Meet Arielle Aquino | Founder at The Sensualist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Arielle Aquino and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Arielle, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I started my business the way most founders do: I started it to create the solution for something I was looking for. When I was first exploring my sexuality, I could not find a store that spoke to me or brought the level of elegance to sexuality that I was looking for. I was only in my late 20’s but already I felt too old for the industry which seemed to cater mostly to very young people. I really didn’t resonate with pink, bright vibrators that promised me the “fastest orgasm ever”. I was in an exploration stage (and still am!) and wanted something that spoke more to the slow unfolding of sexuality: arousal, all of the senses and something a little more intriguing. That’s why I created The Sensualist – a place to arouse all five senses.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The Sensualist is an online store, content platform and community focused on celebrating sensuality. Our goal is to provide the tools for people to connect with their pleasure and their bodies; in both sexual and non-sexual contexts. Often we assume sensuality is the same as sexuality, but the two are distinctly different. Sensuality is simply the way you use all five senses to experience pleasure. It can include taking a long bath, inhaling a captivating scent or savoring a delicious tea. Connecting with your sensuality is a way to activate your life force energy, creativity, passion, self-love and more… but we often don’t focus on sensuality and just skip to sex. Before you can be sexually liberated, you have to know the language of your body; that is where sensuality comes in.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would take them to Archipelago which is an incredible members club founded by some of my closest friends. You can count on them to host some of the most interesting experiences in wellness, entertainment, community and play.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Not who you would expect, but my father was the main person who inspired me to create The Sensualist. We would both laugh about how cheesy the sexual wellness industry was and how it was clearly male-dominated. He encouraged me to create me own niche in the space and believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself! I’m also inspired by the Women of Sex Tech which is a group of founders in the sex tech space. I’ve met many incredible womxn from that group who have inspired me to keep going.

Website: www.thesensualist.com

Instagram: @the.sensualist

Image Credits
Photos by Justin Rosenberg, Inna Shnayder, Isabella Bejarano