Fancy a C.R.A.P. smoothie? Last month, cult LA grocer Erewhon, which has previously collaborated with the likes of Hailey Bieber and Nara Smith, joined forces with “forest friendly” toilet paper company Who Gives A Crap to create a smoothie made from coconut, raspberry, aloe vera and probiotics. It helps promote regularity.
“Imagine a barista yelling ‘crap’ into a crowd and you know heads will turn,” says Maria Chilewicz, head of brand for Who Gives A Crap. “Most people are willing to let their guard down to giggle over a butt pun and that fun-loving side is what we appeal to, because our brand mission is focused on very serious, lifesaving work.” (The brand donates 50 per cent of profits to support safe water and sanitation initiatives in developing countries.)
The C.R.A.P smoothie speaks to a wider trend. As audiences become increasingly open to discussing previously awkward, unmentionable or taboo topics on social media, the beauty sector is seeing a surge in ‘booty beauty’, where brands are creating solutions-based products to tackle the unmentionable, from bum sweat to bowel issues, bum acne to haemorrhoids.
“In truth, the desire for products like these has likely been around for some time, it’s just that social media has taken what was once a private Google search and brought it into the daylight,” says Suzanne Scott, global associate director at beauty consultancy Seen Group. There are now thousands of videos on TikTok featuring creators giving advice on butt body odour, haemorrhoids or bum acne — as a sub-trend of the #HygeineTok craze.
“This radical embrace of every facet of our body has been swift, relatively speaking,” Scott says. “And with the beauty brand landscape changing to allow room for more disruptive, social-driven brands, we’re now seeing more brands innovate to answer the demand.”
High demand, high reward
Bodycare label Megababe is a typical innovator. Launched in 2017, the brand quickly gained traction with its bestselling thigh chafe stick. Then, in November 2024, the brand launched haemorrhoid cream Butt Stuff. The cream contains 5 per cent strength lidocaine and phenylephrine to shrink haemorrhoids. Its fun pink and green packaging is less medical in design and “looks better on your shelf”, according to Megababe founder Katie Sturino. Already stocked on Amazon and through UK retailer Boots, Butt Stuff is hitting thousands of CVS doors across the US from this month.
“I am not surprised, but for everyone else, this product has been a real surprise hit,” Sturino says. “I think the market is just catching up to the conversation that’s happening on social quite frankly. People are tired of feeling like they have to deal with so many things alone. Let’s just normalise things like haemorrhoids so that you’re not ashamed.”
Startup Wype is also capitalising on the booty beauty trend. Launched in 2021, its hero item is a gel to apply to toilet paper to improve personal cleanliness after using the toilet. The business grew 173 per cent between 2023 and 2024, and has been beating forecasts for 2025 so far, says co-founder Giorgia Granata, who was inspired to launch Wype after moving to the UK from Italy and missing her bidet. The brand is about to ship its millionth unit.
In one sense, consumers have always been ready for this kind of product, but now the market is catching up, Granata says. “When we asked our customers what products they were using before, many of them were creating concoctions at home to solve their problems, or maybe they were repurposing other products that are not made for [their bottoms] to soothe or to cleanse,” she says. “So there’s always been a group of customers that were interested in this type of product, but probably now it’s going to become much more acceptable and mainstream.”
The all-over deodorant boom
All-over body deodorant is a key product that aligns with the booty beauty trend, helping consumers tackle odour down there. In 2019, Katy Cottam, previously global head of brand at Charlotte Tilbury, launched Luna Daily, identifying a gap in the market for bodycare that could be used all over the body. The brand specialises in intimate washes and body oils as well as on-the-go, spray-on cleansers and deodorants for the entire body, including the vulva, groin and bottom. It’s experienced triple-digit growth year-on-year since inception, Cottam says. Stockists include Sephora, Boots and Cult Beauty.
“I became increasingly frustrated by how outdated, awkward and shame-driven certain bodycare categories still were,” she says. “I realised there was a huge white space for a brand that could bridge bodycare and these ‘taboo’ topics and body parts in a way that felt modern, inclusive and empowering.”
Mainstream brands are also looking to overcome conventional awkwardness with regards to intimate body parts. Bunda, peach, muffin, derrière — just some of the words that pop up in the latest advert from Unilever deodorant brand Sure, screened worldwide this year. The brand surveyed consumers in the UK to learn the most common names for intimate body parts. Wype’s Granata welcomes the arrival of mainstream players such as Unilever to the space. “At one point, I was a little frustrated. But now I’ve realised a rising tide floats all boats,” she says. “It’s good that the conversation is moving. It’s good for everyone.”
The power of recommendation and education
Organic recommendations are powerful sales drivers for bottomcare brands. “Word of mouth has been massive for us, not just because our products work, but because they give people permission to talk about things they’ve never talked about before,” says Megababe’s Sturino. “It’s also super important, because we’re not taught about so much of the female body at school, and, sadly, as the second source of education [after school], social media is still a highly censored space. ‘Vulva’ and ‘vagina’ are some of the most censored words on the platforms.”
An example: it is not generally known that haemorrhoids are common after childbirth. “Educating about a haemorrhoid product is challenging,” says Sturino. “We are always working to educate new customers, people who haven’t heard of our brand, because so much of what we do is provide solutions to problems that you didn’t know there was a solution for, like boob sweat. Our marketing gets criticism because we’re talking about things that aren’t typically talked about. We are running a side chafe commercial right now on broadcast television that was declined by Hallmark because they said it didn’t meet their decency standards.”
The language used in product marketing is very important,” says Scott. “When we have worked with brands in bringing intimate products to market, whether that’s a massage candle, lubricant or condoms, we’ve ensured the language isn’t infantilising or minimising,” she explains. “Brands are treating intimate areas, like the bottom and the vulva, as serious opportunities for innovation that will ultimately make women feel good in themselves.”
Location, location, location
The correct merchandising of booty beauty products is also an important ingredient of their success. “Sometimes it’s hard for retailers to know how to merchandise your products, because you’re often bringing in new categories or new types of products to the store,” Sturino says. “That is one of the biggest challenges.”
“We focus on meeting people where they are — in the bodycare aisle, not hidden away in some awkward corner,” says Cottam. “Our partnerships with mainstream retailers like Sephora and Boots have been game changers in that sense. Social media and community engagement have also been critical — people trust recommendations from people like them, and when they aren’t just #ads. And we always lead with purpose. When people understand our mission and feel emotionally connected to our story, they’re more likely to try the product — and once they do, they stay.”
What’s next? “We’ll likely see the category diverge to encompass different concerns or audiences. The perimenopause, menopause and post-menopause space is a massive area of opportunity,” Scott says.
In terms of innovation, Scott suggests products will follow the path of bodycare by incorporating more traditional skincare ingredients, such as mild acids for breakouts and barrier-strengthening ingredients like ceramides to address crepiness and stretch marks. “Format will become more important, just as it has in skincare and bodycare, so we’ll likely start to see more toners, masks, exfoliators, peel pads and tools.” Clearly, there is ample room for growth.
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