Cindy Barshop

Let us preface this by saying, between the vajazzling and the peacocking of the privates, we’re not sure we can take much more of these "downtown decorating" trends. However, we've been accosted by so many images of fluffy, furry crotches lately, that we decided to delve deeper (ahem). Last week we learned about Real Housewife of New York alum Cindy Barshop’s newest offering for nether region adornment: the “Foxy Bikini,” which is essentially a merkin made of fox fur and dyed an unnatural color. (PS: you'll be happy to know that she's switching to faux fox after PETA and others caused a ruckus.) Then at the Thom Browne menswear show a few weeks ago (left) we noticed some fur (a man-erkin?) peeking out of low cut trousers. We had to learn more about the history of this colorful accessory. Consider this your Cliff’s Notes for merkins.

Because the beauty world is nothing if not contradictory at times (ie a "natural look" that requires 10 different products), today we heard about a new grooming treatment: fox fur and feathers for your newly fur-free waxed pudenda. Yes, a fox fur merkin now exists. (And a thousand kudos to Gawker for dubbing it the "Furkin.") When we heard Hoda and Kathie Lee mention it this morning on the Today show, we had to hear more. Completely Bare salons, owned by Real Housewives of New York alum Cindy Barshop, is offering two new procedures, the "Foxy Bikini" ($225) and the "Carnivale" ($195). Cindy is widely credited as being the originator of the short-lived vajazzling trend, so she's no stranger to sticking exotic things in your nether regions. We spoke to Cindy today to try to get answers to the two big questions we had about her new services: Why? and How?