LAS VEGAS—Zoë Ligon, the 26-year-old “Dildo Duchess” who in addition to operating the online sex shop Spectrum Boutique writes regularly for Allure.com and other publications as part of her mission to educate the public on safe and fulfilling sexual practices, has been appearing all week at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas.
After taking part in an opening day workshop on how to run a “Tiny but Mighty” sex store, she took part in repeated demonstrations of the Archer Bowchair, an artisinal piece of furniture specifically designed to enhance the sexual experience.
The Las Vegas Weekly newspaper threw the spotlight on Ligon this week, discussing “body safe” sex toys, and how she established herself in the retail sex product business.
Here are some highlights from the conversation with the sex educator and businesswoman.
• Before getting into the sex toy business, she worked at American Apparel. At the clothing retail, which recently went into bankruptcy only to be purchased by a Canadian apparel firm, Ligon found herself “selling sweaters to people who don’t need them.”
That retail experience shaped her approach to customer service in the sex toy business. “While selling sex toys is retail at the end of the day, I never find myself being like, you need this vibrator,” she told the paper. “It’s more like, if you need a vibrator, I’m happy to guide you in the direction of your choosing.”
• Her insistence on “body safe” sex toys stems from her own experience.
“The first time I used lube, it was lube with glycerin, and I was like ‘This is terrible!’ It was like I poured acid on my crotch,” she recalled. “And then I didn’t use lube for five years after that, and I had dry friction-y sex for the next five years, until I re-approached lube again.”
• She recommends purchasing from boutique manufacturers. “Not all silicone was created equal,” she noted. “There’s all this verbiage, because this industry is very unregulated. Things that have been banned in children’s toys and cosmetics are still allowed in personal care products that are sexual, like lubes.”
Popular, mass-marketed lubes still use glycerin, she says, even though that substance is known to “irritate a lot of people, mostly people with vulvas.” Plastic sex toys often contain potentially harmful chemicals which help soften the material, but cold also prove irritating.
• She says buyers should “do your research” before purchasing a sex toy.
“Buy directly from a trusted retailer or direct from a brand,” she suggests. “Do your research on that brand to see the way they use language around stuff and make sure they don’t use any mystery terms like ‘100 percent medical grade material.’ That means nothing to me.”
Image from Spectrum's Twitter page.
