For this New Yorker, business is a joy.
Sara Riccio left a traditional nine-to-five job to become a professional sex toy tester, a little-known, odd job that helped the 34-year-old address her frustrations with her regular office job.
She told Southwest News Service that sex is “the only thing I like more than sleep.”
The Gotham resident previously worked as a babysitter until 2018, when she discovered her true passion: mattresses and bedding, and then product testing.
While reviewing beds for Sleep Police, Riccio met his future business partner, Rose, who launched Riccio’s Delictois your one-stop shop for all things adult fun, including sex-related product reviews, lists, articles, and more.
“I thought the only thing she liked more than sleep was sex, so that’s where we went,” says Riccio, who has tested more than 150 toys and is particularly fond of the “grind” toy he recently reviewed.
“There were ups and downs when we first started the business, but at a certain point we thought maybe we should just go back to working for the guy.”
But now they’re “bigger than ever.”
A typical day for her involves writing sex education articles, trying out toys, filming reviews, giving tips and tutorials on different techniques in the bedroom, plus she provides “no shame education” about sex on social media.
“The internet has skewed the idea of sex positivity a bit, but that doesn’t mean you should try anything, it just removes the shame from the situation,” she says.
“Whatever you want to do with your sexuality, that’s exactly what you should do, nothing more, nothing less, and that’s the message we’re ultimately trying to send.”
Riccio particularly stresses the importance of educating people about sex toys made from “body-safe materials” such as silicone, glass and hard plastic.
“There are a lot of big box sex toy retailers that sell insertable sex toys that are harmful to the body,” she explained. “They’re so cheap, the average person doesn’t know what is and isn’t safe to put inside their body.”
Customers then come to her and ask why their product costs $30 and they can get it for $10 on Amazon, “because we use ingredients that are safe for your body,” Riccio points out.
In the world of adult fun, “there’s something for everyone, from quiet toys to remote-controlled products that can be operated from anywhere in the world,” she continued.
“At first it was a bit personal, but now this is my job and I’m proud of it,” she said.
