Maude Is Making the Chic, Minimalist Sex Products You've Been Waiting For
When you need to restock your fridge, you’ll usually just head to the grocery store. But getting new sex products like lube, toys, and condoms isn’t always so straightforward. You’re lucky if you live near a sex shop, and even if you do, some people still find the experience of going into one uncomfortable. (Though the right shop will try to make you feel as welcome as possible!) If you buy your products online, you’re often faced with the overwhelming decision of where to order condoms, lube, or toys—and which brands and sites to trust. To solve these problems, Éva Goicochea, Dina Epstein, and Maya Bodinger are launching Maude, a one-stop shop for all your sexual health needs this October.
Their first products include a 100 percent silicon vibrator called “The Buzz,” a 10-pack of natural latex “Rise” condoms, and two kinds of organic “Shine” lubricants, aloe-based and silicon. You can get each of these items on its own, or you can customize a kit to be delivered to your door.
The founders say that Maude is distinct from other online sex toy retailers in that, rather than aggregating a bunch of different brands, the company makes and sells its own products. That way, it can be meticulous about their quality. “We’re a vertically-integrated, unisex, and design-forward brand,” Goicochea told Glamour. “While retailers focus on just curating products or offering many options, we work directly with some of the world’s best factories to create our edited line of sex essentials. Then, we reimagined the experience of buying these products through a modern website that focuses both on product and friendly content. In short, we put the customer experience first.”
Beyond just making our lives easier, Maude is hoping to change how we think about sex and its role in our overall health. “The current sex industry is based on an ideology that treats sex as a novelty—or worse, a taboo,” explains Epstein. Maude wants to show that, yes, addressing your sexual needs should be fun, but it should also be taken seriously. Epstein says they take “a wellness approach that makes people feel comfortable about sex, so they can integrate it into their daily lives.”
She adds, “By changing the conversation around sex, we are encouraging people to be more open about what they want [from] their partners and [for] themselves. Maude makes beautiful, easy-to-use items that give people the chance to stop compartmentalizing their sex lives—both in their heads and in their medicine cabinets.”
Plus, Maude’s products are so pretty and minimalist that we’d be totally fine leaving them out on the nightstand.
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