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What is ‘vabbing'? Women vouch for BIZZARE TikTok trend to attract potential partners

The hashtag #vabbing went viral on TikTok, where it garnered millions of views, featuring clips of women experimenting with the supposed "natural perfume"

A brand new dating trend called "vabbing" is making waves on social media. The phenomenon is a bizarre combination of "vagina" and "dabbing," and it reportedly involves using vaginal fluids as a scent.

A number of women who "vab" are vouching that the pheromones present in the modern-day love potion will attract potential partners of the opposite sex. The hashtag #vabbing went viral on TikTok, where it garnered millions of views, featuring clips of women experimenting with the supposed natural perfume. In fact, one woman claimed men kept staring at her despite being on dates, while others described the apparent hack as "genius."

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“I swear if you vab, you will attract people, like a date, a one-night stand or you’ll just get free drinks all night,” TikToker Mandy Lee, who goes by the handle @oldloserinbrooklyn, said in a viral clip with millions of views. “Elle Woods should’ve been teaching vabbing instead of the bend and snap. It’s more effective.”

Lee assumed the responsibility of teaching her female contemporaries the methodology. She advised her viewers to "get up there" and swipe -- motioning with her index and middle fingers -- and finally get to dabbing by wiping one's fingers behind the ears, on the wrists, and down the neck. “Proceed with caution — because it works,” Lee continued, saying she learned the trick from the podcast 'Secret Keepers Club' hosted by comedians Carly Aquilino and Emma Willmann.

What is 'vabbing'?

According to the New York Post, the idea behind the new trend is that vaginal fluids contain pheromones that make you more attractive to potential partners of the opposite sex, albeit there is a lack of peer-reviewed studies of how the smells work in human sexual activity. “We cannot say for sure based on these studies that human pheromones affect human mating behavior,” New York-based board-certified dermatologist Dr Blair Murphy-Rose told the newspaper, noting that most research has been done only using animals and not humans. “While some may argue they have anecdotal evidence to suggest a significant effect in attracting a mate via one’s pheromones, we just don’t have the hard data to back it up at this point,” she added

A 2021 study in Egypt concluded that previous pheromone-phenomenon studies were “weak,” with researchers noting that humans, unlike most other mammals, had "large and complex brains” in which pheromones played minor roles in terms of attraction. “The data available on human olfactory communication is inconclusive to date with some results suggesting a significant effect exists and others the opposite,” Dr Murphy Rose added.

However, the dermatologist noted that the heightened interest could be the result of a confidence boost. “In fact, it is thought that if those who have tried vabbing have experienced enhanced attraction abilities while vabbing it could be a placebo effect due to increased confidence out in the field if you will,” she explained. “We know many non-humans are strongly influenced by pheromones and there is reason to believe humans could be as well — we just don’t have the scientific data to back it up today,” she further added.

Meanwhile, Heaux Cosmetics CEO Lydia Dupra said she found the trend rather "gross" as it would be weird to know that her own fluids were on her. “If you want to put your own secretions on you, that is your right,” Dupra said in a viral clip. “I just personally think it’s gross.”

Dr Murphy-Rose said that the process was relatively safe but suggested using clean hands or a cotton tip before vabbing “to avoid transferring germs to your vagina.” She explained, “Vaginal fluids can also feasibly spread certain contractable bugs to another person via physical contact, including STDs like gonorrhea, chlamydia, and trichomoniasis, though the risk of transmission is certainly much higher through forms of sexual intercourse." That said, whether "vabbing" is effective is entirely up to the wearer. “So does it work? We cannot say for sure one way or the other. But a potential confidence boost in attracting a mate? Can be huge," Dr Murphy-Rose concluded.