission across to the masses.
Throughout this process, I've learned there’s no right way to start a business, you just have to do it. That’s my advice. You have to do it every day and keep doing it and don’t give up, which is why persistence is just as important as your passion. If you’re not passionate about [the project], you won't be as persistent.
I didn't know if people would think FUR was a joke, but I knew that we stood for inclusivity and that was important. We've always wanted to help anybody with body hair, regardless of how you want to groom yourself. It's been really great to see the [body hair] conversation swing around to where we feel like [FUR] has been all along.
It's also been validating to see other brands join the body hair category. It makes me proud because it shows that we’ve been successful at creating the space. You’re not a category if you are the only one. We knew step one was having competition, because that means it’s a real thing. Of course, that same fact adds to my stress. Now that we've created the category and people have joined us, we have to work hard to stay ahead.
Currently I'm juggling marriage, a baby, and a growing business-all huge privileges that mean I'm constantly prioritizing my commitments. Rather than believe the false narrative that women have to "balance" or "juggle" their work and their lives, which inevitably makes us all feel guilty about giving too much to work and too little to family, or vice versa, I try to think about how the work I do today will benefit my daughter's future.
('You Might Also Like',)
