Sexual Wellness Brand Tabu Launches At Sephora

Sephora is moving into the menopause category.

Tabu, a sexual wellness brand focused on women in menopause, is launching on the beauty retailer’s website with its $145 hero product, The Golden Hour Kit, and $45 bestselling personal lubricant, Aureum, as part of the Clean at Sephora program. The Golden Hour Kit consists of Aureum, wand device Nuri Massager and a satin-lined storage pouch. 

“We’re committed to creating elevated, science-backed sexual wellness products with women’s ever-changing bodies in mind,” says Tabu founder Natalie Fretwell née Waltz. “This partnership with Sephora is a huge leap for our brand, and we’re thrilled to see the industry’s biggest players recognize the growing importance of not only the intimate care space, but also the wellness market for women 40-plus.”

Cindy Deily, VP of skincare merchandising at Sephora, says, “With its inclusive and science-backed approach to hormonal and sexual health and well-being, Tabu is committed to offering a wide range of products that support clients on their unique journeys and at various stages of life. We look forward to welcoming this brand into our Sephora community and know that it will be a wonderful addition to our clean beauty and wellness assortment.”

Launched in November 2020, Tabu premiered at Goop and closed a $500,000 pre-seed funding round in October 2021. Tabu is also available at Anthropologie. Fretwell, formerly VP of marketing and communications at consumer private equity firm TCG, spoke to her Middle Eastern Muslim mother and soon after several focus groups of other women 50 years old and above about sexual wellness. The conversations became the basis of Tabu. 

Strictly speaking, Tabu doesn’t have the first menopause product in Sephora’s increasing intimate care selection, which currently boasts nearly 60 products from more than dozen brands. Additional menopause-oriented products include Hum Nutrition’s Fan Club, a supplement for menopause-related symptoms like hot flashes sold online only.

Last month, Sephora started rolling out intimate care products from Maude and Luna Daily to 260 stores. Maude’s products had been sold on Sephora’s site since early 2022. The retailer has yet to place sexual wellness devices in its locations.

“This partnership with Sephora is a huge leap for our brand.”

To support its Sephora partnership, Tabu will promote it primarily organically on its channels, although it’s dipping into paid media, too. Fretwell teases there will be further initiatives in the coming months. “We believe in mutually beneficial relationships with all of our key retail partners,” says Fretwell. “Sephora is important to the success of Tabu, and we believe that Tabu can provide valuable insight into a growing consumer for the beauty retail giant.”

Tabu is among an expanding cohort of funded brands with notable retail distribution dedicated to the sexual health, wellness and beauty concerns of women 40 years old and older. In May last year, Womaness became Ulta Beauty’s inaugural menopause brand and rolled out to 400 of the chain’s stores. The brand, which is carried at hundreds of Target doors as well, has raised a $4 million seed round.

Menopause supplement specialist Wile raised $3 million in funding and is carried at Walgreens, Whole Foods and CVS. Better Not Younger, a haircare brand aimed at gen X and baby boomer consumers that’s raised $3.8 million, entered 600 Ulta doors in 2021 and recently stretched its footprint at the retailer to 1,318 doors. 

Tabu shares that its sales have jumped 285% year-over-year. According to a survey conducted by the brand, 71% of customers who use its products at least once per week notice improvement in both their physical and emotional health, 88% report decreased pain with sex, 80% detect an increase in their libido, and 76% say the products have boosted their self-confidence.

Tabu’s goal is to assist women in building their sexual health repertoires the same way they would their beauty regimens, making sexual health “routine,” according to Fretwell, who notes that the physical and emotional benefits of sex are real and don’t come with an expiration date. 

She says, “To my 24-year-old sister, a vibrator might be a toy, but to a 50-year-old woman dealing with dryness and atrophy or a 70-year-old dating again after being celibate for 15 years, a vibrator is a tool that can help remedy symptoms and maintain or unlock an important part of her life.”