The world has taken a giant leap forward in the past decade, advancing women's social, economic, and political rights. The conversations around happiness, body image, and self-acceptance are alive and well in 2020, so why do we still find it so difficult to talk about 'the big O.' Let alone trading advice with your BFF on where to buy the best vibrator? Editor Trudi Brewer shares Smile Makers a brand set to change that dialogue.
Image BeautyEQ
One of the high points of my job is seeing the latest beauty and well-being innovation before it hits our stores. So when I got the call to have coffee and check out a new gadget, I was intrigued. Sitting in a crowded cafè, I was pre-warned, before the reveal, prepare to be open-minded? My instant response was, ‘is it a sex toy?' The reply: Yes, but not like you know it. I am entirely comfortable with that. Read on if you are too.
How Smile Makers began
The beauty industry is unique; while it still falls short of being inclusive, it has recognised how lucrative the health and wellbeing sector is. So with that, sleep products, collagen powders, smart mirrors, and supplement brands making holistic skincare are populating this space. Experts know when you are happy and healthy you look good, right? Two 40- something Swedish entrepreneurs, Mattias Hulting and Peder Wikström knew that too. Their belief is a women's sexual wellbeing is a natural part of life and beauty care.
Here's a quick back story on how these boys started selling vibrators. Friends, they worked for global beauty giant Procter & Gamble in Stockholm, on brands such as Olay, Wella, and feminine hygiene brands Always, and Tampax. Back in 2013, Wikström, feeling adventurous, went to buy his girlfriend a vibrator. Naturally, he went to a sex shop but found the experience, shall we say unpleasant. And was quoted saying, "Here is a product that is probably the most intimate feminine product in the world, and it's sold in the most un-feminine way possible."
Wickström thought, "If I feel uncomfortable here, how would my girlfriend feel? I thought someone should do something about it. Little did I know that someone would later be me." Wikström, enlisted his mate, Hulting, and together the pair left their safe corporate careers, and Smile Makers was born. From that moment, they agreed, Smile Makers would be sold where women like to shop. They wanted the brand to be accessible and not hidden away on the back wall of a dimly-lit sex shop or adult store. For them, sex toys are an essential day-to-day item that should be purchased free from shame and stigma.
They have only one criterion with this brand: Everything related to Smile Makers, you should feel comfortable showing to your mum.
Today you can buy Smile Makers online and where you would shop for fashion and beauty. Such a Free People, Selfridges, and Boots chemists, in the U.K and Urban Outfitters, Bloomingdales, Superdrug, and Goop in the U.S. Rolling out across New Zealand, it available online and at selected retailers, beauty clinics and spas. Before we get to my experience with Smile Makers, I am chuffed to be one of the first journalists to get my hands on what's known as The Frenchman and The Fireman (see details below). To be a small part of a significant movement to normalise the taboos that surround self-love. (Smile Makers will have its first public debut at our next Bubbles & Beauty event where you can chat about sexual wellbeing, find the perfect vibrator fit, and take a quick online quiz, How to choose a vibrator). As a writer, this experience has been, shall we say, my pleasure.
The Frenchman mimics the human tongue. The award-winning The Fireman is a top seller.
If you're a sex toy novice
Buying a sex toy is not your everyday beauty purchase. And while I am by no means an expert, I agree, it's impossible to wade through the overwhelming options. Most pleasure toys are phallic-looking, and while designed to supplement your boyfriend, they are also used by women for clitoral stimulation. Purchasing research shows most women settle with whatever sex toy they can get their hands on, or what may have been a gift of love, (my hubby bought our sex toy ten years ago, we have fondly named BOB. I was never going to step foot in a sex shop to check out what was on offer.) The smutty, cheap, nylon underwear in nasty colours, and bondage-style cufflinks, have always put me off shopping in adult stores, that has never been my vibe. Not to mention those enormous eye-watering scarlet red dildos never designed to fit in a delicate female hand, let alone hug your vagina - or offer stimulation for the 8000 nerve endings in the clitoris, by mimicking the human tongue?
Smile Makers vibrators are clever, stylish and come in bright Pantone-inspired colours, and could comfortably sit alongside your serum, fragrance or night cream on your bedside table. They are silent and offer four hours of fun from three AAA batteries. They are all named, (the founders crowdsourced from more than one thousand women about their sexual fantasies, then called the vibrators after the most popular), they include The Romantic, The Surfer, The Millionaire, The Frenchman, The Tennis Coach, and The Fireman, and are priced from $50. There is also The Ballerina, which looks more like a Foreo Luna facial cleansing device than a sex toy. The Ballerina (named because it's the shape of a ballerina's pointe shoe), is designed to fit snugly over the vagina to give the vulva; clitoris and labia, stimulation - a trio of fun, so to speak - no surprises it's the most costly of the range, $300. Smile Makers offer lube too, feminist writer, Gigi Engle of All the F*cking Mistakes: A Guide to Sex, Love, and Life,' (a great read), believes "Wetter is always better when it comes to sex." Two options, Generous Gel, $25, (for extra glide) and Stay Silky Serum, (for lightweight assistance), are both water-based, condom compatible, and made with skincare ingredients that don't need to be wiped or washed off.
Back to me, and my Smile Makers experience. I have taken that online quiz twice. The first time, selfishly for my pleasure, the second with the intention of sharing. And what do you know, I need two toys: The Frenchman and The Fireman, so in the name of research, I was keen to give them a whirl. The first stab at the quiz matched me with The Frenchman. Which I am not going to lie, takes a bit of practice to master. It's a unique oral sex simulator, designed to mimic the gentle touch of a tongue. After carefully reading the instruction pamphlet provided in the box - nerd, I fumbled around in the dark for a while trying to get the hang of it, (there are no hard and fast rules on how to drive this guy), I suggest you go with what feels good, it didn't take long to get the hang of it - and result. J'aime ça - I like this.
Now to the team sport (that is with my partner), it was The Fireman, that the online quiz selected for me. Made from polished silicone, they are uber-smooth and manufactured alongside electronic brands like Bang & Olufsen and Olympus, (hubby was impressed), The Fireman is one of the most popular in the Smile Makers collection, (it beat the iPhone at the D&ADs, one of the most prestigious design competitions in the world back in 2013). Surprisingly silent, it's the ideal complement to satisfying couples' sex. If you know how to articulate your needs and feel guilt-free about doing so, this toy could spark a relationship refresh. If nothing else, it will give you and the one you love a good, quality vibe.
I am no sex expert, but I am a woman who knows what she likes. Sex should be fun, like laughter; it's got a name btw, known as the "double endorphin cocktail," both release endorphins and both are a great cure to a sleepless night and a good mood boost. Smile Makers, disruptive approach to buying and using a sex toy has worked or me. Especially that little smiley face logo stamped into the bottom of each vibrator, a subtle reminder that orgasms with or without the one you love, are natural, and it's ok to do so.
Two options for the lube, Generous Gel, $25, (for extra glide) and Stay Silky Serum, (for lightweight assistance). The Ballerina, is the shape of a ballerina's pointe shoe, designed to fit snugly over the vagina.
Back to those boys behind Smile Makers, yes, they are men. And some may ask, what do they know about the intimate workings of a clitoris? Marketing feminine hygiene brands gave them some practice discussing intimate topics with women. Each of their wives is what they call 'the acid test' for everything they do with the brand, and Wikström's mother is a shareholder in the company, so I guess work-related conversations pop up at family get-togethers from time to time? Peder told media recently, "If we weren't feminists when we started the company, we certainly are now." And both would confess what they love most about their day jobs has become another one of Smile Makers brand values: "When you're smiling on the inside, you smile on the outside. And nothing is more gorgeous than that." That sentiment aligns perfectly with the core values here at BeautyEQ: 'Beauty is whatever gives joy.'
Smile Makers was gifted to editor Trudi Brewer to review.
Smile Makers complete range, The Surfer, The Millionaire, The Romantic, The Tennis Coach, priced from $50.