BROOKYLN, N.Y. — Sex Expo NY wrapped its latest run at the Brooklyn Expo Center on Sunday, Sept. 23, with a party atmosphere as countless attendees made their last-minute sex toy purchases and yearned to be among the winners of the expo’s contests and raffles, which included prizes such as Desire Resort’s Cancun, Mexico trip giveaway.
The second and last day of Sex Expo showed no signs of slowing down — once again, a crowd began lining up well before the doors opened and the excitement among attendees remained high until the event’s closing later that evening. Day two saw dance parties surrounding the stage, along with fake orgasm contests, storytelling competitions, raffles and The Pleasure Chest’s “Can This Go in Your Butt?” trivia game, among various other opportunities for attendees to compete for free pleasure products and other prizes.
Among the high-tech toys on display at Sex Expo was the Lovely 2.0 app-compatible couples ring. The second-generation Lovely comes with an upgraded motor and improved vibration patterns. The most unique feature of the ring is its Desire-Sensing technology. Jakub Konik, the founder and CEO of Lovely, told XBIZ that the technology analyzes the wearer’s movements to offer personalized tips that can improve pleasure.
“It will know what you like, and also has other functions, such as counting your calories burned,” Konik said, adding that the device was making its world premiere at the show.
After having won the first-ever XBIZ Europa Award for Luxury Pleasure Product/Line of the Year for its Cleopatra-inspired Queen stimulator just the previous week in Berlin, Zalo proudly displayed its trophy at the Sex Expo.
“We want to show off our trophy as a testament to the quality of Zalo products,” said Peter Ovsonka, president and CEO of Zalo USA.
Zalo’s booth stood out amongst the rest with a sleek, black background with screens displaying the brand’s promotional videos.
“It’s our first time doing a consumer show and we wanted to do it right,” Ovsonka said. “It reflects our brand as always putting in 100 percent and never taking any shortcuts.”
Topco exhibited at Sex Expo for the first time this year, where the company showcased its famous CyberSkin products for women and men.
“Our experience at Sex Expo was overwhelmingly positive and fun,” Topco sales account manager Nancy Cosimini said. “We received a great response to our product line. People are touching CyberSkin for the first time and realizing how real it feels — there were a lot of ‘oh my Gods.’”
Cosimini said that in addition to CyberSkin dildos, women were seen purchasing strokers for their male partners.
“A masturbator can be a couples’ toy — it’s great for foreplay and is a great oral sex helper,” she said.
The Pleasure Chest, which presented multiple workshops and contests throughout Sex Expo weekend, also manned a booth showcasing a selection of high-end toys, including Aneros and We-Vibe. A representative from the progressive adult retail chain invited attendees to “take what you like” from the booth’s selection of free goodies that included pins with various sex-positive messages, “Consent is Sexy” fans, and wooden paddles with the message “Spank Someone Happy.” The Pleasure Chest also let all attendees know about their sex-ed class offerings that are hosted in-store for free.
During The Pleasure Chest’s “Can this go in your butt?” contest, a sex educator hit the stage and had contestants flip through images of sex toys on an iPad and answer “yes” or “no” based on whether the items would be safe for anal use. Throughout the game, the Pleasure Chest educator delivered plenty of memorable zingers about anal toy safety.
“Without a base, without a trace!”
“Remember, the other end of your butthole is your mouth!”
Nearby We-Vibe and Womanizer shared a booth space now that the brands are “married,” said Helen Fields, who handles marketing for WOW Tech, the brands' parent company. “Our products are being sold at Sex Expo by The Pleasure Chest and Adam & Eve. We’ve been very busy here [at our booth] with branding and sex education.”
Sliquid showcased its collection of premium, all-natural intimate lubricants with its team — founder Dean Elliott, VP of sales and marketing Michelle Marcus and brand ambassador Erik Vasquez were on hand to introduce attendees to its selection, and handed out Sliquid-branded T-shirts as well as presented a Lube 101 workshop hosted on the first day of the show.
“It was great to catch up with clients, friends and fans,” Elliott said in a Facebook post following the event. “Sliquid was born here, and it’s always nice to do functions in our own backyard.”
SI Novelties returned to Sex Expo with an improved strategy. “Based on our experience at the show last year, we brought more items for women,” SI Novelties’ Ryan Paul said, adding that the most popular item over the weekend was the camouflage-print Major Dick dildos — available in both cut and uncut. “It’s so popular because no one else has them,” he said.
iCandi also came back to Sex Expo with a better understanding of its target. Temmy Wallace, the company CEO said that it went for a more youthful and feminine approach with its booth’s look.
“We want to make sure that we stand out,” Wallace said, noting that iCandi’s products also retail at a reasonable price.
“We sold out of our Evelyn in less than a month after its release,” she said, highlighting the product’s features such as being travel-friendly, waterproof and offering clit and G-Spot stimulation.
Bijoux Indiscrets dedicated its booth to its new Horoscope Kit — which pairs a beautiful birthstone necklace with a stimulating clitoral balm formulated to suit each astrological sign’s natural element, and a finger vibrator.
“Bijoux Indiscrets is a brand that’s all about women’s empowerment,” co-founder and designer Elsa Viegas said. “We want to break taboos by making sex more of a holistic pleasure ritual. With the Horoscope kit, women can take a moment for themselves to enjoy their female energy.”
StripChat made its first appearance at Sex Expo with a big, comfy couch on which a pixie-haired blonde sat upon while working an online chat room that was projected onto a screen for all attendees to see. The StripChat booth also had a wheel that attendees could spin to choose from several cute and sexy commands for the cam girl, including having her spank herself, blow a kiss and more — to the delight of attendees, who giggled and walked away smiling every time.
“StripChat is the fastest growing cam site in the U.S.,” StripChat’s North American representative Jasmine James said. “I came to Sex Expo to build our U.S. model base and find new starlets. Signing up is easy and takes less than five minutes. All you need is a laptop with a camera to make money — you don’t need to work a 9 to 5!”
Rhode Island-based Athena’s Home Novelties’ booth showcased a plethora of sex toys while the company’s home party team leaders — Ryan Lahr and Susan Brent — praised the 20-year-old company that caters to consumers regardless of gender or sexual preference.
“We’ve both won all-expense paid trips to Mexico,” Lahr said, speaking of the benefits of signing up as a home party consultant. “I also won $5,000 for being the first man to be among the top 10 in sales."
Subsensuals showcased its wide selection of handmade non-piercing nipple jewelry. Helaine Katz, the designer and owner of the brand, proudly discussed the two patents that she owns for her jewelry, which utilizes powerful magnets to turn each jeweled string into attachable rings.
“It causes pleasure and pain,” she said. 
LaDonna Wright is a registered nurse, relationship expert and entrepreneur from Madison, Wisc., who created the Secret VII game seven years ago. Today, she says that the game is among adult retail store bestsellers. Secret VII includes 400 Pleasure Cards describing a variety of foreplay acts that game players can choose from. When a player rolls a seven with the included dice, their desired foreplay act is performed.
At her booth, Wright showcased the game alongside “Brooklyn Sexy” T-shirts, which she said she makes for every city that she visits.
Hot Flowers returned to Sex Expo with packaged lingerie and two unique offerings — Sperm Gourmet, a dietary supplement that’s said to sweeten the taste of cum — and Pearl’s Touch, which is a string of pearls paired with silicone gel that can be used for masturbation by grinding on the pearls. Alexandre Enumo from Hot Flowers said that the company’s latest offerings benefit sexual pleasure as well as sexual health.
Erosscia introduced Sex Expo attendees to its medical-grade silicone attachment that turns any electric toothbrush into a vibrator. Noting the toy's “sleek, convenient design,” Erosscia’s Steffan Martell also said that the stimulator offers superior power.
Erosscia launched in January of this year “after four years of research and testing,” Martell said. It retails for $44.95 — however, two Sex Expo participants walked away with it for free by winning Erosscia’s sex toy stories contest.
For more information about Sex Expo, visit SexExpo.com. For more photos of the event, click here and here.
