Gen Z Is Shopping for Vibrators the Way Millennials Shopped for Glossier
· Vice
As a sex and wellness editor, I’ve noticed a new trend across every PR package… Everything looks like it belongs in the millennial-coded Glossier era. You know, clean lines, pops of earthy and/or feminine colors, and messaging that screams “for you.” That era became synonymous with the “shelfie,” aka the iconic photos of your beauty cabinet that reveal everything you use daily. Glossier’s founder, Emily Weiss, brought the brand to its popularity by revealing the products that It girls swore by, but via shelfie.
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I first noticed it with Necessarie’s The Sex Gel, laced with the viral moisturizer, hyaluronic acid. Before I realized it, my sex toy shelf started looking more like a beauty fridge and less like a BDSM-dungeon with the whips and 6-inch Demonia platforms to match. How TF did we get here?
Hiding in Plain Sight
Sex is still technically taboo, but somewhere along the way, every intimate wellness brand got the same memo: hide in plain sight. The internal design question seems to be: could this sit next to a $48 setting spray? Could it hold its own next to Topicals or First Aid Beauty? It’s a far cry from the novelty sex stores of our collective memory. The ones stocked with edible panties, bachelorette party dice games, and those iconic dildo party favors from every rom-com ever.
It seems like every brand simultaneously got the drop to hide in plain sight, versus designing cheeky products that have to be hidden.
(opens in a new window) NécessaireThe Sex Gel with Hyaluronic Acid (opens in a new window)
$22.40 at Necessaire Buy Now (opens in a new window)A New Era of Pleasure Branding
Australian pleasure brand LBDO’s Rush is a good example of where things are heading. It’s a luxury clit suction toy with a glass base that doubles as a sculptural resting dock… something you’d clock as a design object before a sex toy. It literally looks like it belongs in Architectural Digest or a Vogue Beauty Secrets segment.
(opens in a new window)Rush Clit Suction Toy (opens in a new window)
$200 at LBDO Buy Now (opens in a new window)The cheekiness isn’t in the explicit sexuality anymore. It’s in how seamlessly sex fits into your life. It also helps reduce stigmatization and shame, while normalizing pleasure in your life. Your wellness routine deserves care, even your sex life. A glass base that puts my pleasure on a pedestal? Why wouldn’t we (Gen Z) keep it this cute?
the Clean Girl Aesthetic Takes on Sex
As intimate wellness brands fight to take up shelf space without getting censored, they’re pulling from one of beauty’s most profitable subcultures: clean girls. From Hailey Bieber’s glazed skin to obsessive ingredient scrutiny, clean girl aesthetics have dominated both digitally and IRL — and sex products are catching up.
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Gen Z sexual wellness brand Jems has leaned all the way in, with one of the cleanest ingredient lineups I’ve seen across a condom and lubricant range. No additives, no rubbery tire smell, and the same protection. Maude takes a similar approach but with earthy branding, couples’ massage candles, sculptural sex toys designed for total discretion (you genuinely cannot tell what they are at first glance), plus pH-balanced bath products. I’ve personally tested them, and they hold up. I also no longer wait for PR packages; I’m spending my own money on these because they’re truly worth the investment.
Read my review of Jems’ condoms and a little bit on Jems lube here
(opens in a new window)Jems Silicone Lube (opens in a new window)
$29 at Jems Buy Now (opens in a new window)Then Sephora made it official. Post-pandemic, the beauty retailer became an unlikely sexual wellness hub, letting you order lube and “body tools” (the brand-approved way of saying sex toys without saying it) shipped in a Sephora box, no awkward storefronts required. The Sephora-ification of sex wellness arguably forced the aesthetic shift across the entire category.
Sex Recession? Or Just a Rebrand?
Headlines keep insisting Gen Z is in a sex recession. But that framing misses the point. There are celibate sex workers. There are girls using lube as makeup primer. I personally wait to wipe off lube after sex because mine has Vitamin E in it, and it does wonders for ingrown hairs. Necessaire’s The Sex Gel has hyaluronic acid in it… I used to overuse it for that reason alone (it sells out constantly, and with good reason).
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Essentially, sex has been subverted. So, having sex? Gen Z may not be as sexually active as prior generations. But, they’re enjoying it through other means like self-care and at-home spa days. Hence, approaching sex like skincare. Also, may we add that the overturning of Roe v. Wade (abortion access) and the dating pool, it makes sense that the girls are leaning into safer sexual exploration with themselves, versus having sex without the resources and safety required.
So no, Gen Z isn’t sexless. It’s just treating sex like skincare: slow, intentional, and with a very good ingredient list.
The Sex Shelfie
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Christina Aguilera’s sexual wellness brand Playground has gone viral for its sleek, luxury lube. Where some would complain that its scented and flavored and therefore not clean… its Date Night lube, with vanilla and champagne flavoring, is its highest rated product. Scroll a little further down, and you’ll see bedside stories. A modern take on the beauty shelfie revealing lube on bedside tables, next to high fashion (cause what better match for sex than style) and more. You lowkey couldn’t have such a chic, clean-coded snapshot with explicit sex. Shit, Zuckerberg and Musk would’ve shadowbanned it so quickly.
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Sephora’s Sexual Wellness Shelf Life: Three Years
When Sephora first welcomed intimate wellness brands, maude co-founder Éva Goicochea framed it as a watershed moment, saying sexual wellness had long been the last frontier in personal care and that customers deserved better.
At the time maude entered Sephora, its founder said, “Sexual wellness has long been the last frontier in personal care, but the customer expects better. Like in beauty, we believe in taking an integrated and holistic approach—not a compartmentalized view of sex. At our core, we’re an evergreen brand thoughtfully built for every stage of your adult life. Sephora’s launch of intimate care sets the stage for the next chapter of sexual health.”
(opens in a new window) MilaMila (opens in a new window)
$44 off at Mila Buy Now (opens in a new window)Three years later, Sephora quietly showed the category the door. But the aesthetic it accelerated isn’t going anywhere. Intimate wellness is beauty now… and it looks the part.
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(opens in a new window) Smile MakersThe Poet (opens in a new window)
$69.30 (20% Off of $99) at Smile Makers Buy Now (opens in a new window) (opens in a new window) ÜberlubeSilicone Lube (opens in a new window)
$21.99 at Amazon Buy Now (opens in a new window) (opens in a new window) MaudeBurn No. 1 Massage Candle (opens in a new window)
$32 at maude Buy Now (opens in a new window) (opens in a new window)Hole Serum (opens in a new window)
$59 at Asset Buy Now (opens in a new window) (opens in a new window)maude heat warming lubricant (opens in a new window)
$20 at Amazon Buy Now (opens in a new window) (opens in a new window) ForiaAwaken Arousal Oil with CBD (opens in a new window)
$48 at Foria Buy Now (opens in a new window) (opens in a new window)Jems Silicone Lube (opens in a new window)
$29 at Jems Buy Now (opens in a new window)The post Gen Z Is Shopping for Vibrators the Way Millennials Shopped for Glossier appeared first on VICE.