Our Chat With Catherine Magee & Sandy Vukovic, Founders Of Playground
We are so excited to introduce you to Playground, an innovative sexual wellness brand created for every woman who wants more bliss in the bedroom and a deeper (and easier) connection with themselves and their partners. They create clean, plant-based, pleasure-enhancing essentials and empower women to explore and elevate their sexual experiences, while normalizing this important conversation.
We recently had the pleasure of chatting with Catherine Magee and Sandy Vukovic, Playground's founders. Read on to hear their story and get the scoop of their product lineup.
Congrats on launching Playground! Can you share a little bit about your backgrounds and what brought the two of you together?
Prior to starting Playground, Sandy and I spent over 15 years in the beauty industry. We’ve had the fortune of working for some of the most exciting and fast-growing beauty brands in recent history, including bareMinerals (where we met), Perricone M.D., Rodan+Fields, and Sephora. We’ve always loved creating good-for-you, intentional products for women.
What inspired you to launch Playground and explore the sexual-wellness category?
We’ve always had a love and mission of developing products that improve a woman’s body, confidence, and spirit. We thought this was totally lacking in the sexual wellness space from a product and a brand perspective. Most of the products on the market created were for the pleasure of men, not women and most formulas haven’t changed in decades. Once we started to dive into what a woman’s body needs and what helps her pleasure, we just knew we had to be the ones to meet these needs.
What’s behind the name Playground?
Ha! I love this question. I wish I had an easy answer here, but what it really represents is ease and playfulness, a let-loose attitude to have fun that’s also cheeky. There are so many pressures for women to perform in the bedroom, to easily have orgasms or just be in the mood at the drop of the hat. Playground is a reminder that sex should be about fun.
You’ve created a clean, water-based lube for every mood. Can you share what went into creating the formula and what sets it apart from others?
We are one of the very few new brands that have created its own proprietary formula using gentle and safe ingredients that also last long and aren’t sticky. We go beyond lubrication by incorporating a unique blend of libido-enhancing adaptogens and use hyaluronic acid and vitamin E to be soothing, healing and moisturizing. We want women to feel more pleasure, while also protecting their Playground.
Love Sesh is free of scent, while After Hours, Mini Escape, and Date Night each have a dreamy scent profile. Can you walk us through the scents and where they transport you?
Your sense of smell is one of the most used senses in the bedroom. To help women shed the stress of a busy day and be more mindful in the bedroom, we wanted to spark their senses with chemistry-enhancing essences. Mini escape has an essence of Coconut and Sandalwood – it’s a beachy, sexy essence. Date Night has an essence of Champagne and Vanilla – it’s flirty and playful. After Hours is a very sexy and sultry essence that will turn up the heat for you and your partner.
Tell us more about your commitment to making products that are clean, vegan, and plant-based. Is there anything specific that drove you towards natural, clean ingredients?
Sandy, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer, has been a leading developer of products focused on natural clean ingredients and formulations. Most women want clean products for their skincare, but it’s actually even more important for your intimate care. Playground products are 100% plant-based – safety is our top priority.
What changes do you want to continue seeing in the sexual wellness industry over the next few years?
I’d like to see more focus on women’s pleasure. If women struggle to have pleasure in the bedroom it affects their mood, relationship, and is often an indicator of a sexual health issue. Focusing on pleasure can be life-changing.
Tell us about the Sex and Wellness Council you’ve put together! Can you share what this is and who are some of the key players on this council?
Talking about sexual health and female sexual health has never been a priority and there is a huge sex ed gap. We believe that sex is an essential part of one's overall wellness and we want to encourage and champion women to learn how to improve their sex lives, and address their sexual health issues. Our Sex and Wellness Council is made up of amazing authorities on these topics including Dr. Emily Morse (Host of @sexwithemily) and Dr. Shyama Mathews, an OBGYN surgeon from Princeton Medical.
Any advice on how to feel your most confident, beautiful, and/or empowered?
Playground and our products are meant to inspire women to try something new in the bedroom. This may feel intimidating at first, which is why we made Playground to look very un-intimidating. Trying something new and seeing the enjoyment it brings to you and your partner will spark confidence without even trying. We want women to focus on themselves for a change – you deserve it and you are already beautiful.
What’s been the most fun part of launching Playground?
Hearing from our customers. Playground is just a product, but we recognize that it’s a product that is used in a very intimate and personal way. Women have been made to feel ashamed of exploring pleasure for so long—Playground gives them permission to do so. We love that!
What can we expect to see from Playground in the future?
We are just beginning! Our four libido-enhancing lubricants can be enjoyed by everyone, but there are more ways to increase pleasure so look out for upcoming pleasure essentials from Playground.
