Meet Flamingo, the choose your own adventure of hair-removal lines

The body hair women keep and the body hair we opt to remove has become an empowering, personal decision as of late. (Full bush? Head-to-toe laser removal? Nipple hair waxing? Cool, cool, and cool.) Flamingo, a newly launched women’s body-care brand created by some of the minds behind Harry’s, totally gets it. It’s Flamingo’s mission to provide every gal the products she needs—including $10-or-less razors, waxing kits, and accompanying skin-care soothers—to choose her own hair-removal adventure without ever needing to leave the house.

“We’ve talked to more than 1,000 women [to develop Flamingo products], and everyone has a very unique and personal body-care routine, and body hair is part of that,” Allie Melnick, Flamingo’s general manager, tells me. What ultimately resulted was a whole suite of sleek products that aim to enhance your grooming game affordably and stylishly, no matter your preferences.

Each Flamingo product costs less than or equal to those in the Harry’s line (which is manufactured with men in mind), and seeks to demystify and streamline the hair-removal process. The Flamingo Razor ($9) features blades with lubricating shells that moisturize and smooth your skin while clearing hair away. The Body and Face Wax Kit ($10 each) pairs simple, inspirational instructions (like, “Bask in your bravery” and “Hesitation lasts a second, smoothness lasts way longer”) with strips that don’t require the hassle of warming up wax. Just smooth one on like a Band-Aid, and rip it right off. The Foaming Shave Gel ($5), which contains about 20 percent inflammation-fighting aloe vera, promises not to dissipate in the shower steam as you run the blades over the cream, requiring a prompt reapplication. Even better, Flamingo’s Body Lotion ($9) aims to hydrate without necessitating an air-dry before slipping on your leggings. (Melnick calls this “the skinny-jeans test.”)

The lotion’s package says it’s made of white willow bark, a natural source of exfoliating salicylic acid. And let me tell you, it smells how I imagine the supply closet of a spa to: heavenly.

I’m skeptical about the claims, but oh-so hopeful that I’m one shower away from a changed life. So, I grab my new Flamingo Razor and Foaming Shave Gel, and head to the bathroom. Because I want my test drive of the product to be extra gratifying, I’ve let the hair on my legs grow out for about five days, so the prickliness now borders on fluffiness. I squeeze a quarter-size dollop of the gel into one palm, rub it onto my legs, and watch in disbelief as it expands into a thick, whipped cream-like layer from my ankle to my hip that doesn’t budge against the humidity of the shower. The heads of Flamingo’s razors are designed to be slightly round to hug your curves, but I don’t really notice that as the tool sweeps away almost a week’s worth of hair. What I do notice is that it makes quick work of turning the previously fuzzy skin on my legs to silk. I don’t have to revisit any spots.

I finish shaving both legs in less than three minutes, and hop out of the shower to try to the lotion. Before I even spread it on, I notice that my limbs feel less chalky and rough than they normally do post-shave (thanks, aloe). The lotion’s package says it’s made of white willow bark, a natural source of exfoliating salicylic acid. And let me tell you, it smells how I imagine the supply closet of a spa to: heavenly. It turns out all of this was very intentional, as paying attention to the skin was central to developing the products. “Thinking of the skin as part of what you want to take care of is a really important aspect [of hair removal],” Melnick says. “When you remove hair, any way you do it, your skin goes through trauma and you really want to support the skin back to good health.”

Not to wax poetic or anything, but…Flamingo, where hast thou pastel-hued body-care tools been all my life?

Finally, I’m ready for that skinny jeans test. I locate the tightest pair I can find in my closet and commence the denim dance that usually takes place when I’m fresh out of the shower. Only this time, it’s a fairly short number: I get my jeans on without breaking out in beads of forehead sweat. (Score!)

I’m feeling so competent, in fact, that I decide to put the wax kit to work on my toe hairs. And several moments and ouches later, not a trace of hair remains from my thighs downward. Not to wax poetic or anything, but…Flamingo, where hast thou pastel-hued body-care tools been all my life?

How often should you really be shaving? Here’s what a derm thinks. And if you’re thinking about going to town on some facial hair, read this first.