Fur is changing the conversation around body hair care. Laura and Lillian, two Harvard grads and childhood BFFs, were frustrated with the market's focus on body hair removal, rather than body hair care. They saw whitespace and launched the brand in 2016 with natural products that hydrate skin, soften hair, and eradicate ingrowns from head to toe.
Now, 3 years later, Fur has spearheaded a brand new category in the beauty and wellness space. Best known for their Fur Oil, the brand recently expanded to Ulta along with two new products exclusive to the retailer. They will launch into Ulta brick-and-mortar stores in early May, bringing their mission to break the taboo around body hair across the nation. The brand is carried in over 300 retailers with an expansive network of aestheticians that rely heavily on their product because quite frankly, there is nothing else out there quite like it. They have seen 5x year over year growth and annual sales are several million at this point, all while remaining female-led and completely self-funded. They count Emma Watson as one of their fans!
Congratulations on landing in Ulta! Does this feel like a milestone for your brand?LAURA SCHUBERT: It definitely feels like a milestone. When we first told people we wanted to create the first line of pubic hair care and skin care, we were hung up on, laughed at, and told it was a terrible idea. So it’s been great to see that now the market is starting to respond to women wanting higher-quality options in their routines— it’s exciting that Fur is starting to enter the mainstream beauty world.
Your brand is taboo-breaking. Is that something you always set out to do?LS: Taboos are a powerful force that silence and breed insecurity, but it can be a really interesting place to start from when you’re creating a brand. We’re so proud that the Fur brand began a non-judgmental, safe conversation about a topic that was once only whispered about. Fur Oil was created to treat anywhere “hair meets skin,” but for many, its arrival meant more than that. Our success has been confirmation that they are living in a progressive era wherein a brand devoted to pubic hair and skin receives accolades, emphasizing the openness and freedom one can feel about their body. Fur’s benefits may be experienced all over one’s entire skin, but helping make an individual feel comfortable IN their skin is an invaluable and immeasurably impactful achievement.
What's the best part about being female entrepreneurs?LS: As female entrepreneurs, it’s been rewarding to have a team full of women and create a working atmosphere that feels empowering. I think it’s also been important when talking to women about Fur that we’re coming from the same place as them—we’ve all felt, as women, the pressure to look a certain way when it comes to body hair, so we understand what Fur needs to be as a brand to work against the taboo.
What's the best part about building a business with your best friend?LS: It feels great to collaborate with someone you really trust! We’ve known each other since we were in middle school, so it’s easy to bounce ideas off one another and understand where we’re both coming from. We have totally different ways of thinking—Lillian is very analytical and goal-focused, while I tend to dream big and think in the theoretical. That can sometimes lead to us butting heads, but the truth is you need both these ways of thinking to succeed as a business! It takes a dream and theories to jumpstart a business and try to see beyond the next bend in the road, but it takes the logical execution to make that dream turn into a reality. The key to marrying these differences is by having total transparency in our communication: I love having open-ended conversations and brainstorming, but to make Lillian happy we have to end the conversation with at least one actionable takeaway or clear cut goal.
What are you excited about for summer 2019?LS: We’re excited for Ulta to start carrying Fur products in over 300 stores! As always, it’s a busy time for Fur, but this summer we’re excited to start dreaming up potential new additions in the Fur line...
