As one would imagine, cliché wisecracks about splinters and sawdust and infinite double entendres associating the male genitalia and wood don't sound fresh the 10,000th time. Just ask Alicia and Jason Yoder, owners of NobEssence, a company devoted to handcrafted, wood intimate sculptures.
The married couple, Alicia and Jason, has a uniquely fascinating background. Jason, who readily admits NobEssence is his wife's company, is an accomplished classical violinist and luthier who not only repairs instruments, but also builds them. He is also a brilliant and meticulous engineer who works in sales and sourcing for one of the world's computer technology giants. Alicia, a mother of six, is a child-birthing expert and a doula with vast human anatomy experience.
But why was this couple drawn to manufacturing adult toys made, of all materials, of wood?
Lovers of natural and sustainable products, Alicia prefers to refer to them as intimate sculptures, and states, "Wood is infused with the sun, water, earth, and seasons that give it shape. If you pick up a piece of driftwood, who hasn't gazed upon, caressed, and turned it in their hands until it's warm and alive?"
For some, that is where the experience ends, but Alicia and Jason wondered how wood would feel if it were experienced more intimately. It's from their pleasant experiences that a vision for a company that sells sustainable, natural intimate products to discerning people-if you'll pardon the pun-took root.
From Alicia's understanding of human anatomy and Jason's craftsmanship skills, they've designed 12 intimate sculptures produced from plantation grown, or FSC-certified (Forest Stewardship Council), commercially grown and managed exotic woods, including Cocobolo, Wapino, Mora, Wenge, Purpleheart, and Elanthai.
Two floggers with insertable handles, six P- and G-spotters, four cock rings (sold as singles or a set), a conventional straight thruster, a PC exerciser, an extended-wear plug, and their gargantuan, realistic, special-order phallus make up the product line.
Jason explains the benefits of an adult toy made from wood: "Wood is an exceptional insulator, quickly warms to the touch, and retains temperature long after a heat source is removed; and wood carries vibration better than glass, metal, or silicone. When you apply your favorite bullet-vibe to the sculpture with one of our leather companion rings, the sculpture throbs, pulses, and buzzes unlike anything you'll ever experience.
"We use incredibly dense, heavy, and non-porous woods that have a wonderful ‘heft' to them. If you were to put many of them in water, they would sink, not float. We also don't use any stains or coloring agents as these exotic woods are naturally colored in stunning purples, pinks, oranges, reddish browns, blacks, and fleshtones."
Whorls, knots, holes, micro-fractures, and spectacular grain patterns are to wood as inclusions are to diamonds. "Like fingerprints and snowflakes," Alicia states, "no two pieces of wood are exactly alike, therefore no two NobEssence toys are alike because no two couples are alike. Our owners love the unique, one-of-a-kind exquisiteness of NobEssence sculptures that define their individual lifestyles."
"'Sustainable, sensual, and safe products that work' is the company motto," states Alicia. "NobEssence is a complete holistic experience. Advertising copy, website graphics, material selections, sculpture shapes, coatings, packaging, and product inserts are all thoroughly orchestrated to deliver the experience our owners expect when they choose a natural, pleasure-affirming lifestyle."
In addition, NobEssence's packaging is primarily composed of renewable natural wood products. Alicia adds, "We continue to make strides toward achieving our goal for 100 percent compost compatibility."
NobEssence maintains stringent quality-control guidelines. Even the curing of their exotic woods, which can take up to a year, is done onsite, as opposed to purchasing pre-cured woods.
To make their sculptures, first, a block of wood is hand-selected and cut to a dimensional size. Then, its shape is created exclusively by Jason through a somewhat hazardous process called "band saw sculpting." (Yes, he has all his fingers.)
Once the sculpture is sanded to a silky finish, a state-of-the-art, trade-secret coating process, consisting of a range of biocompatible polymers developed by Jason, called LubrosityTM, is applied. Lubrosity results in a superior lubricious surface that is waterproof, scent-free, odor defying, and compatible with all commercial lubricants and antiseptics.
Jason would not go into detail about proprietary manufacturing or coating procedures, although he stated that carving and sanding a single sculpture takes from one to two hours, depending on the model. With the Lubrosity multi-coating process, it takes two weeks to finish a single product. Throughout its creation, every sculpture is visually and physically inspected a minimum of eight times.
Jason quips, "Never in my life did I ever expect to use the words 'dishwasher safe' and 'wood' in the same sentence-but that day is coming soon! For now, all sculptures may be soaked in water and remain in body-contact for hours, as there are no waxes, oils, or petroleum distillates to leach from the wood. Did I mention our extended warranties?"
As sales worldwide increase and aggressive marketing efforts for 2008 continue (including the launch of a new website), Alicia concludes, "We love the educated consumer because inevitably their search for the 'ultimate' fulfilling objects will lead them to NobEssence."
