Phoebe Morrison is obsessed with ensuring women feel safe and “very, very satisfied” in their sex lives. Photos: Salon CBR.
Last week in Canberra, an executive officer from a major government department learned how to gently tie a silk rope around her thighs.
The week before, six Canberra women learned how to pose half naked for selfies.
And the week before that, five women sat around a table and told the stories of their tattoos: who they were inspired by, why they chose a specific artist and how their body art has aged with them.
Every one of these events took place on the outskirts of Fyshwick, inside a 120 sqm venue that looks from the outside like a sterile storage unit and on the inside like the plush, art deco boudoir of your dreams.
The shop is located on Whyalla Street, right next door to the Canberra Pentecostal Church.
It’s The Salon CBR, a women’s-only sex shop, designed to help women locally – and nationally and globally through its online store – explore their own version of pleasure.
Yes, The Salon CBR sells beautiful toys, but what’s becoming far more popular are its weekly events, where women can explore their desires and follow their curiosity without judgment.
“What’s happening at our events is pretty mind-blowing,” Phoebe says.
“The stories that are unfolding, the safety people are feeling to speak openly and honestly – it’s exactly the intention I set for The Salon CBR and to see it actually become real has been incredible.”
The Sexy Selfie workshops are in huge demand.
Sure, there are plenty of places in Canberra that offer yoga classes. But only the Salon CBR offers sexy yoga, where the poses you learn are fun, exciting and, well … erotic. Paint-and-Sip classes are hugely popular in Canberra, but at The Salon CBR you paint yourself nude, as a way to see yourself from a different perspective and appreciate the beauty of your own form.
Phoebe always wanted The Salon CBR to feel like “the women’s bathroom at a nightclub – where women feel safe and just hype each other up, and it’s all about love”.
What she’s created is the first women’s only bricks and mortar sex shop in Australia, and potentially the world. (Side note: if any readers have been to a women’s only sex shop elsewhere in the world, Phoebe would love to know.)
Got a tattoo (or several) with a story? There’s an event for that.
“Women come in and just say ‘I needed this’,” Phoebe says.
“When you launch a new business you always have hope that your idea will work but what I’ve learned is that Canberra was so ready for this.
“Not just the toys but the space to feel safe, seen and to be able to play.”
According to Phoebe, the highest-selling events include the Sexy Selfie Workshop Collab, run in collaboration with The Boudoir Queen and where women learn about angles, lighting and poses to take their own boudoir photos at home. Living Art: Stories in Skin is a night where women share their tattoos and the stories behind them. But by far the most popular event on the menu is the Paint Your Peach Collaboration, a self-love event where women paint their own nudes.
A recent graduate class of Paint Your Peach. Photo: Supplied.
“The range of women coming in is amazing,” Phoebe says.
“They’re newly divorced, in long-term marriages, public servants, stay-at-home mums, singles, senior execs – you name it.
“What I would say to someone who wants to try an event and is a little shy is please come, I will be there to be your plus one.”
The Salon CBR is located at 5/41 Whyalla Street, Fyshwick. Events are held every weekend.
