Health & Wellness

Revealed: The number of Kiwi women keeping the bush and their reasons why

Shaving should be a choice, not a chore.

Turns out wahine in Aotearoa are putting down the razor and only picking it up for themselves... rather than anyone else.

New research from a razor brand called Billie shows a shift in how Kiwi women are saying goodbye to grooming guilt.

Nearly half (48%) of women say they don’t shave regularly anymore, and for 1 in 7 (14%), skipping the razor is an intentional act for their confidence, rather than following outdated expectations.

When it comes to pubic hair, over a quarter (28%) say they’re keeping it ALL and going full bush mode with no shame and certainly no apologies.

It’s a move for comfort. Two in three (67%) Kiwi women now say shaving is a form of self-care, not an obligation.

Even Lorde recently went viral for embracing her pubic hair in an image from her latest album.

The picture shows a close-up of her bush through plastic trousers, giving popularity to the term “Lordeussy.”

Fans chimed in with supporting comments like: “Full bush summer and everyone’s crying over a freshly mowed lawn,” and “Lordeussy isn’t a bush, it’s a little fuzz I fear… free the fuzz, the bush, the Amazon rainforest.”

But while the attitude’s changing, we’re not quite there yet. More than a third (37%) of Kiwi women admit they’ve felt judged for having visible body hair, and only 7% think society actually accepts it.

Just 29% feel fully empowered to make their own choices when it comes to their body hair.

Billie – the first razor brand to show body hair in ads – wants to change that by backing the bush, landing in Aotearoa, and bringing the message that shaving should be a choice, not a chore.

So whether you’re bare, bushy or somewhere in between – the only person who gets to decide what goes on with your body hair is you. Why not embrace it?!