Fur Oil and the Ingrown and Shave Care I Pair With It

Fur Oil and the Ingrown and Shave Care I Pair With It

Fur Oil is the body oil that built a whole category around hair and skin below the neck. Here is how I use it, plus the body oils, ingrown fixes and gentle exfoliators that make a smoother shave routine.

In 2014, Fur co-founder Laura Schubert typed "pubic hair" into a search bar and found that the only autofill was "removal." Beauty had plenty to say about taking hair off and almost nothing about caring for it. She spent two years developing a blend of lightweight oils with co-founder Lillian Tung, and Fur launched in October 2016 with one hero, Fur Oil. A year later Emma Watson told Into The Gloss she used it, and the brand says searches jumped roughly 600 percent.

I like that point of view because it is practical. Fur Oil is meant for anywhere hair meets skin, and the brand says it softens hair, moisturizes and is formulated to reduce ingrowns. It lists grape seed and jojoba oils and says it is quick-drying so it will not stain silk. A few drops after a shower is the routine. The rest of the Fur line covers the steps around it: the Ingrown Concentrate is a soothing spot treatment, the Moisturizing Shave Cream is for the shave itself, and the Silk Scrub is a body exfoliator with jojoba beads, enzymes and AHAs.

The other oils in this row are for the rest of you. JOSIE MARAN The Original 100% Pure Organic Moisturizing Argan Oil is a multi-tasking oil that soaks in fast. CYKLAR Vanilla Verve is a warm vanilla body oil with vitamin C, Salt & Stone Bergamot & Hinoki is citrusy and woody, and Sol de Janeiro Bum Bum Firmeza is a firming, debloating body oil.

A quick test: put two drops on your inner wrist, wait a minute, and see whether it dries down or feels slick before you use it on your legs.

Big numbers collage for Fur Oil: six products from Fur, Josie Maran, Cyklar, First Aid Beauty, Salt & Stone and OUAI, each set beside a large numeral
Fur Oil

Fur body care and body oils

Ingrown fixers and shave aftercare

Ingrowns come from the moment after a shave or wax, so this row is all about what you do next. The Jack Black Post Shave Cooling Gel is alcohol-free and fragrance free, made to soothe razor burn and redness, and it is the one I would toss in a gym bag. First Aid Beauty Ingrown Hair Pads with AHA and BHA are designed for use 24 hours after hair removal, and they are alcohol-free.

For weekly exfoliation, First Aid Beauty KP Bump Eraser is a scrub with pumice beads and glycolic and lactic acids aimed at keratosis pilaris texture. The INKEY List Glycolic Acid Exfoliating Body Stick has 7 percent glycolic acid and 10 percent shea butter in an easy swipe-on balm. Nécessaire The Body Peel is a daily 12 percent acid serum and the brand says it feels sticky. Topicals Slather is a milky exfoliating body serum with retinol and AHAs, and Topicals High Roller is a lightweight ingrown hair tonic for the face, armpits and bikini area. EADEM Smooth Slate is a serum with AHAs and azelaic acid for body and face.

Pairing tip: use acids at night, and keep the morning for moisturizer and sunscreen. Start with a single acid and add another only once your skin is calm.

What I would skip: stacking the body peel and a retinol serum on the same night when you are new to actives. Give each one its own evening.

Ingrown and shave care

Washes and scrubs that stay kind

Washes and scrubs are the quiet part of the routine, but they change how everything else works. OUAI St. Barts Gentle Body Wash is sulfate-free and smells like dragon fruit, orange blossom, tuberose and amber, and the OUAI St. Barts Scalp & Body Sugar Scrub uses sugar crystals and coconut oil to buff both. Nécessaire The Body Wash Fragrance-Free is a rich cleanse with niacinamide, ceramides and hyaluronic acid for dry, compromised skin, and Nécessaire The Body Exfoliator in Eucalyptus is a weekly scrub with bamboo charcoal, glycolic and salicylic acid.

If you want acids in the shower, Skinfix Resurface+ combines glycolic and lactic acids, and the CYKLAR Lactic Acid Foaming Body Polish and Wash does the same job with volcanic pumice. Soft Services Smoothing Solution is a leave-on gel with lactic acid and urea for KP and ingrowns. For a richer treat, CYKLAR Sacred Santal is a semi-solid scrub with sugar, salt and volcanic sand, and it smells of cashmere wood and vanilla.

Pairing tip: exfoliate two or three days before a shave or wax, not the same day, so your skin is smooth without being raw.

What I would skip: a salt or sugar scrub on freshly shaved legs. That is the day for a gentle wash and a few drops of oil.

Gentle body washes and exfoliators

Building a shave routine that lasts

The routine I trust is simple. Exfoliate a few times a week, shave with a cream on damp skin, soothe right after, then use an oil on days between. Fur Oil fits the last part, and the Ingrown Concentrate is there for a stubborn spot. If your skin is sensitive, pick fragrance-free washes and take one active at a time. Give any new step about two weeks before deciding, which is also what Fur suggests for its oil. Smooth skin is nice, but comfortable skin is the goal, and the gentlest routine you will keep doing beats the strongest one you abandon after a week.