Clean and vegan, Bawdee is a modern Australian sexual wellness brand that has a mission to make intimacy better for all people. Co-founded by Emily Harper, she is paving the way for a pleasure positive paradigm. I recently had the opportunity of speaking with Harper about her background, products, and more.
Thank you for joining us. Please tell us about yourself and your background.
I’m the co-founder of Bawdee, a sexual wellness brand that I started with my partner, Lucas. I have a background in marketing and graphic design, but my interest in wellness started much earlier. I grew up swimming competitively and struggled with recurring thrush from the age of 12 all throughout my teens. At the time I genuinely thought it was just something women had to deal with. It wasn’t until my twenties, after developing an autoimmune disease that I started paying much closer attention to my body and questioning what I had previously accepted as “normal.”
From there, wellness became a huge part of my life. I became fascinated by the connection between our gut, hormones, nervous system, microbiome and overall health. The deeper I went, the stranger it seemed that we spoke so openly about nutrition, exercise, sleep and mental health, yet vaginal health, pleasure and sexuality were still treated as separate subjects. Eventually, sexuality became part of that same wellness conversation for me and that journey ultimately led to the creation of Bawdee.
What brought you to this specific journey of sexual wellness to build your own brand?
I really fell into the world of sexual wellness after having what I describe as a postpartum-induced sexual awakening about five and a half years ago. Motherhood completely changed my relationship with my body and my identity. Somewhere between responsibility, motherhood and everyday life, I realized I had stopped prioritizing the sensual and sexual part of myself. So I decided to explore it properly. I started learning everything I could about female sexuality, pleasure and desire. The more I learned, the more I realized how underserved women were in this space. There was so much shame, misinformation and such a disconnect between sexual health and general wellness. Bawdee became a natural extension of that journey. We wanted to create products women could genuinely feel good about using, while also helping make conversations around sex, vaginal health and pleasure feel normal.
What are your top selling products and why?
At the moment, Fem is coming out on top. Fem is our oral probiotic formulated to support vaginal, urinary tract and gut health, and the feedback we’ve been getting from women has been incredible. What has surprised me most is how many women come to us as a last ditch effort to end a recurring battle with thrush or BV. Some have been dealing with the same cycle for months or even years. We hear from women who say they finally found something that worked and has given them relief, and those are the reviews that really stay with us. I think Fem resonates because women are becoming much more aware that vaginal health doesn’t exist in isolation. Your microbiome, gut health and overall health are all connected.
For someone new to this industry what product or products would you recommend so they feel comfortable?
I always recommend starting with a really good quality water-based lube. Lube isn’t just for people experiencing dryness. It can make sex better by reducing friction, increasing comfort and helping people relax into the experience. Our Glide Aloe Lube is a great place to start because it’s compatible with condoms and toys, is easy to use and easy to clean up. Yum Coco Lube comes in at a close second because it doubles as both a lubricant and massage oil, so it creates an opportunity for foreplay and outercourse to become the main event. It is coconut oil based, microbiome friendly, naturally flavored with vanilla and slightly sweetened with stevia. We deliberately avoid using artificial flavors, sugar and artificial sweeteners in our products as these ingredients can negatively impact the vaginal microbiome.
Having worked in the sexual wellness industry for so many years, could you share any top tips or knowledge we should know?
There’s so much, but the first thing I would say is: pleasure is your birthright. I think we’ve been taught to treat pleasure as something indulgent or unnecessary, particularly for women. Something we’re not often taught is that our sexuality is connected to our nervous system, confidence, relationships, identity and sense of aliveness. From a product perspective, I also wish more women knew how important formulation actually is. A lot of people choose a lubricant out of convenience, or based on the look of the packaging but gloss over the most important details.
For water-based lubes, look for products formulated at an appropriate pH and ideally with an osmolality that isn’t excessively high. Very hyperosmolar lubricants can draw moisture out of epithelial cells causing the tissue to dry, which is the opposite of what you want from a lubricant. I’d also steer clear of lubes overloaded with fragrance, artificial flavors, sugars, parabens, propylene glycol and harsh preservatives. These are all common irritants and have no place being in lube.
If you could hope for one thing to change when it comes to sexual health and wellness for the next generation of professionals, what would that be and why?
I would love to see genuinely comprehensive, pleasure-based sex education taught in schools. We spend so much time teaching young people what can go wrong with sex. Pregnancy, STIs, consent and risk, which is obviously important. But we spend far less time teaching them about anatomy, communication, boundaries, desire, pleasure, healthy relationships and what mutually enjoyable sex actually looks like. Young people are naturally curious. If they aren’t getting reliable, shame-free information from adults or educators, they will look for it elsewhere. Porn inevitably fills part of that information gap, but it was never designed to be sex education.
Ultimately, I want the next generation to grow up understanding their bodies, feeling grounded, knowing that their pleasure is important, and feeling no shame in asking questions or advocating for what they need. Sexual wellness shouldn’t sit on the fringe of healthcare, education or culture. It should be recognized for what it is: an essential part of human wellbeing. That’s the future I hope we’re helping to build with Bawdee.
You deserve a sexual wellness boost. Elevate your bedside table and go to https://www.bawdee.com/.
