The beauty industry has always known the power of a good glow – but in 2025, it is giving the term a whole new meaning.
From lip oils to lubricants, the language of pleasure has slipped seamlessly into the wellness lexicon, and beauty brands are proving that self-care can, quite literally, be self-serving.
Once considered a taboo topic fuelled by back-alley stores and post-watershed adverts, sex toys and surrounding products are making it mainstream as they find their space alongside serums, supplements and skin care tools.
From retailers Sephora and LookFantastic’s sexual wellness subcategories to the high-gloss packaging of luxury lubricants, beauty’s influence on the sex tech sector is impossible to ignore.
The global sex toy market was valued at US$35.2bn in 2023, with projections to almost double by 2030 (Grand View Research), proving the taboo had become an integral part of self-care culture – with beauty one of the driving forces behind the evolution.
From taboo to trending: how sexual wellness went mainstream
“Sex and femtech (software, products and services targeted towards women’s health and wellbeing) have opened the door for broader cultural conversations around intimate health,” says Nic Bryant, founder of the Sexual Wellness Awards (SXWA).
“But I do not see it as leading the movement as much as benefiting from it.”
She views the uptake in sex toys and surrounding products differently, and adds “What we are actually seeing is a cultural shift where sexual wellness is finally being recognised as a core part of wellness.”
That cultural foreplay has been years in the making.
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