What’s your flava?
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Are your labia feeling their age? Do they need a bit more pink? There’s an application for that. Literally.
‘My New Pink Button’ , a genital cosmetic colorant, will help restore your labia to their naturally ‘youthful’ pink color! Feeling a bit more daring? There’s a color for that too! Purple, bright red, amber, you name it. Any shade that you’ve ever dreamt of. Any hue that your partner desires. After all, if you’re going to dye your hair, why not dye down there?
While you’re at it, you can also reshape your labia to insure that they are more desirable in appearance. Vaginal rejuvenation, writes journalist Angel Bonvoglia for the Women’s Media Center Blog, is a procedure where cosmetic surgeons (mostly men), “carve, burn, cauterize, and stitch the female labia, clitoral environs, vaginal canal, and other points south… in order to create supposedly longed for “designer” vaginas and thereby “enhance sexual gratification.”” Ironically, Bonovoglia discovers that labiaplasty, the most popular procedure (which entails either leaving just the edge of the inner labia or cutting it off entirely) actually impairs sexual desire. Still, even a top surgeon is quoted as claiming that a tight vagina will keep any man around.
Granted, we live in a visual culture, where middle age is synonymous with invisibility and where older women reach a point where they virtually cease to exist. Women poke, pull, botox, dye, suck, lift and pout in an attempt to hold on to their visibility. Now they have the option to make sure that all is well down below as well, which when taken to extremes, also insures that they rob themselves of the very thing that they are trying to regain: their sexuality.
Why do we need to be worried about or spare our partners from discovering discolored or loose labia? (Really, if he or she is down there, are their eyes open?) Better yet, have our attempts to regain our sexuality insured that we have lost our sanity at the same time?
What do you think? What flava would you like your labia?
Read MoreSex: all it takes is a litle stretch and breath
Have I got your attention? Add a little stretch and breath into your life. And you may find that sexual desire and satisfaction return.
The actual existence of sexual disorders such as FSD (female sexual disorder, also known as HSDD) been disputed, although there is no question that many women experience significant declines in desire , ample lubrication or the ability to achieve orgasm as they enter menopause. And as I’ve written previously,context is also very important.
One missing link in many of these discussions is how mood comes into play. Ask yourself: did you feel sexual the last time you were especially anxious or stressed? Not surprisingly, numerous studies have been written on how stress of any kind can negatively contribute to sexual function. Hence, it’s no wonder that researchers are now saying that yoga may be helpful for improving sexual function and sexual disorders, in women.
Yoga is a wonderful panacea for many aspect of our lives, helping to refocus our minds, building inner and outer strength and evidently, improving sexual function and sexual disorders. In a small study published late last year in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, researchers found significant improvements among women who were enrolled in a yoga camp for a 12-week period. Comparisons of responses to a sexual function questionnaire before and after yoga camp showed improvements in desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction and pain; this improvement was more pronounced among women older than age 45 compared to their younger peers.
The improvements in sexual functioning may be linked to yoga’s positive effect on stress and anxiety, especially in association with sex.
Read MoreWednesday Bubble: Scentuelle Seduction, deux
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A little over a month ago, I enrolled in a user study for Scentuelle™, which you may recall, is an “aroma” patch that uses a woman’s sense of smell to enhance sexual response. At the time, I wrote Scentuelle that reportedly targets smell receptors at the back of nose closest to the brain “with a sensuous blend of aromas” that mimic dopamine, a naturally-occurring chemical associated with pleasure. Manufacturers of Scentuelle claim that because it acts like dopamine, it increases happiness and by default, arousal.
Now that the user study has ended, it’s time for the reveal.
I am not crazy about product itself, but I love the company’s approach.
The Scentuelle patch is unobtrusive, so much so that you might forget that you’re even wearing it. So far as I can surmise, the strategy underlying Scentuelle is a behavioral one, which is why I am giving the product two thumbs up! (In case you are wondering, I was not approached to review this product; as I explained a few weeks ago, a friend sent me a link to the product website and while perusing the goods, I saw that they were conducting a user study, which seemed like a great strategy by which to review a product.)
If you have been following this blog, you might have read my posts on sexual desire and Dr. Christine Northrup. If you’ve not read, them, I encourage you to do so because when it comes to how we feel about ourselves and our partners and more importantly, how that translates to sexual desire, she is spot on.
Briefly, Dr. Northrup suggests that we become “ardent explorers” of our own pleasure, in essence, become our own partners in sex. Turn ourselves on and tell ourselves often that a turned on woman is irresistible. Commit to regularly exploring our pleasure potential and live our lives in ways that “excite, motivate, and turns on” other people in our lives. Become self-actualized, confident. For example,
- Think heartwarming, sexy, uplifting, kind, loving and positive thoughts about yourself and others EVERY DAY
- Strive for commitment, trust and vulnerability with your partner
- Get out of your head and into your body….regularly
Philisophically, Scentuelle appears to be taking the same approach; empowerment, fulfillment, exploration and reinforcement. The rub: the use of gentle reminders to smell the patch and think about sex, desire, your partner, senses, arousal, etc. In a Pavlovian way, the patch and its scent (which for me personally, was the largest drawback as I did not care for it) represented daily reminders to think and act. Whether or not the scent actually activated receptors in my brain is an entirely different matter and I remain unconvinced. It’s not that I don’t appreciate aromatherapy; personally, I embrace it — through candles, perfume, flower and tea. Yet, I found this particular scent so unappealing that I was not sure how it was linked to self-actualization and desire.
I like Scentuelle and I’m not bursting any bubbles. I like what the company is done and I like how they follow through. Clearly, they’ve spent a lot of time and research exploring what does and doesn’t turn a woman on.
If you are experiencing declines in sexual desire because of hormones I encourage you to try the product out. It might be the best $30 you ever spent. And if you’re not, tell your friends who are. It’s wonderful to have a natural, potentially effective solution to a waning sexual desire.
Scentuelle seduction? Yeah, I’m all for it!
Read MoreWednesday Bubble: Fiagra
Sex sells. Even when it comes to menopause.
There is no such thing as Fiagra. But why not, heck, this manufacturer is hoping to make a mint off of your declining hormones.
For two weeks now, I’ve been a member of a user study examining aromatherapy for stimulating sexual desire and arousal. I won’t reveal what I have (or have not) experienced until the study is over. However, I have gained a few important insights into sexual desire during midlife and how manufacturers are approaching it.
In the meantime, if it smells like a rat, and looks like a rat, well…
Read MoreWednesday Bubble: Scentuelle seduction
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1PVmANeyAg]
About a week ago, a friend of mine sent me a link to Scentuelle™, an “aroma” patch that uses a woman’s sense of smell to enhance sexual response. According to the website, Scentuelle targets smell receptors at the back of nose closest to the brain “with a sensuous blend of aromas” that mimic dopamine, a naturally-occurring chemical associated with pleasure. Dopamine has been directly linked with sexual activity, food and other pleasurable experiences. Manufacturers of Scentuelle claim that because it acts like dopamine, it increases happiness and by default, arousal. Evidently, Scentuelle’s effect is cumulative and reaches optimal level after three weeks.
Aromatherapy is not a new concept and I’m willing, as with Zestra, to give Scentuelle a go. In fact, I’ve registered to participate in a user study to check it out.
I’d like to believe the hype. But who knows? Zestra turned out to be a major dud although the Company’s president recently sent me an email with a link to a New York Times piece that “proves” otherwise. Personally, the smell and feel of Zestra alone was enough to turn off three women who tested it for this blog, all within a short period of time, but if it works for some, hey, good for them.
I’ll make a formal announcement when the study commences and I start testing it out. Hey, why not? I’m all for a bit of Scentuelle seduction!
Happy Wednesday!
Read MoreWednesday Bubble: one pill makes you…
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Have you heard about Flibanserin? Pharma Giant Boehringer-Ingelheim is entering the bedroom with an antidepressant (with a new moniker) that may change the sex lives of women everywhere!
Sorry for the sarcasm but this Bubble has “Viagra for women” written all over it. In fact, the U.S. market for sexual desire is estimated to exceed a whopping $3.5 billion a year. No wonder other companies are so eager to market testosterone to women.
So what’s the story behind Flibanserin?
Flibanserin is an antidepressant compound that is is believed to affect brain receptors and neurotransmittors that play a role in sexual response. Data presented at the European Society for Sexual Medicine conference show that in clinical studies, flibanserin significantly improved desire, sexual experience and sexual functioning in women when taken for at least six months. The majority of the women participating were pre-menopausal and had been diagnosed with hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), a condition that is characterized by a decline in sexual desire, a loss of intimacy, and distress.
Declines in sexual desire at any point in life are terrible and not to be taken lightly. Should flibanserin becomes available in the United States, it is likely to be prescribed along with sex therapy, a move, that the company disagrees with. In fact, the company is quoted in Bloomberg News as saying that it hopes that the drug can be prescribed by itself and not as a complement to therapy. Importantly, this is where one has to start questioning the value of this drug and how it will ultimately be marketed should it ever be approved by the US Food & Drug Administration.
Many behavioral and mental health specialists will argue that “a pill has no place in the bedroom” and that sexual dysfunction is linked to factors other than physical ones, factors that need to be thoroughly explored and addressed. This holds true in particular, for menopausal women. Indeed, evidence does show that t sexual desire in women can be affected not only by physiology but also, may vary depending on personal attitudes, experiences and context.
I don’t take issue with drugs when they are prescribed and used responsibly. But the answer to everything that ails is not a pill. With regards to sexual desire, this could not be truer.
Sex is big business. This has been borne out by the incredibly success of drugs geared towards erectile dysfunction. Companies have been racing to find an equivalent for women. Looks like Boehringher might have just gotten the gold ring.
What do you think?
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