1. FOR THOSE THAT DON’T ALREADY KNOW, WHY DON’T YOU TELL US ABOUT IF I SAY YES BY YCOSMETICS AND YOUR PRODUCTS?
IF I SAY YES by YCOSMETICS is a collection of sexual health and wellness products that lead with quality skincare ingredients. Everything is plant-based, biodegradable, toy and linen-safe, and suitable for all skin types and body parts. Our first products to launch were HAND SOLO and LIP LUBE LOVE, a self-pleasure serum and multipurpose hydrator for ALL lips, respectively. We just launched a collaboration with LIKE A KITTEN called Effortless, a pleasure serum that is multifunctional and leads with our baseline of skincare formula. Our products are 100% free of silicone, coconut oil, and water bases.
2. WHY DON’T YOU TALK ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF YCOSMETICS, HOW THE COMPANY GOT STARTED AND WHAT WAS THE GENESIS FOR WANTING TO START A LUBE COMPANY?
I am a longtime entertainment industry PR person by trade. I love telling stories and after 20 years of working in Hollywood, I was thinking about new verticals and mediums for storytelling. I was drawn to the sexual health and wellness space because it’s emerging and feels prime for powerful messaging. I sold some assets to self-fund the idea of IF I SAY YES by YCOSMETICS. I started my first company in the entertainment industry – which I still own, too – when I was 22 years old from nada, not even a college degree, so I am no stranger to the challenges of how to start a business and keep it alive. Entrepreneurship is mostly a mental stamina game, so while I hit some gnarly walls in the early years between ideation and pre-launch of IF I SAY YES by YCOSMETICS, I was still able to find joy in the process of identifying solutions. I didn’t know what the initial products would be, I just knew that I love the word YES, and I wanted something that was coy/playful (given the category) and relays a message that isn’t patronizing (I found the “girl boss era” to be quite cringe). So I landed on IF I SAY YES and the rest flowed conceptually from there.
3. HOW IS ABLE TO DIFFERENTIATE ITS BRAND IN A SATURATED LUBRICANT MARKET?
It’s maybe too early to say! We are still so new to the space. I’m finding great joy in building out our product pipeline with ideas that are fun, playful, whimsical and feel important in their message. Our products are message-based and tell a story about sex and pleasure, with the goal of getting people on the receiving end to see themselves in our brand. Similar to how you may see yourself in the lyrics of a song.
4. WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR THE LIP LUBE LOVE?
Who doesn’t love a multipurpose product? In the background of culture while I was ideating on products, there was a lot of conversation about ‘Karen’ – if you know, you know. Karen likes to summon the manager. Karen likes a haircut that looks like a Lego helmet on fire. Karen loves her home decor, especially anything that says “Live Laugh Love” on it. The best part is, Karen is doing none of those three words, ever. Without disclosing too much about my ex-in-laws…let’s just say, I needed to make a joke out of the whole thing. Inspired by the Pop Culture phenomenon/meme of the Karen, and my personal life at the time, Lip Lube Love was born. And again, it’s multipurpose for ALL LIPS. At one point, the packaging said, “How you apply it is your business.” I am pretty sure I evolved from that line, but it remains a valid sentiment.
6. CAN YOU SPEAK TO HOW SUSTAINABLE YOUR PRODUCTS ARE COMPARED WITH OTHER LUBRICANTS ON THE MARKET?
Sustainability is a complex word for someone like me with a communications background. I don’t think I can claim sustainability without greenwashing. What I can say is a little of our formula goes a long way. Wired Magazine did a write-up recently on Lip Lube Love as part of a “Best Lubes For Every Occasion” round-up and warned readers, “Make sure you only use a single drop though, any more and your lips get very slippery, less in a sexy way and more in an ‘I just ate a plate of ribs’ kind of way.” This line made me literally laugh out loud, but also validates when I tell people how long lasting it is. Also, ribs are very sexy. So I didn’t fully agree with the journalist, but nonetheless, was happy to be included in a best-of round-up.
7. IN THE YEARS SINCE YOU’VE STARTED, WHAT KIND OF COMPANY GROWTH HAVE YOU SEEN FROM YCOSMETICS?
2024 was the soft launch of IF I SAY YES by YCOSMETICS. The road to soft launch was a fun one but also very tumultuous, like most boot-strapped start-ups. The brand officially planted its flag at the ANME Show in Burbank last July 2024, and I was able to find allies in this industry that have since graciously gone out of their way to help YCOSMETICS find success. A special shout-out to Natalie Annis, Cheri Curry and Nefertiti Mitchell. My brand has since been written up in the LA Times, Wired Magazine, HerCampus and earned award nominations from XBIZ and AVN. IF I SAY YES by YCOSMETICS also just launched its first collaboration with Like A Kitten called Effortless, a pleasure serum that is safe on all toys and body parts. Natalie and her team are a dream, and I feel like I won the sex industry start-up lottery by meeting her and having the honour of working alongside their wonderful group in Minnesota.
8. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES OR MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT OWNING A LUBRICANT COMPANY?
Something that I underestimated going into this business and with products like ours is the over-regulation of sexual health and wellness across social media platforms and online banking portals. The restrictions are nonsensical, and feel like Footloose in the digital era. I recently read that there’s pending legislation in southern states to remove toys and lubricants from mainstream pharmacies as part of a religiously-driven political agenda to “protect children” and it’s one that is familiar to me through some pro-bono PR I did recently to prevent book bans at the public library. I was born in the 80s and my FAVORITE movie as a very young child was Flashdance. I loved the music, the dancing like a maniac, the legwarmers, the ice skating. I was five or six years old. The more adult-skewing plots were completely over my head until I revisited the film later in life. I am mulling over some earned media/PR campaign ideas to address this gray cloud of puritanical behaviour that seems to linger over companies like myself that are looking to have meaningful conversations about pleasure.
9. WHAT ARE YCOSMETICS PLANS FOR THE COMPANY IN THE NEAR FUTURE?
I have a new set of products dropping at the end of Q1 2025 and I am very, very excited about them. Which is a cryptic answer to the question. I will say that my #1 KPI for this new product will be to hear it referenced in a rap by GloRilla by the end of 2025. It’s a lofty, lofty goal, but nothing would make me happier. Ultimately, I want IF I SAY YES by YCOSMETICS to use clever storytelling, earned media and my relationships with the entertainment industry to help to destigmatize “sex” and normalize the reality that nearly all of us need and desire physical pleasure as part of the human experience. I am aiming for this brand to be the ultimate intersection of pop culture and sex.
