Vabbing

About

Vabbing or Vab, also known as Vaginal Dabbing, is a slang term revolving around the act of applying one's own vaginal fluid to themselves, typically behind the ears, which is theorized to help with attracting a potential partner via pheromones. Though the term existed as early as 2019, a trend started to appear on TikTok referencing the act in mid-2022 that propelled it into more mainstream awareness.

Origin

Though the exact first coining of the term online is unknown, on February 6th, 2019, Urban Dictionary user They Call Me Karen uploaded the first definition^[1] for "vabbing" on the site, which defined it in its most well-known usage over the following years and received over 1,000 likes in two and a half years (shown below).

Spread

The term vabbing remained relatively unknown and unused for years until it started to appear in 2022 as a TikTok trend, where it was touted as a new, better or cheaper way to purportedly attract people over pheromone products. The general idea behind the pheromone products is that each human has a scent that is a unique blend of their own pheromones, but all humans have shared pheromones that are connected to things that activate an instinctual attraction to the person when smelled.

One of the biggest early videos about the trend was by TikToker OldLoserInBrooklyn, who gave a little tutorial about it and what to do on June 13th, 2022, but later removed the video. Part of the original TikTok can be viewed in the video by the TikToker TheHeauxMentorOfficial,^[2] who then goes on to push their pheromone products over the trend because the trend is "gross" (shown below).

On July 9th, 2022, TikToker Jewlieah^[3] uploaded another video in which they described how they were vabbing when they went to the gym and while on the treadmills a guy came up to them and supposedly initiated small talk before they exchanged numbers. This was touted as a major "W" for vabbing and encouraged those watching to pick up the trend (shown below).

In direct opposition to the gym vabbing story, TikToker Torres.Alejandro^[4], who, on July 10th, 2022, posted a video in which he described the trend for other guys and girls who go to the gym, explaining how because you don't know who exactly is vabbing, you wouldn't know if anything you're touching at shared spaces like the gym could be contaminated, urging people to wipe down their equipment and being cautious (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References