Beauty Opinion: Innuendo in Beauty

It is no secret. Sex sells. We know how it saturates movies, television, stories, and sensually-posed models in all manner of advertising photography. In fact, one could argue that the entire existence of the beauty industry relies on the vital role sex and intimacy plays in our lives by heightening our energy, giving us confidence, and improving at least our perception of our attractiveness.

Now I am no prude, nor am I a stranger to sexual desire. Far from it. Sex is a natural and healthy and can be a powerful, pleasurable, and meaningful part of being alive. Equally, I love enjoying and expressing my femininity through accentuating myself with makeup and clothes and taking good care of my skin and indulging in pretty scents for myself and others to enjoy. There is nothing wrong with any of this or with using beauty items to create a specific mood. But I will never believe that these truths should be taken lightly or used so outright as a marketing ploy. Yet with the names of shades and full product lines, I have seen sexual innuendos used rife in beauty from brands such as NARS, Charlotte Tilbury, and even one of my favorite brands for eyeshadow, Urban Decay. Innuendo in marketing, though, is never really something that gets me going. I find it childish and uninspired most of the time rather than humorous, naughty, or intriguing, but in other instances, I think the edgy or positively provocative and progressive bent brands sometimes go for when naming their products "sexy" things backfires in a more pivotal way.

Case in point, I recently discovered a brand called Heretic Parfum, a fragrance company selling more cleanly-formulated, more natural luxury perfumes, bath and body products, and candles. You can guess from the name that the brand thrives on an unconventional even a little bit subversive take on natural-based fragrance, and this greatly intrigues me. I love things that are creative and that have a strongly defined artistic sensibility that builds its own box rather than just thinks outside of one. I particularly applaud this in fragrance where so many perfumes are the same combinations of either over-alcoholy sharp cologne or an all-too cloying vanilla that has no dimension other than sweet. Give me something more-- I cry-- something I haven't seen before.

Heretic really embodies and responds well to that call. I enjoyed one of their scents, Dirty Hinoki (a herbal, ephemeral woodsy blend of cedarwood, Japanese cypress (hinoki) , and frankincense-- relaxing and glorious), that I tried a sample of in a pack, and I was curious to explore more when the name of one fragrance caught my attention. It was called This Smells Like My Vagina and was made in conjunction with the beauty conglomerate Goop and is available in both a travel spray fragrance and a candle. I will post the "fragrance story" of the perfume listing from the Heretic website:

"With a gorgeous, funny, and beautifully unexpected scent, this Goop x Heretic rollerball is an intriguing scent to put you in the mindset of fantasy, seduction, and sophisticated warmth. Imagine a bundle of roses wrapped in suede, This Smells Like My Vagina perfume is made with Geranium, citrusy Bergamot, and Cedar absolutes juxtaposed with Damask Rose and Ambrette seed. The result is a body-positive concept intended for those who want to destigmatize the vagina and celebrate it for the sexy flower it is."

To give Heretic credit, compositionally speaking, the actual notes of the perfume sound divine and right up my alley as I adore rose scents and woodsy fragrances are my-go to. But the name of this perfume raises far deeper questions for me.

Calling a scent This Smells Like My Vagina", you're going to get a lot of shock-value interest from people. This probably says more about humanity than the name or brand itself, but the brand knows the sort of response they are motivating and all the reasons why. So it begs the question-- is choosing this name really a way to "destigmatize the vagina"? Is it a way to celebrate sex ,celebrate sensuality , and celebrate the body (especially the female body)? Or is this just a way to make people's eyes bulge and get a snigger or two j and make a fast coin? It's not lost on me that the word "funny" is in the description and largely before the mentions of celebration. And even if the thoughts of destigmatization and celebration in the creation of the product line are genuine, did the brand have to go this route to make this statement? They could have called the scent "ladyflower" or "mystique" or "envelope" (as a verb) and described the scent in the very same way, with the same message of beauty and pleasure and power, but without capitalizing on the aforementioned shock value that will come with using that title and potentially making a mockery of a functional and beautiful part of the human body, whether it was intended to do so or not. Also, implying that a vagina does (or should) smell anything like this fragrance will is not realistic and just adds to the impossible standards to female presentation in the naturalness and health of the body. How is this a celebration either of the organ itself and its capabilities or a romantic and surreal metaphor of what can be experienced with and through that channel of the body? I don't know. But to me, this name ultimately fails.

There is nothing bad about the vagina. There is nothing wrong with the word "vagina", and it should NEVER be hushed or avoided. But to have it printed and plastered in bold letters on a candle jar and scent vial is something that just doesn't appeal to me. In fact, it makes me feel not ashamed or dirty, but somehow weirdly dismissed and that my body, and its parts, are not being lauded as beautiful and sensual but used as a toy-- the is the exact opposite of how the marketing is trying to make me feel. Of course, fragrance and advertisement are both forms of art and therefore open to interpretation, but I've heard and read from other reviews about the scent reactions very similar to mine with very few people actually seeming to like-- either through being empowered or entertained-- the name. So does it really make the potential target wearer (who are presumably mostly female women) feel honored or freer, or is it just making them uncomfortable? Again, everyone seeing the fragrance will feel differently about it, and as women, we are not a monolith. Some women may find this empowering. Others may find it sensually exciting. Others may be entirely uncomfortable and weirded out, but others, like me, just wonder if this is a genuine effort of feminine liberation and celebration or is it just plain marketing either in line with the idea "sex sells" or in keeping up with the times and the trends of movements such as body positivity but using it in such a way that it is just for sale and performative but without substance or actual conviction?

We will never truly know the intention of the makers and executive minds behind the This Smells Like My Vagina products. And indeed everyone can make their product buying and displaying decisions based on how they feel about them as with any other item and/or brand. It only makes me wonder where artistic expression, social protest, and marketing all really do converge and where it might be just all a lie told by brands and corporations so that we empty our wallets to fatten theirs?