ESSENCE Senior Beauty & Style Editor Akili King believes ‘glow’ is more than skin deep. In The Ritual Report, she shares personal healing practices—from acupuncture for skin and grounding benefits to ‘dopamine dressing’—designed to inspire readers to find creative ways to soothe their nervous systems and reclaim their magic from the inside out.

What’s better than talking about sex with your girls?

Doing so in style with two of your favorite brands and eating snacks from woman-owned brands, while watching a Vagina Monologues-inspired performance, of course. 

Sela, Harlem’s newest Black-owned women’s functional medicine clinic, and LOLA, an organic cotton period care brand, proved this to be true earlier this month when they hosted an intimate girls night called, none other than, “Girl Dinner.”

Every guest—which included the likes of beauty expert Kayla Greaves and travel and lifestyle content creator Destiny Owosu—came in super chic ‘fits, (think: floral sets from House of Aama and the like), ready to talk about their burning sex stories. 

But, unlike an ordinary conversation, we were each given different prompts to fill out, which we passed to the front of the room. At random, sex writer and content creator Dare Moreno would draw the anonymous cards out one-by-one, read them out loud, and act them out as though they were a scene in a play. 

Following these Tony Award-worthy performances, the room would discuss the topics referenced in the acting. This was followed by an expert, specifically Sela’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sophia Lubin, addressing any concerns at hand. It not only created a fun and non intimidating space to talk about everything from embarrassing first time experiences, to period care and feminine health issues, but also one where we could look straight to an expert for answers. And, in a city that is nonstop busy, and many of us over-achieving Black women find ourselves neglecting our health, this was extremely refreshing. 

Tahirah A’sha, who is a creative strategist and the brain behind the consulting agency O + o STUDIOS, came to Kayalin Akens-Irby, the founder of Sela, about the idea to host the event. “We had previously co-hosted a sustainable fashion event together in LA,” says Akens-Irby. “She’s one of those people that makes me say, ‘Whatever you want to do, girl, I trust you and I know that you’re going to show up for me.’ We have that bond for sure,” she adds.

Not only this, the evening was powered by none other than LOLA. In other words, we got to take home the ultimate goody bags stacked with everything from pads and tampsons, to the brand’s latest vibrator. 

“There’s a specific kind of magic in a room full of women being honest with each other, and that’s the girlhood energy we wanted Girl Dinner to hold,” says Samantha Wong, LOLA’s Senior Social Media & Influencer Marketing Strategist. “It’s the same value system behind our products: transparency, safety, and comfort. Being able to bring that philosophy into a physical space and watch it come alive in real conversation was so powerful.”

Although I didn’t know what to expect from the evening going into it, I was so happy I attended the event. And I’m dying to know when the next one will be. That said, here’s your sign to find fun and fabulous ways to talk about sex with your girls. You won’t be disappointed. 

As Aykens-Irby puts it, “there will always be more women that need to be impacted around these types of topics,” she says. “And so I loved that we came together and we’re going to keep it going. So we’ve already said that we’re going to do more.” And I can’t wait.