What Exactly Is Vabbing?

The term ‘vabbing’ has 35.7 million views on TikTok but the concept is hardly new. A portmanteau of ‘vagina’ and ‘dabbing’, vabbing refers to applying your vaginal secretions where you normally would perfume, such as behind your ears, on your neck and on your wrists. Why on earth would you do that? you might ask. The answer is usually based on some murky science around pheromones, a substance secreted by animals and some insects which makes them more attractive to potential mates. 

TikTokers are flocking to the platform to share their vabbing experiences, including @jewlieah, who has created a number of videos about whether vabbing is safe (yes), whether to vab at the gym and what happened when she vabbed before seeing her ex. 

Scientists have been trying to find a human sex pheromone for decades but the research thus far has come up short. There is limited science (mostly positive but with small sample sizes, with a heterosexual lens) which suggests that the copulins in vaginal secretions, particularly during the follicular phase of ovulation, can make women seem more attractive to men. And you can’t fake it either (I mean, how would you lol) but synthetic copulins had no impact on men’s sexual behaviour. 

So that’s the science so far: vabbing could potentially make you seem more attractive to men. And of course it's your body and you can do what you want to, but my question to women who are attracted to men is, why? Don’t we already have a long list of things we need to do to be ‘desirable’? The messages out there are relentless and, in my opinion, vabbing is just another one added to the endless list.