Bikini bikini line waxing or laser hair removal can be classified in three general types.
- American Bikini Line is removal of hair at the top of the thighs and under the navel when wearing a bikini. It is also known as a basic bikini line.
- French Bikini Line leaves a vertical strip in front (a landing strip), two to three finger-widths in length just above the vulva. It is also known as a partial Brazilian bikini line. Hair of the peri-anal area and labia may be removed. (Removal of hair from these areas is also known as the Playboy wax or G-waxing.)
- Brazilian Bikini Line refers to a removal of everything, front to back, while sometimes leaving a thin strip of hair on the pubis. An extreme form of bikini hair removal, it involves complete removal of hair from the buttocks and adjacent to the anus, perineum and vulva (labia majora and mons pubis). Hair removal treatments that remove all of the pubic hair are known as a full Brazilian , full Bikini , Hollywood wax or the Sphinx.
Additional bikini line hair removal subgroups:
- The Bikini Line This is the least extreme form. All pubic hair covered by the bikini is left in place. Only straggling hairs on either side are removed, so that none are visible when a bikini with high-cut sides is being worn.
- The Full Bikini Only a small amount of hair is left, on the Mount of Venus (the mons pubis)
- The European All pubic hair is removed ‘except for a small patch on the mound’.
- The Triangle All pubic hair is removed except for a sharply trimmed triangle with the central, lower point aimed at the top of the genitals.
- The Moustache Everything is removed except for a wide, rectangular patch. This is sometimes called ‘The Hitler’s Moustache’, sometimes ‘Chaplin’s Moustache’.
- The Heart The main pubic tuft is shaped into a heart symbol.
- The Landing Strip The central hair is trimmed into a narrow vertical strip and all other pubic hair is removed. This has become popular with models who must wear garments of an extreme narrowness in the crotch region.
- The Playboy Strip Everything is removed except for a long, narrow rectangle of hair, 4 cm (4 1/2 inches) wide.
- The Brazilian Bikini Line This is the most famous of the new styles but there is some confusion about its excact form. To some it is the same as the Landing Strip, leaving only a ‘vertical stripe of hair’. To still others it signifies the removal of all pubic hair.
- The Sphynx This is unambiguously the ‘everything off’ style, leaving a completely hairless pubic region. The name is derived from that of a naked breed of cat from Canada. The smooth-skinned, hairless Sphynx Cat. Some laser hair removal clinics and spas refer to ‘the Sphynx’ as ‘the Hollywood’.
