Despite being a relative newcomer in the pleasure product industry, Emotional Bliss has built a strong reputation with its small but high-quality array of massagers. Based in England, the company is known for its Heat Range line, which includes the Womolia and the Femblossom—both curved items that heat up with the touch of a button.
Paul Telford, managing director and founder of Emotional Bliss, first researched the sex toy market back in 1999. He quickly discovered that the market appeared to be dominated by men, who were busily creating, designing and marketing products that were used mostly by women. This inspired him to join forces with registered British sexologist Julia Cole to design and produce a female-friendly range of external personal massagers.
Samples in hand, Paul Telford arranged to meet with Professor Alan Riley of Lancashire University to discuss the quality and functionality of the prototypes.
“Professor Riley provided valuable insight,” explained Nina Saini, international public relations manager for Emotional Bliss. “He identified that there was no industry standard in regard to the quality of materials used, and that most of the products available on the market focused on internal stimulation. He told Paul that it had been recently proven that the female body’s anatomical structure to stimulate orgasms was external and not internal.”
Riley noted that the accepted school of thought had been that women had three nerve endings: the clitoris, the G-spot and the anus. The reality, however, is that women have thousands of nerve endings from the clitoris to the anus.
Telford quickly saw an opportunity to create a medical-grade product that focused on external stimulation and could be marketed to women as a health product rather than an adult novelty.
Pre-production on the Emotional Bliss range began in February 2003. Most of the initial production run was sent to psychosexual therapists and members of the British Association for Sexual and Relationship Therapy for feedback and testing.
The original products were equipped with 45 individual vibrating functions so users could experiment and discover what level of vibration would be required to stimulate orgasm. Research soon showed the creators of Emotional Bliss that the perceived level of vibration required to stimulate orgasm was higher for women who were over 40.
Initially the project was focused on creating products to stimulate orgasm in all women—and it was presumed that the level of vibration advised by therapists to stimulate orgasm was 80Hz regardless of age. What became clear from the pre-production feedback was that the necessary level of vibration varied considerably when affected by other factors: the user’s lifestyle choices, such as smoking or drinking alcohol; medical ailments, such as diabetes or thyroid disorder; and menopause and natural aging processes.
“Based on the information received, we had to go back to the drawing board and redesign all the electronic components to achieve a level of vibration that would be sufficient to stimulate orgasm in all women regardless of age whilst also accommodating the younger women who would not require such a high level of stimulation,” Saini said. “The overall development to perfect the levels of vibration whilst focusing on reducing the noise and adding the heat element was to be the most challenging aspect of the overall project. It was far more complex than originally perceived.”
As the Emotional Bliss products have grown in popularity in the health market, the adult novelty industry itself developed and changed. A demand for higher-quality, female-oriented products has encouraged Emotional Bliss to introduce its collection into the adult market, where it is finding a new audience.
“The first products were the Womolia, the Femblossom, the Chandra, the Isis and the Jasmine,” Saini said. “All except the Jasmine are currently available. The Jasmine will be relaunched as part of the Heat Range early next year.”
Although the company originally focused on the more mature market, the Emotional Bliss products actually appeal to a wider age range. The Isis and Chandra have proven popular with the 18- to 30-year-old market, while the Womolia Heat and Femblossom Heat are preferred by an older demographic.
“We wanted to create the Emotional Bliss experience through providing a range of high-quality products at affordable prices,” Saini said. “We believe we have made something unique, and although the initial focus was purely on women in the 40-plus age group we are delighted our products are reaching a wider group of women.
The motivation behind Emotional Bliss sets us apart from our competitors; we are passionate and determined to continuously develop our products and to bring sexual pleasure for women.”
Not content to rest on their laurels, the principal players at Emotional Bliss are working hard on new packaging for the international market and will continue to develop material for different sales channels.
“We are expanding our international sales so the Emotional Bliss range will be available in new territories,” Saini said. “We are teaming up with experts in both the adult and mainstream markets.”
For more information on the company, go to EmotionalBliss.co.uk.
This article originally ran in the January 2010 issue of AVN.
