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Christina Aguilera has never shied away from embracing her sexuality—whether fans like it or not. And she’s certainly no stranger to the harsh, judgmental criticism women often receive when they are openly comfortable with their bodies.
In fact, one could say that Aguilera got the worst of it just as she started to come into her own. After winning the Grammy for best new artist following the monumental success of her self-titled debut album in 2000, Aguilera sought to free herself from her “contrived” pop princess persona, craving a different creative direction for the next.
“In my entire career, I've always been someone who’s been very outspoken and comfortable, especially since I grew up in an industry that was very male-dominated. I was always told how I should dress and what I should wear, skewed from a male point of view,” Aguilera tells Glamour. “As I grew to be older, I stepped more into empowering myself and listening to my authentic voice and what that means to me, and realized how the topic of sexuality and sexual wellness and awareness for oneself as a woman can be seen as so shameful, something many women don’t want to talk about, or something viewed by a man as something negative to label even if they’re just empowering themselves.”
This resulted in 2002’s Stripped, the first album over which Aguilera had complete creative control. At just 21—the same age as the album is now—Aguilera personally oversaw the music and lyrics, all of which boldly tackled themes of sexuality, empowerment, and feminism. But while undeniably a groundbreaking artistic feat, the album, its track list, and videos—especially “Dirrty”—left some audiences outraged.
Why? Because Aguilera dared to be sexy during a time when women were assigned one of two labels: good or bad. Being “too sexy” was “bad”—especially for pop stars. Having just earned autonomy over her music and outward expression (see: the external shift from butter-blond good girl next door to two-toned provocateur with a topless album cover), Aguilera used this to her advantage, debuting a sultry alter-ego aptly named Xtina. This way, her “bad” persona was someone else entirely.
Things have come a long way in the past 21 years, both for Aguilera as an artist and society at large. Women are no longer (quite as) vilified for embracing their sexual side, and Aguilera now proudly promotes sexual liberation and wellness as part of her latest business venture.
In March, Aguilera joined sexual wellness brand Playground to help push the conversation around female pleasure. “As women, we go through our entire lives with our bodies changing. We think nothing about going into a drugstore and picking up moisturizer for your face or your body, but we neglect our epicenter: sexual health and our vagina,” she says. “It’s a beautiful thing to be able to promote something that I’ve always done—either musically with my performances on stage, or in conversation—for women all over the world to celebrate their bodies and talk about this really important factor in their lives.”
Aguilera also sees Playground from a holistic point of view and considers it an important part of health and wellness. “We wanted to do something that is also good for your body, since so many companies dominating the space were made by men with men in mind with no idea how to cater to female anatomy, what women might like, and what is actually good for us,” Aguilera says. “Playground is plant-based and has all good nutrients. I like to describe it as a vitamin for my vagina.”
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Playground also hopes to close “the orgasm gap,” a study that found only 39% of women regularly orgasm during sex—while 91% of men do. “Women have been highly neglected in the conversation about sexual wellness, feeling good about exercising and exploring what’s out there, and what we can do to better please ourselves,” she says. “In order to have a great sex life, you have to know what you like first. There’s different areas of the female body that you can orgasm from, and it takes time to really get to know what works for you. Your body also changes before kids, after kids, as you get older. Every woman is different. These intimacy products can be brought to the table in any stage of your life and help you get into the mood, sustain the moment, and figure out what’s most pleasurable to you.”
Formulated with adaptogens, botanical aphrodisiacs, and skin-soothing plant oils like ashwagandha (which is known for its relaxing properties), electric daisy, and apricot oil, Mood Maker isn’t your mother's lubricant: It’s actually an intimacy oil that helps to ease muscle tension and enhance pleasure and libido. Meanwhile its notes of vanilla, sandalwood, rose, and ylang ylang help to awaken your senses—and smell great—too. Sounds fun, right?
Exactly. Hence the name, Playground. “The name itself, Playground, your body is a playground,” Aguilera points out. “That’s why it’s fun, because it’s giving you the opportunity to explore your body. Nobody can tell you how to. Women have been so neglected in the sexual wellness space that now’s the time to really push open the door and explore your sexuality and your vagina the same way that you would celebrate your hair or a good moisturizer for your lips, or your face, or your body.”
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For what it’s worth, Aguilera still feels just as passionately about embracing nudity as she did back when her “naked Sundays” grabbed headlines in 2007. “There’s nothing wrong or shameful about the naked body. Sometimes in certain spaces, there might be a level of appropriateness, so there’s a time and place,” she says. “But as far as enjoying your body and being able to look in a mirror and feel confident with yourself—it’s really healthy that women are supporting women in a strong and helpful way to talk about bodies and being naked, that we have the right to orgasm, and we have the right to feel as sexually confident as a male would in his body and how he feels empowered by sex.”
It’s no surprise that Aguilera’s personal approach to health and wellness is similarly well-rounded. Ahead, Christina Aguilera shares her top eight sexual wellness essentials for Glamour’s Great 8.
Diptyque Roses Scented Candle
Look, even in my daily life, whether it’s in the bedroom or showing up to my dressing room and setting the tone and setting the mood, mood is a big deal, lighting all of that. But in that case too, candles are a big thing for me. My scent and my sense of smell, and how things come off to me is really important. I’ve learned that over the years, and getting pickier as I get older as well, and knowing what I like and what I don’t.
Diptyque has this scent, Roses, that makes me feel just super feminine and super loved. It gives me a lot of self-love vibes with the roses scent. So that’s step one, setting the mood and tone with roses. Everything from the light of the candle to lighting it is very calming for me.
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Playground Mood Maker
Of course, we need to talk about Mood Maker, which is amazing in every sense, whether you’re using it as a daily moisturizer or for yourself in the bedroom or with a partner. This product goes outside of just being pleasurable in the bedroom. It’s a moisturizer. It’s an aphrodisiac for your vagina. And it enhances your mood with the scent. Keyword: “mood maker.”
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Lelo Gigi 2 Personal Massager
It’s so great to just experiment with yourself, bringing in toys. Vibrators are always really fun. So whether you’re in a relationship, whether you’re not, these are intimacy products that can be shared or personalized to your liking. I love a good vibrator, so we’re going to say the Lelo vibrator.
070 Shake Vinyl
I think setting the music, so a little ambient music. Currently, I’m into 070 Shake, which is a really cool little vibey mood music.
![070 Shake You Can’t Kill Me [2 LP] Double Vinyl](https://media.glamour.com/photos/6538488f69351d71d41a21ed/3:4/w_748%2Cc_limit/Product%2520Template%2520(3).png)
Fleur du Mal Lingerie
Fleur du Mal is a lingerie brand we’re working with that’s so fun. They’ve got so many different designs that I’m loving right now, getting into a Vegas show I’m doing and everything. So we’re really playing with that, lingerie.
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Coochy Shave Cream
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There’s this really good-smelling cream gel that’s for shaving and it’s the most hilarious name to me. It’s called Coochy. So Coochy shave cream gel. It smells so good. It comes in Frosted Cake, and it smells very yummy. I love using that.
Lord Jones High CBD Body Lotion
There’s a body lotion that I really love. I even use it on my kids. They love their little footsies rubbed and things. It’s Lord Jones CBD body lotion.
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Chapstick Total Hydration Vitamin Lip Oil
I’m obsessed with moisturizing my lips. My lips have got to be moisturized at all times, so it’s laughable how many different lip balms, and lipsticks, and lip gels, and pots of gloss. I’m just obsessed, so I literally have 10 by my bedside at all times. But one I think that I really liked was basic and affordable, Chapstick. It’s a vitamin lip oil. It comes in a tube, and that’s a big favorite. It’s highly moisturizing.
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Danielle Sinay is the associate beauty editor at Glamour. Follow her on Instagram @daniellesinay.
