Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Sex & the Menopause – The Happy Menopause Podcast

Season 5 • Episode 11
Samantha Evans, Sexual Health & Pleasure Expert

In this episode, we talk about vaginas, vulvas, sex and sex toys, because we can! As young people, we all tend to assume that older people don’t have sex, but we midlife women know better, don’t we? It may be more complicated for us, for a variety of reasons, but women in mid and later life are still sexual beings and we have every right to enjoy our intimate life just as much as we did when we were younger.

But we all know that there can be obstacles to this, such as dryness, pain, recurrent infections and loss of libido. My expert today is here to help with all that, because there’s nothing she doesn’t know about how to manage all those pesky issues that get in the way of a happy and fulfilling sex life.

My guest in this episode is the brilliant Samantha Evans.  She has a background in nursing, so she knows all the nitty gritty about our intimate areas! She’s also the founder of Jo Divine, an online sex toy company designed to support people to enjoy sexual intimacy and pleasure by using skin-safe products and irritant-free lubricants and moisturisers. We discuss everything from how to manage UTIs and thrush to why and how to use a sex toy to maximise your pleasure.

What I love about Sam is that she completely normalises what is a sensitive subject for many of us, and she’s so practical and supportive with her advice. Nothing is off the table with her and it’s a wild ride of a conversation, so get your notebooks ready, buckle in and tune in to hear what she’s got to say.

Show Notes

Find out more about Sam via her Jo Divine website.

Take advantage of her 10% discount for The Happy Menopause listeners by using the code HAPPYMENO  at the Jo Divine shop. (£5 minimum spend on full priced products excluding P&P). Offer ends on 01/03/2024.

If you have any questions about intimate health issues or which lubricants, moisturisers or toys might be right for you, you can email Sam at customerservice@jodivine.com. Or get some advice over the phone by calling 01892 888284 or +44 1892 888284 if you’re calling from overseas.

Follow Sam at @samtalkssex on Instagram  and Twitter/X.

Follow Jo Divine on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X.

Read the Jo Divine Health Brochure for more information about what might be right for you.

Once you’ve listened to this episode, you might find it helpful to check out these related episodes of The Happy Menopause podcast: Dealing With Vaginal Dryness. How to Boost Your Libido & Have Great Sex in Midlife. How to Have Great Sex Through the Menopause & Beyond.

Bio

Samantha Evans co-founded Jo Divine, an online sex toy company, with her husband Paul in 2007 which only sells skin safe sex toys and irritant free sexual lubricants. Having a professional background in nursing, she is a features writer and sexual health and pleasure expert for Jo Divine. With extensive knowledge about skin safe sex toys and irritant sexual lubricants, she enjoys creating informative, practical articles and videos about sexual health and pleasure. Her aim is to normalise sex and to help people to talk about sex and discover ways to enjoy it in whatever way they want to or can, whatever their age, gender, sexual orientation, disability or health issue.

Samantha works with many healthcare professionals in the NHS and private practice. She helps them advise their patients about regaining sexual function and enjoying sexual intimacy and pleasure through the use of suitable skin safe sex toys, silicone dilators and irritant free sexual lubricants. As a menopausal woman, she supports people going through perimenopause, natural menopause or as a result of medical or surgical treatment, about ways to enjoy sexual intimacy and pleasure using skin-safe products. She featured on Davina McCall Sex, Myths and the Menopause on Channel 4.

She passionately believes that it is always possible to enjoy pleasurable sex, in midlife and beyond. Going through a natural, medical or surgical menopause, doesn’t mean your sex life has to stop. It can be even more pleasurable when you discover what works for you. Sex, whether alone or with a partner, is meant to be fun, noisy, messy, embarrassing, consensual and most of all pleasurable.

Samantha plans to be like her older customers, many of whom are still enjoying great sex in their 90s!