Finance & Business
You Can Now Buy Vibrators At Sephora
If there were any remaining questions about sexual wellness going mainstream, Sephora is putting them to bed by venturing into the category this year.
The beauty specialty retailer’s sexual wellness selection debuting online will feature 10 products from Maude, including vibrators, aloe-based lubricant, body wash, bath salts, bubble bath and a candle-cum-massage oil, and seven vibrators from Dame along with its lubricant, arousal serum and vibrator sanitizing spray. In the selection, items from Maude and Dame will be coupled with an existing array of sexual wellness products from ingestible and skincare brands like Sex Dust from Moon Juice and Aphrodisia Arousal Oil from Flora + Bast.
This move in wellness is an attempt to de-stigmatize sex and masturbation, Teen Vogue reports.
“Seeing Dame’s products alongside concealer or facewash serves to normalize sex and pleasure–it’s just as routine as your daily beauty rituals,” a representative for Dame said. “The more space major retailers dedicate to sexual wellness, the better-informed consumers will be, ultimately shifting perceptions on pleasure as a whole to a more positive space.”
This exciting collab brings with it pleasure-providers of every shape and style, from easy-to-use, $30 bullet vibes to $135 sex toys. Beyond that, Sephora now stocks Dame’s must-have vibrator accessories, like sanitizing spray and lubricant (like your makeup brushes, toys should be washed and sanitized regularly).
Sephora aims to take a leadership position in sexual wellness by delivering best-in-class sexual health and pleasure education. Chase has partnered with Laurie Mintz, a psychologist, University of Florida professor and author of the bestselling book “Becoming Cliterate,” to create content for Sephora’s site. Mintz says, “Sephora is the ideal retailer for young women, especially women who we know are suffering with lack of orgasm, lack of pleasure, pain. To have a respected brand like Sephora giving the message that this is important, it’s important to your wellness, that’s very exciting.”
But what made Sephora and other large retailers get on board with the idea that quality lube and quality face cream belonged on the same online shelves?
There’s the fact that sex tech brands have been working for years to destigmatize sex toys by creating products that are easy to use, affordable, and aesthetically designed for those who don’t prefer representational, hyper-erotic toys. (In other words, exactly the kind of toys a retailer that doesn’t primarily sell sex toys might be interested in.)
There’s also the fact that the United States’ sexual wellness industry was valued at $5.8 billion in 2020 and is estimated to reach more than $9 billion by 2026, according to a 2021 market research report.
Sephora declined to comment about why they decided to stock these brands now, but the company did say in a statement that their intimate care section “will encompass sexual wellness, feminine hygiene, hormonal care and more.”
Finance & Business
Uncovering the Paxum Bank Behind Trump Media’s $8m Russian-Tied Loan
Federal prosecutors in New York have been investigating whether Donald Trump’s media company violated money laundering statutes by receiving $8 million suspected to have ties to Russia. The inquiry has delayed the potential merger of Trump Media’s Truth Social platform with a blank check company, Digital World (DWAC). This merger would have provided the company with up to $1.3 billion in capital and a stock market listing.
The first $2 million payment to Trump Media arrived in December 2021 from Paxum Bank in the Caribbean. The wire transfer identified Paxum Bank as the beneficial owner, but the promissory note identified an entity called ES Family Trust as the lender. Two months later, ES Family Trust received an unexpected second $6 million payment.
Angel Pacheco, the trustee of ES Family Trust, was simultaneously a director of Paxum Bank. The possible Russian connection being examined by prosecutors centers on Anton Postolnikov, a relation of Putin ally Aleksandr Smirnov. Smirnov held various roles in the Russian government, including Russia’s first deputy minister of justice until 2014.
The opaque nature of the two loans caused alarm in Trump Media. In the spring of 2022, Trump Media’s then-chief financial officer Phillip Juhan weighed returning the money, but it was never returned. The two payments ostensibly came from two separate entities, Paxum Bank and ES Family Trust. The money was wired through Paxum Bank, which has a history of providing banking services for the pornography and sex worker industries.
Trump Media’s since-ousted co-founder turned whistleblower Will Wilkerson alerted the US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York to the payments on 23 October 2022. It is unclear whether Trump, who was the chairman of Trump Media at the time, was aware of the opaque nature of the two loans.
The extent of the exposure for Trump Media and its officers for money laundering remains unclear. Prosecutors need to show that the defendants knew the money was the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity and the transaction was designed to conceal its source. However, the optics of borrowing money from potentially unsavory sources could cloud Trump’s image as he seeks to recapture the White House in 2024.
Sources: The Guardian, Forbes
Finance & Business
BCAMS Magazine, the 15th issue!
The independent livecam industry resource for news and tips & tricks for cam models and camsites.
Finance & Business
BCAMS Magazine, the 14th issue!
The independent livecam industry resource for news and tips & tricks for cam models and camsites.
Warning: Undefined variable $user_ID in /home/bcamsmagazine/public_html/wp-content/themes/zox-news/comments.php on line 49
You must be logged in to post a comment Login
This site uses User Verification plugin to reduce spam. See how your comment data is processed.