In the beauty world, there are brands that come and go, trending one minute and forgotten the next—and then there are brands lucky enough to stand the test of time. Fur is one such brand, thanks to all of you. As we celebrate our 7th birthday, let's take a journey through the history of Fur, and explore how we ushered in a whole new era of body care.
October 2016: Fur is born.
Back in 2014, when our co-founder Laura Schubert googled “pubic hair”, the only autofill was “removal.” She realized available body hair products were only focused on removal, with harsh ingredients and unsophisticated packaging. All of these products centered on the outdated notion that body hair is inherently a problem.
That notion just didn’t square with her values as a woman, or as a mother. Why should we be ashamed of what naturally grows on our bodies? Why are we settling for mediocre products we have to stash underneath the sink, made by people who don’t celebrate our individual grooming choices?
From those questions sprung Fur’s foundational belief in the freedom of choice and the beauty of individuality—and that every inch of your body deserves equal and easy care. She spent the next two years developing and testing our now-signature Fur Oil with co-founder Lillian Tung, and officially launched Fur in 2016.
March 2017: Fur makes headlines.
Nothing could have prepared us to waking up one day in 2017 to find out that Emma Watson, Hermione Granger herself, was a fan of Fur, telling Into The Gloss: I use Fur Oil. 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.”
On the business side of things, it gave us an incredible boost: Google searches for "Fur Oil" increased by 600%, site traffic went up by 500%, and over 100 new retailers started to stock Fur. What was more rewarding though, was that her admission not only legitimized our brand, it spoke directly to our mission to destigmatize body hair and the taboos around grooming.
Our favorite part of the interview was when she said, “there’s still so much shame around the things you do to get ready while you've got a towel wrapped around your head. It’s important to me not to edit that out.” Though the grooming industry is huge, body hair grooming is still something that many women feel the need to keep under wraps. Emma Watson’s open admission to using Fur Oil for pubic hair grooming and beyond was validation for a lot of us that we don’t have to apologize for what we decide to do with our bodies and body hair—and opened the door to have more open, honest conversations around it.
February 2020: Fur appears on Shark Tank.
Fur truly entered the mainstream when Laura and Lillian made their appearance on the 11th season of ABC’s Shark Tank. It’s not every day you hear the words “pubic hair” on national television, but that was the point: to take Fur’s mission to destigmatize body hair to an even wider audience. Instead of being mocked, Fur was actually taken seriously as a business, because Fur Oil was a unique product that was fulfilling a gaping hole in the grooming market. That episode marked a huge turning point in Fur Oil’s history, taking it from a niche if-you-know-you-know product to a household name.
Today: A Fur Oil is sold every four minutes.
We’ve come a long way from the days of chemists hanging up on us, and potential retailers asking us to remove the word “pubic” from our packaging to even be considered. Fur Oil is now solidly in the mainstream, with glowing reviews in Vice, InStyle, and Nylon amongst countless others. Whether you’re trying it out for the first time or re-upping on your favorite, we just love that you love Fur Oil!
What’s next?
As Fur enters our eighth year in existence, we’re celebrating not just a brand, but a symbol of freedom and self-acceptance. Our success is confirmation that beauty should be all-inclusive, and empower everyone to do exactly what they’d like with their bodies. So cheers to many more years of Fur inviting us all to revel in the very best and most importantly, to take care—everywhere. Happy birthday, Fur!