Over the past few years, sexual wellness brands have gained much prominence in the digital space. YCosmetics, which released its flagship If I Say Yes collection earlier this year, is vying to become the next intimacy and skin care brand to gain a dedicated online following.
“If I Say Yes is a collection of sexual health and wellness products that lead with quality skin care ingredients,” says Tess Finkle, founder of YCosmetics and former PR executive of 20 years.
I love the word ‘if.’ There is something sexy and coy about it ... I love the idea of marrying the importance of consent with the intrigue and yearning of being coy.
The brand currently consists of Hand Solo and Lip Lube Love. Both are personal lubricants, and the latter also doubles as a lip hydrater and natural hydrater for the vagina. Both products are made with vegan ingredients, including squalene, collagen and meadowfoam seed foam oil.
“I knew at the dawn of this endeavor that I did not want to have a common lube base, such as silicone, coconut oil or even water,” says Finkle. “I wanted to lead with emerging skin care ingredients.”
Finkle purposely chose punny names for each product.
“I have a dark sense of humor,” Finkle admits. “The ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ movement made me laugh when it debuted. Lip Lube Love is my tongue-in-cheek response, a way to poke fun at culture and hopefully bring playful energy into the bedroom — or wherever people decide to use our lube.”
Finkle picked ingredients that were friendly to the Earth and already popular in the facial skin care category.
“When working on ‘Hand Solo,’ our plant-based/biodegradable self-pleasure lube, I wanted to find an ingredient that was slick like silicone but better for the environment,” she says. “I discovered Floramac10 by Cargill. It’s a vegan, nonvolatile, fully biodegradable alternative to silicone that comes from the macadamia plant — not from the nut, so there are no allergy concerns. It’s also much softer on the skin.”
The lube’s packaging is also environmentally friendly.
“Our packaging is mostly non-plastic recyclables,” says Finkle. “I have been at the helm of many, many PR campaigns with an environmental focus, and I know the dangers and disgrace of greenwashing.”
“Greenwashing” refers to superficial and misleading claims of environmental friendliness that are not supported by reality. Finkle wanted to avoid this pitfall by developing healthy products that genuinely have a minimal environmental impact.
While building a sustainable, eco-friendly brand is at the core of Finkle’s philosophy, the company’s biggest goal is raising awareness about sexual wellness.
“It will not come as a groundbreaking revelation to anyone reading this article that there is still a lot of shyness and embarrassment around sex,” she says. “I enjoy talking about sex, having sex, thinking about sex. I think a lot of people do, yet this entire industry is still a bit shrouded. I’d like to advocate for our rights as business owners in this category.”
The first step, Finkle notes, is getting the product out there — which can be challenging given the strictures of social media.
“The over-regulation of social media platforms is the biggest — though not the sole — thorn in my side,” she says. “We are working on leaning more into skin care versus lube, to find paths forward on social media to reach our audience.”
Finkle goes beyond social media, however, getting very hands-on with her promotional approach.
“So far, it’s been going door to door, buyer to buyer, as an evangelist,” she says. “Our immediate focus is on people who already have an affinity for skin care, to make them aware that the ingredients they know and love for their face are now available for other sensitive parts of their body.”
Fortunately, Finkle enjoys a bit of an edge from a marketing standpoint. Prior to starting YCosmetics, she was a PR executive for many years and ran her own agency, Metro PR.
“Anything I do starts with a PR lens, as I have been working in the media machine for nearly 20 years,” she says.
Indeed, communication is deeply embedded in her latest venture.
“If I Say Yes highlights the word ‘yes’ rather than ‘no,’” she says. “Anything less than a clear ‘yes’ is a nonstarter. I love the word ‘if.’ There is something sexy and coy about it. As a longtime PR person and a generally sexual person, I love the idea of marrying the importance of consent with the intrigue and yearning of being coy. That’s how If I Say Yes came to be.”
Finkle teases that the brand has some fun things in the works, which will be showcased at the upcoming Altitude Show in Las Vegas in March 2025.
Why the wait? Finkle prizes quality over quantity, focusing on creating one-of-a-kind products that speak to her customer base.
In the meantime, those wanting to learn more about the brand can follow YCosmetics on Instagram to keep track of new collaborations or launches.
Summarizing the debut product line, Finkle boils it down to a combination of quality, humor and pleasure.
“If I Say Yes is a well-made product with hand-picked skin care ingredients,” she explains. “We want to make you smirk, and feel good — mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically.”
