Let's Talk About Intimacy Products

Let me start where I always start with this category, which is that these are skincare products. They go on skin, sometimes the most delicate skin you have, and the ingredient list deserves exactly the same attention you'd give a serum. That's why they sit on BSE with everything else, not in some separate, slightly embarrassed corner of the internet.

We built the Sexual Wellness & Intimacy category because customers were asking, and I'd much rather they bought something properly formulated from us than whatever came up cheapest on a marketplace at two in the morning. Half of what's in there is a body oil or a bath soak anyway (the other half is nobody's business but yours).

High on Love, if you haven't met them yet

They're Canadian, they're award-winning, everything is vegan and cruelty-free, and they're part of our OUSIAS by BSE edit of cleaner lines. What I like most is how little of the range announces itself... the oils, the butter, and the bath products look like beautiful body care because they are beautiful body care, and nothing in the line looks out of place on a nightstand, or in a guest bathroom for that matter.

Where to start with High on Love

I'd work up from the least committal end, the same way I'd tell you to build a skincare routine:

• Plumping Lip Gloss: Hemp seed oil base, a real tingle and a juicy shine that somehow isn't sticky. Wear it over any lipstick.
• Sensual Massage Oil: Hemp seed oil in 120ml, in Lychee Martini, Decadent White Chocolate, Tropical Sunset, or Strawberries & Champagne. Sit the bottle in hot water first so it goes on warm, which is the step everyone skips. Yes, it’s edible.
• Sensual Lip Balm: Hemp seed oil and shea butter, a juicy pear scent, a slight tingle, and a non-sticky shine.
• Full Body Gua Sha: Sized for the body rather than the face, so it gets somewhere on tight shoulders and the backs of your legs. It wants an oil with it.
• Stimulating Sensual Oil: Award-winning, and it comes with a dropper, so one or two drops are all you need.
• Stimulating O Gel: Same idea in a gel, with peppermint for a cooling feel, and it comes in a tube that looks like hand cream if you worry about what's sitting on the nightstand.
• Sensual Bath Salts – Refillable: Refillable, which I love, because you buy the vessel once and then top it up.
• Sugar High Sensual Massage Oil: The same hemp seed oil base as the Sensual Massage Oil, but in their limited-edition Sugar High scent.
• Sensual Massage Candle: Soy wax with hemp seed and coconut oil. Light it, let it melt, blow it out, and pour the warm oil straight onto skin. It smells like rosebud, and if you buy one thing here for the ritual, make it this.
• Body Butter: Thick, rich, and completely at home in your everyday routine.

If you’d rather stay firmly in body-care territory, the Shimmering Body Oil, Dry Body Oil, and Soft Touch Hand Cream are from the same line and require no explanation.

Buying intimacy products as a gift

The Mini Massage Candles Collection is a safe bet for a friend or a bridal shower, and the Firming Body Oil and Gua Sha Set reads as pure body care if that's the message you want to send. The Minis Pleasure Collection is for when you know the person very well, and the PURE PASSION Eau de Parfum is simply a gorgeous perfume if you want to keep things subtle.

Are they safe to use with condoms?

The two intimacy formulas on that list, the Stimulating Sensual Oil and the Stimulating O Gel, are both listed as safe to use with condoms, which is a question people ask a lot. The massage oils and the candle are meant for skin, so keep those for the massage part of the evening.

High on Love was created by women, for women, and the whole line is built on the idea that pleasure is part of self-care, not something you squeeze in guiltily on the side. We agree, which is why these products sit on the site alongside everything else. Take your time with them, choose what appeals to you, ask us the same questions you'd ask about a serum, and enjoy the fact that you're the one who gets to decide what feels good.

Shop the full High on Love collection at Boutique Skin Envie.

Until next time,

Beate von Huene