The table is set with cocktail napkins and an array of hors d’oeuvres while a bucket of ice chills a selection of wine. Around the spread, ladies enjoy the appetizers, chatting politely about work, their children, or where they received their last hairstyle. It seems like a typical get-together, a scene you would see at a Tupperware or jewelry party. That’s until a woman arrives with a smorgasbord of lubricants, dildos, vibrators, butt plugs, and pocket pussies.

One of those women is Heather Flaxman, a University at Buffalo senior geology major with an unusual side job. She is a sales consultant for Pure Romance. On weekends, Flaxman hold “sex-toy parties,” where groups of women—often middle-aged professionals—have the opportunity to see a range of sex toys, lubricants, sexy lingerie, and other bells and whistles for the bedroom, right from the comfort of a friend’s home.

In-home sex toy parties began to emerge during the ‘80s. The era of free love was over, but the era of safe, more creative sex was just beginning. Women began to look for a new way to spice up their sex lives without having to dodge into seedy sex shops. As the sex party distributors emerged, and caught the attention of women across the nation with slogans, the concept snowballed. In the book, Naughty Girl’s Night In: Start Your Own Sex Party Business, it is estimated that the industry pulls in about $ 86 billion per year worldwide.

“I just love helping women get in touch with their sexuality,” says Flaxman. Her interest in peddling pleasure boosters began when she attended several different parties, but Pure Romance was the company that caught her attention. “They just had really unique, exclusive products, like Virgin Again cream, and I thought it would be fun.” Plus, she said, “My friends told me I would be awesome at it.”

Pure Romance was created in 1993 by Patty Brisben. Brisben began as a consultant for Fun Parties in the early ‘80s, and now has expanded her own business to include a vast array of products and an extensive profit margin—$60 million.

Flaxman doesn’t seem to be in it just for the money, as she gushed over products ranging from “delicious” white-chocolate raspberry flavored sex creams to the miracles of dolphin-shaped cock rings. “I’ve tried mostly everything,” she said proudly. Knowing her product might explain why her parties are successful.

Although Flaxman has only held three parties, she’s already learning how to work a room. “The first thing people need to know that the parties are not raunchy, no strippers or anything.” To begin the two to three hour evening, she fills a table with all of her products. Then, she breaks the ice. “I have the ladies pass a large dildo to each other with their knees,” said Flaxman. If the crowd is a bit friskier and comfortable, she said, “I might have them put condoms on a big dong with their mouth.”

Big dongs aside, Flaxman is sure to inform her guests how to correctly use condoms (using mouths should be reserved for the advanced) and clean their toys. Because some of the toys are a considerable investment—Pure Romance offers the “Decadent Indulgence” vibrator for a whopping $125—cleaning them regularly keeps them in tip top shape.

What does Flaxman do when ladies don’t seem comfortable with rubber dicks being passed around? “I just say C-ring instead of cock ring,” she said. Most of the guests, however, are not afraid to ask about the products, or even try them. “I always start parties by having everyone sample our sensitivity enhancing creams,” said Flaxman. After she lets them try the products on their hands, she lets them use them in private to see how well they work. “Some women come out of the bathroom and they can barely walk,” said Flaxman.

Flaxman even went on to reveal that many women ask her questions and are interested in learning about anal sex—a type of intercourse that still makes people blush. Flaxman said, “[anal] is the new taboo that everyone wants to try.” For booty-pleasures, she sells products like anal beads, “Booty Ease” lubricant, and the “Little Gem” butt-plug. Flaxman thinks that women are becoming more curious about that type of intercourse because “it isn’t their parent’s era anymore. They think, ‘How bad can it be?’”

Despite giving advice about all of the products, Flaxman stresses that she is not a counselor, just someone who can inform women about different products that can make their sex lives more exciting—even when they are alone. “My personal credo is, ‘I can always get myself off,’” said Flaxman.

With a $125, 40-speed vibrator, a rock would be able to get off. Buzz buzz.