As Vogue rules the bush is back, here's what styles stars have been opting for downstairs -

CANCEL that painful waxing appointment, ladies – style bible Vogue has declared the bush is back.

Opting for full pubic hair has been gaining popularity since 2013 when Gwyneth Paltrow said she favoured the “70s vibe” of the natural look.

Over the years there have been Brazilians (waxed but leaving a “landing strip”), Hollywoods (all hair waxed off) and even vajazzles (decorated with gems). But New York gynaecologist Dr Eden Fromberg told Vogue she has seen lots more patients wanting fuller hair downstairs.

And London hair transplant clinic DHI Global has reported more women wanting their pubic hair restored after having it removed with laser treatments.

Sex writer Alix Fox tells her own history of pubic hair sculpting, and we look at the evolution of waxing, as well as which celebs choose hair or go bare.

Jennifer Lopez, 49

THE singer prefers using a razor to the agony of waxing, telling American fashion and beauty magazine Allure: “I don’t love waxing. I shave everywhere. The only thing I wax is my eyebrows.”

Kim Kardashian, 37

THE reality TV veteran told Allure magazine: “I am Armenian, so of course I am obsessed with laser hair removal. Arms, bikini, legs, underarms . . . my entire body is hairless.”

Miley Cyrus, 25

PERHAPS not surprisingly, the singer, who lives a natural vegan lifestyle, is not afraid to bare all to her fans. In 2015 she posted pictures of her dyed pink armpits and pubic hair poking from her undies.

Gwyneth Paltrow, 45

HAVING previously hailed the Brazilian style back in the 90s, Gwyneth admitted to US chat show host Ellen DeGeneres that she now prefers a full bush, or in her own words, she likes to “work a ’70s vibe”.

Ashley Graham, 30

LAST year the American plus-size model revealed that she has “a full bush. Period”. She told Glamour magazine that a woman’s pubic hair is “about your preference and your partner’s preference”.

Cameron Diaz, 45

IN her 2013 book The Body Book, the actress writes: “I think permanent laser hair removal sounds a crazy idea . . . I’m just putting it out there – consider leaving your vagina fully dressed, ladies.”

Emma Watson, 28

IN an interview with beauty website intothegloss.com the Harry Potter actress revealed she doesn’t get rid of all her hair, and that she loves Fur Oil, a product specifically for conditioning pubic hair.

Alix Fox's History of Pubic Sculpting

I FIRST started trimming my private privet when I was 16, using a Mach 3 razor to sculpt my muff fluff into a triangle to stop it poking out of the hot pink diamante thong I’d taken to wearing.

It was 1998, and the fashion in my home town of Macclesfield was for girls to pull their G-strings high up on their hips, showing them off above the waistband of their low-slung jeans.

As a teen just beginning to explore my sexuality, I thought this looked flirty, daring and rebellious, although I’m pretty sure my mum thought it looked cheaper than something you’d find in a pound shop bargain bin.

Either way, it required the removal of a few straggly pubes if you didn’t want to look like you were smuggling roadkill in your pants from the front.

Along with batteries for my CD Walkman, fresh blades for my razor were one of the most expensive things I spent my meagre Saturday job earnings on, but I considered them essential.

When my pubic hair had begun to appear a few years previously, it had made me feel so grown up. Now it was taking charge of my body and getting rid of it made me feel like a sophisticated adult.

As I grew more confident and comfortable, my pubes became an extension of my bold personal style.For a while, I was really into dressing like one-hit-wonder girl band Shampoo, who were famous for their bratty baby doll look. I shaved my pubes into a cute love heart to match.

Next, I experimented with removing all the hair and decorating with stick-on gemstones, twinkling metallic temporary tattoos, or scratch ’n’ sniff cherry-scented ones.
My nether regions looked like they were heading to a carnival. As a long-term fan of rainbow-hued hair dye, I once tried colouring my pubes too, using a product called Betty.

The process involved combing through an apparently beaver-friendly bleach, then wrapping your crotch in clingfilm for half an hour to keep the heat in while it developed.

Thankfully the mixture didn’t get painfully hot — there weren’t any bush fires. Finally, you had to apply a hot pink paste. At first, I had the flamingo-coloured foo-foo of my dreams. But a week later, the dye washed out — leaving a rusty blonde tuft with grown-through roots.

It looked horrendous. I went back to bald straight away. Some people might assume that I alter my pubic hair to try to please men, but that’s never been my motivation. It has always primarily been something I’ve done for myself. I view it as a fun form of creativity and secret self-expression that makes me feel empowered and gives me a grin every time I catch a peek when I nip to the loo.

Obviously, lovers do get to view it if they’re lucky. Most guys I’ve dated have seemed delighted, although one did ask me to go au naturel and grow the hair out. He thought my bare look was uncomfortably childlike. I feel the opposite — ungroomed pubic hair reminds me of being an awkward adolescent with hair sprouting out of its own accord.

I did try to embrace a full bush of short ’n’ curlies for him, but I hated it. To me, pubic styling and decoration is an unashamed, joyful celebration of my personality and my sexuality. It’s not about looking like the women in porn, it’s about unashamedly looking like me, proudly adorned.

While I’m not emotionally attached to the fuzz elsewhere on my body, styling my pubes is an act of self-love. I like the sensation of smooth skin too — it feels better during sexual play.

I’ve let boyfriends shave me themselves in the past. Because it requires such delicacy and trust, it can be a very sensual, bonding experience.

As a sex educator, I hear from umpteen young women worried that theirs don’t match those they’ve seen in explicit films, who want to change anything from waxing their pubes to getting plastic surgery in order to match the unrealistic images they’ve seen. It’s heartbreaking.