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It’s the holidays and many South Africans will also be getting festive between the sheets this season.
After all, it’s the season of giving and there’s no better way to usher in the New Year than a with bit of nookie and some sexy under the mistletoe.
And this year, say some adult store owners, performance seems to be everything with macho pills and female sex-drive tablets outselling every product on offer in many stores. There’s also new technology that will enhance solo sex or couples and doubles, taking it to new decibels of pleasure, sex toy retailers say.
“The latest technology in toys is air technology,” said Lola Montez Hyde Park store owner Sharon Gordon. “These are popular and sexy at the moment.”
The toys stimulate the clitoris without actually touching the body. She said it it feels like gentle sucking.
“Now you know why it’s popular!” she laughed. Two popular incarnations of air technology are the Satisfyer and the Womanizer. Expect to pay around R4 000 for one of these stocking fillers.
Couples’ toys and light bondage gear has become a lockdown hallmark, said another store manager in Midrand.
She said: “There has been a huge uptick in toys couples can use on one another, simultaneously, and we have seen purchasing patterns move in that direction.” But most of all, the store manager noted, is the large volume of performance enhancement tablets and gimmicks that are moving through the store, upping the ante of sexy time.
“Classics like Spanish fly, poppers and then all kinds of herbal remedies for longer-lasting erections, endurance and female arousal are extremely popular right now,” she said.
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A basic set of handcuffs can set you back between R250 and R500, while spanking products range from about R300 to R800, dependent on the material and manufacturer. Crotchless and other sexy adult shop lingerie adds around R500 to R600 to your naughty bill.
For deeper bondage exploration, gags and studded accessories can set you back almost a grand an item, that is, for the good stuff that won’t rip or tear apart at first tie-up.
Gordon said that lubrication is also finally coming into its own with exceptional, premium products like Pjur becoming quite popular.
Some toys, like the We Vibe couples’ vibrators, she said, are slowly going out of vogue after a sustained stretch in popularity. But then there are the “old faithful” sexy goodies, she added. “Vibrating cock rings are affordable and always a good seller, so too are traditional bullet vibrators.”
The festive season is also a naughty, sexy novelty favourite at the office or between friends. Gordon said: “Especially secret Santa gifts. We had a range of Reindeer penis rings that were popular as a novelty and sexy lingerie remains a popular purchase with men.”
She added that women in their forties seem to be the most adventurous, sexually, but in general South Africans remain conservative.
Gordon said: “People remain ashamed of their sexuality despite our constant effort and a lot of education in the area of sex and relationships.” She added that people seem to need constant reassurance that sex toys are toys, and used for play, not because you don’t have a partner when doing solo but, she said that they remain the best wingman for any bedroom antics, alone, in twos or more.