TikTok trends seem to have taken a life of their own. Even though the popular video-sharing app is banned in India, not even we can escape the trends that, among other things, preach new, "trendy" personal care.

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One such TikTok trend that has been around for over two years is called 'Vabbing'. 

What is Vabbing?

The word vabbing is a combination of two words 'Vagina' and 'dabbing,' and TikTok influencers have been touting it as a way of attracting men.

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Made popular in 2022 by TikToker Mandy Lee, it asks women to use their vaginal discharge as an "all-natural" perfume. 

If claims are to be believed, a woman's vaginal discharge contains pheromones—chemicals that can supposedly help a person attract a mate in an animalistic way.

But, is there any truth to these claims? As a single lady, should you use this method to attract a mate? We asked Seema Anand, a popular content creator known for her unabashed, sex-positive content on Instagram, as to what she thinks about the TikTok trend 'vabbing'.

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Vabbing: A weird trend or a sure-shot way to attract men?

According to Seema Anand, while the "natural smell of a healthy vagina is very exciting and a super fabulous smell," it might not be the best idea to wear it as a perfume.

"Anytime you take fluids that are supposed to be inside the body, and you put them on the outside, allowing it to dry up, there's bound to be some kind of bacteria," she warns.

Vaginal fluids and semen, are "not really created to be on the outside and be there for long periods of time," said Seema, a storyteller who incorporates teachings from the Kama Sutra in her videos and public talks.

She noted that it's standard advice to wash up after sex or masturbation because of the risk of infection in genitals- a sensitive body part.

Seema acknowledged that while she "wouldn't be able to say whether there is a huge amount of health risk," vabbing "is not the healthiest thing in the world".

Seema, the self-proclaimed 'Patron Saint of Pleasure', noted that our genitals have a certain musky scent to them, which has been used as one of the notes in several perfumes. For example, "Secretions Magnifiques" by Etat Libre d'Orange evokes the smell of sweat, semen, or other bodily fluids. 

However, she said that in these perfumes, it is just one of the many notes complemented by other scents.

Seema, who is an acknowledged authority on the Kama Sutra, said that in the ancient Indian Sanskrit text—that deals with sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment- there are many mentions of perfuming of the body. But she noted that "each part of the body has a role to play. And so you have to fragrance it accordingly".

Comparing the smell of a forest after rain with the smell of different body parts, she said, "It as a combination. Almost like a composite whole. It's the same for the body according to Kama Sutra."

"How it smells in and around your vagina is not necessarily how it will smell on other parts of your body," she added.

Instead of using the TikTok trend as a "sure shot" way to attract men, Seema suggests that it can be used as a method of normalising the scents that come with sex; especially the female scent that people on social media often label as "fishy".

"There are so many men who have never been with a woman, have never touched a woman, they'll tell you, ah, it smells like fish," said the storyteller.

"They have no idea what it (a vagina) smells like. And it doesn't smell like fish. And we need to normalise what it smells like," she added.

Finally, the Kama Sutra expert suggests that if you do want to go with the trend, be safe, and do not forget to properly clean your hands before and after touching yourselves "down there".