Notes on Sensuality: an exploration

A deeper dive, with joy and curiosity.

I come to you with our first note on sensuality at 6am, with a coffee, laptop in front of me, hoping to get ahead of my schedule. Finding instead: sensuality in the hush of a late summer morning, the waft of hot coffee.

If we haven’t met, my name is Maxine, and I’m the founder of a lingerie store called Underlena in Te Whānganui-a-Tara, Wellington, New Zealand, that centres everyday sensuality in all of its beauty.

Sensuality: the pleasure of the physical senses.

During the time that I started Underlena (2021), I felt fatigued by a representation of sensuality in the lingerie world that only ever felt performative. A kind that was only aimed at one thing - how sexually attractive you were under the gaze of someone else.

However, I’ve found sensuality to be in the smaller, everyday things, as opposed to being centred on the sexual. Sinking into a bath that's just a touch too hot. Garlic sizzling in a pan (always my favourite reference). A blast of wind as you turn a corner in the street. The feel of a beautiful fabric. A cold leather couch on a hot day.

Of course, I think about its connection to sexuality too - there is always the rush of feeling incredible in a new set of lingerie; who might get to see it. But as I've delved deeper into the concept, I've realised that this is just one piece of the puzzle, and that many people feel the same.

So with this spirit, I welcome you to Notes on Sensuality. You'll find notes from my team and I, contributor pieces from interesting people across the globe, suggestions on sensuality, recipes and perhaps the occasional book review. You can expect to hear from us on at least a monthly basis, possibly fortnightly if we are feeling juicy. That's the plan for now - but I'm excited to see where it takes us.

My desire is that Notes on Sensuality opens up pathways for the pleasure of the physical senses that you may not have considered, in a welcoming space.

So - please subscribe, share with your friends and join us in our exploration.

Yours in sensuality,

Maxine Kelly
Founder of Underlena

---