YNOT – Fifty-four percent of couples have oral sex less often than once a week. In many cases, taste is a reason one partner or the other hesitates to engage. The good news is, a product called Masque Sexual Flavors can remove that objection.

The product’s name obviously brings to mind an effort to obscure, but it also lends mystery. Mystery is somewhat of a theme for Masque International LLC: The entrepreneur and investor behind the company prefer to remain anonymous.

That’s one of the reasons they brought in President and Chief Operating Officer Michael Guilfoyle. With more than 15 years of experience in business marketing and product development with companies including Climate Standards Inc. (which he co-founded), Spectrum Health and United Healthcare Services, Guilfoyle is the official “face” of the company.

Even so, he stays behind a curtain most of the time, preferring to have the public focus on the company’s product.

We herded him into a corner and quizzed him about Masque’s innovative product, which has received props in mainstream media recently.

Masque Sexual Flavors are a great idea — a win-win for men and women. How did the idea originate?

It started simply enough, with a conversation. About five years ago, there were three couples having dinner. Over the course of the evening, the conversation turned to sex. One of the men turned to his wife and asked her why she didn’t perform oral as much as she used to. She replied that his ejaculation did not taste good, at all. Sure enough, the idea of Masque was born.

After several years of research that went directly into developing, manufacturing and testing the oral sex strips, Masque debuted. The company was actually founded by an entrepreneur and investor, both of whom prefer to remain in the background. I was brought on as someone who has the experience in business and product development. We have made a product that we feel caters to the needs of couples.

Now I have the opportunity to travel and introduce Masque to couples around the world. The response has been incredible.

Masque comes in chocolate, strawberry, watermelon and mango. Are any new flavors in the works?

We’re currently working on six new flavors, but development is a tricky process. Getting the flavors just right is a very delicate balance. We’re not certain when those flavors will be complete and ready for the market.

The company’s slogan is “We bring couples closer together.” Do you get a lot of email about saving relationships?

We don’t get a lot of relationship questions. We try to provide some relationship information with our blogs and our links to articles via Twitter and Facebook. The emails we receive are largely about how Masque works. And once the product has been tried, the emails are typically big thanks!

A lot of women seem a bit uptight about certain sex acts. Your product has appeared in Redbook, Women’s Health and Cosmo. How was the response?

We’ve had very little resistance. We have a lot of customers — both men and women — who say they saw our ads in Cosmo or Women’s Health.

Who buys your product more often: women or men?

Since we began our online sales over a year ago, 51 percent of our purchasers have been men.

Masque recently attended eroFAME and Venus Faire. What made you decide to exhibit at those shows? How did Europe receive your product?

We’ve already had a great deal of interest from customers, retailers and wholesalers from the European Union. We felt like these shows would be a great way to continue the conversation about Masque and make some new connections in the overseas market.

Novelty items are one of the growing segments in the adult industry, and your company is thriving. To what do you attribute your growth?

We’re not a novelty. We spent several years doing market research that showed us the tastes associated with oral sex were an issue in many relationships. There is a definite need for Masque. We’ve also been careful to make the highest quality product under the highest standards — for instance, manufacturing in an FDA-approved lab, despite not needing any FDA approval for our product. Masque is also manufactured completely in the U.S., so we can be certain of the quality of our product.

If you could have any celebrity endorse Masque, who would it be and why?

We are in talks with a couple of wonderful celebrities, so we’ll leave this conversation for when we can actually announce.

Where can consumers find your product?

Currently we can be purchased on our website, YourMasque.com, and on Amazon.com, as well as in some retailer establishments nationwide.

How can folks get in touch?
Anyone with questions, concerns or comments is welcome to contact us by email.