Can You Use Pubic Hair Oil While You're Pregnant? Science Explains

Although I'm a Ravenclaw, I adore Hermione Granger — she always knows what's up. So when I heard Emma Watson uses pubic hair oil, I knew I needed to know more. What does it do? Is it safe? And what about a little down-there-care when you're expecting — can you use pubic hair oil while you're pregnant?

Apparently, pubic hair oil (also known as fur oil) is an oil you use after shaving or taking a shower that moisturizes your skin, helps prevent ingrown hair, softens your pubic hair, and clears your pores, according to the website for Fur pubic hair products. It's like a $45 wonder oil for your lady garden. Primarily made up of jojoba and grape seed oils, it seems nice enough, but it also has a few ingredients which may be of some concern to pregnant women.

Here's the thing — most essential oils aren't well regulated or tested. While it appears as though fur oil has been given a fair amount of testing to assure its users that it is safe and effective, that doesn't mean that each individual ingredient has been well studied for safety and efficacy much at all, if ever. As a consumer, you're forced into finding the answers elsewhere if it's not specifically listed as a warning on the product. On the Fur site, it's noted that the oil is "gynecologically tested," yet there are no links to the material safety data sheets like there are on conventional lotions, and there is no warning label. I know that if I'm rubbing my vagina with special oil, I want to have all the facts in place — especially if I'm pregnant.

The other oils listed in the product are the oils that may concern a pregnant woman — tea tree oil and clary sage seed oil. The Mayo Clinic suggested that pregnant mothers be cautious about tea tree oil, but that it's generally considered safe. As for the clary sage seed oil, according to Essential Midwife, it's contraindicated for pregnancy. That means it should be avoided because it has possible stimulatory effects, perhaps causing contractions.

Clary sage seed oil has been studied during labor, and it seems to have a soothing aromatherapeutic benefit that possibly strengthens contractions, according to The International Journal of Childbirth Education. So, you might want to put it in your hospital bag for some extra help when it's time to get down, although it seems an expensive treatment for an area of your body that's about to birth a child. (But you do you.)

As for using pubic hair oil while you're pregnant, there's no specific information that says you shouldn't, so it's worth talking to your healthcare provider to see what their opinion is. (I mean, you may not even be able to see your pubic hair once you get farther along in your pregnancy, but a little self care goes a long way.)