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Several years ago, I received a package of PFB Vanish, a product that treats ingrown hairs, razor burn, and the discoloration that occurs from shaving your bikini area. I’m a skeptic of beauty products that promise a miracle result, so I considered chucking it—I didn’t need one more thing junking up my shelves. But on a whim, I thought, let’s just see what happens and I applied the roll-on product to a recently-shorn and very irritated bikini line.
I cannot explain how this stuff works, but since that day, PFB Vanish has been the one product I stock up on no matter the season. Fortunately, some people do know how this product works, and that list includes Danuta Mieloch of Rescue Spa in New York, a skin miracle-worker in her own right. She explained to me that the product uses willow bark extract and salicylic acid to gently exfoliate areas with ingrown hairs. And not only does it exfoliate, it soothes the area so you don’t get secondary redness from the post-shave itchiness.
While I use PFB Vanish as a matter of course throughout the year, rolling it on after nearly every shave, I recently took the original formula with me sailing in St. Michael’s, Maryland. If you have the type of sensitive skin that I do, that rashes up at your thought of a razor, you know that sun exposure combined with a ultra-tiny string bikini increases redness of the already irritated area, and potentially increases the severity of a sunburn. The product is photo-protective, reducing the harmful effects of UV rays and preventing a sunburn which could lead to permanent discoloration.
Because of my own concerns with discoloration, Mieloch recommended PFB Vanish Ultra to me, too—it’s like the original version of the Vanish formula, but juiced up to make it more effective around scars from ingrown hairs or discoloration from shaving the sensitive area. She told me that the Ultra formula has the same exfoliants as the original, but with added antioxidants for brightening darker areas. I used both on freshly shaved skin and the bare area looked like it had never seen a razor (or hair for that matter) a day in its life.
What I like most about PFB Vanish is that there’s no added scent or coloration to make the product look more appealing. It’s in a no-nonsense roll-on applicator that doesn’t clog up or stop rolling. The product is translucent and slightly milky in consistency. There are no added aromatics to mask the slightly metallic scent of the ingredients it uses, which does leave it with a slightly chemical scent, but not one that I find off-putting (I prefer it to a powdery or floral scent). The product is there to heal, not hide, and the minimalist packaging reflects that. After using it that first time, I was hooked—now, you'll always find it in my Dopp kit.
More of my summertime essentials:
Below, some more of my favorite products for a bikini area that needs a soothing tonic to relieve redness, draw out ingrown hair—or to be covered up entirely.
