Sex rules. Whether you’re having fun with a long-term partner or hooking up with a saucy one-night stand, good sex can cure a week’s worth of school and work stress. That is… until the dreaded “snail trail” leaks out during class into your undies, or even worse- a straight-up blob falls down from your vagina during your morning workout. While sex rules, cum can be a major inconvenience post-intercourse. Enter Awkward Essentials’ premier product, the Dripstick.
Frances Tang, the genius behind the Dripstick and the founder of Awkward Essentials, experienced her own post-sex uncomfy AF drip and realized that toilet paper, wipes, taking showers and the pull of gravity weren’t cutting it. “I created this product just because I personally don’t like cum,” she shares.
After trying methods such as inserting a tampon to absorb semen, she knew she had to try something else. It turns out, the inspiration for the Dripstick was right in her kitchen.
“I love to bake and I love cake decorating,” Tang says. “And every time I would use a spatula to get batter out of a bowl, I would think would be so great to have a spatula to like, get all the crap out of my vagina, so that was the inspiration.”
Made from a medical-grade sponge, this porous little product has a handle perfect for inserting into the vagina, twisting, and absorbing a majority of the semen deposited from unprotected sex. The process to use it is super quick and simple, see a full how-to below.
Now, Tang makes it very clear that this is merely an option for people who do not enjoy the feeling of semen in their vagina post-sex. Some individuals love it, and to that, she shares, “It’s totally up to you. It’s your choice. But it’s just nice to have that choice.” No shaming here!
Realistically, this is an ideal item to have while exploring sex in college. “I think that for college students, [where] cum bothers them, it’s really great because it allows you that freedom to just like, say yes, and do it, and not have to worry about it. [College students do] not have to go through that mental load of like… okay, I want to have sex with my boyfriend, but then I know I want to go for a run the next morning,” she explains. “Or like, I want to have sex, but I have to run to class. And so, do I have to like, wear a pad? Is this gonna leak out? Like, can I wear this? It’s so many things that I think we are always considering in advance. If we can take one of those things away, then awesome.”
Plus, it doesn’t hurt that these sponges are inexpensive with a 20-pack available for just $25.
It’s definitely worth keeping on hand as the Dripstick cleans the inside of the vagina from semen in mere seconds. You do not need to use this product to clean a vagina in general, as they are self-cleaning. The Dripstick is not a prevention measure against STIs and it is not to be used as a form of birth control. Rather, it’s a small invention to keep in your tote or bookbag for reducing any discomfort from being, well, for lack of a better phrase, loaded up.
Dripstick isn’t the only vagina-centered innovation created by Awkward Essentials. For all of your long road trips, music festival outings, and camping trips, you can take along the Mainstream: a disposable pee funnel. While many silicone pee funnels are marketed to people with vaginas, this funnel folds up, can be sanitarily stored in its original packaging, and even comes with toilet paper since we can’t just “shake it off.” This is phenomenal news for anyone who is tired of sitting on porta-potty seats or has wanted to stand up to pee for the thrill of it.
While the Dripstick is not intended for anal use, Awkward Essentials still uses its platform to educate on all things sex, including butt play. Plus, in even better news, they’re currently exploring ways to make products specifically for anal use.
If you’re a fan of sexy, unhinged content, you should absolutely follow @awkwardessentials on Instagram to see hysterical cum sponge content. Additionally, sign up for their newsletter to discover all the new products coming down the pipeline (no pun intended) in 2023, sales codes, memes, and more.
“Next year, [there] will be a lot of new products, so I’m excited,” Tang says.