In a Country That Won’t Talk About Sex, the Daza Sisters Are Saying Everything
With their sexual wellness brand Jellytime, sisters Ava and Isabelle Daza are turning taboo into conversation, and helping a new generation take control of their pleasure.
“Oh, this is a very, very clear memory for me,” Ava Daza says, fondly reminiscing. “I gave my sister a lubricant. And she was awkward about it, like, ‘What is this? I don’t need this!’ But in the end, she came back to me and said she loved it. And she was like, ‘But what’s in it?’”
That simple exchange between sisters—half embarrassment, half awakening—was the spark that lit Jellytime, the sexual wellness brand Ava and Isabelle “Belle” Daza launched in 2022.
Shaira Luna
Belle, an actress and model turned lifestyle influencer and businesswoman, had already carved a space in the public eye for years. Ava, younger by a few years, is a model and influencer with a sharp business sense and a growing family of her own. Together, they built Jellytime as a direct challenge to the silence surrounding sex in the Philippines, a country where shame is taught early, questions are left unanswered, and condoms are still whispered about behind pharmacy counters.
Shaira Luna
“We were thinking [about] how to market it, and we couldn’t because nobody wanted to talk about sex,” Belle recalls. “So we said, why don’t we come up with a podcast to answer all these questions?” The Sexy Time Podcast quickly became a cultural touchpoint: open, funny, unfiltered, and deeply intentional about education.
That education wasn’t just for their audience. It was for them, too. Through the podcast, the sisters found themselves learning alongside their listeners—gaining insight from a wide range of guests, from doctors and lawyers to app developers and public figures.
“We want to empower people to carry the condom. And it’s not shameful to be carrying a condom. It’s empowering to say ‘I’m in charge of my future.’”
Shaira Luna
But the mission went beyond marketing. For Belle, who is now raising her seven-year-old son Balthazar in a co-ed school, these conversations are deeply personal. “Basic things as consent [aren’t as common in the Philippines],” she says. “‘Can I kiss you? Can I hold your hand?’ That’s just very basic to me.” She’s teaching him that consent starts early, with small, respectful questions.
In listening and in dialogue—this is what Jellytime is grounded on. “There was no data we could get in terms of how big the market is [in the Philippines],” Ava explains. The information she did find, though, was alarming: the sheer number of teenage and young mothers in the country—many of them unaware, unprotected, and unsupported. “Talking about sex is seen as immoral,” Ava says, “and that leads to misinformation, unwanted pregnancies, and STIs. We’re not even giving [people] the tools to protect themselves.” In a country where pregnancy outside of marriage is still treated like a sin—yet learning how to avoid it is discouraged—Jellytime felt not just important, but necessary.
That’s why one of Jellytime’s most important launches wasn’t just a toy or a podcast episode—it was their condom line. “We want to empower people to carry the condom,” Ava says. “And it’s not shameful to be carrying a condom. It’s empowering to say, “I’m in charge of my future.””
“Sexual health is Filipino,” she continues. “We’re really all about reclaiming [sexual wellness through] the female gaze. Jellytime allows women the tools to explore [and understand] their body, and not just to follow what the man wants. Jellytime provides the tools for these women to explore and get informed, and then eventually empower themselves, because knowledge is power. When you know what you like, you feel in control.”
Shaira Luna
Jellytime is more than a brand. It’s a refusal. A refusal to stay silent, to stay ashamed, to stay stuck. Through research, design, and honest conversation, Ava and Belle Daza are doing more than disrupting a taboo, they’re redefining what it means to be a Filipina: curious, confident, unashamed, and fully in charge of her own pleasure, her body, and her future.
Photgrapher: Shaira Luna. Makeup: Lala Flores. Hair: Cats del Rosario. Styling: Joy Bernardo and Jolo Bayoneta of StyLIZed Studio. Nail artist: Hey Poly Nail Studio. Clothing: Hindy Weber The Turner Studded Bias Dress. Jot Losa Look N°11 Strapless Silk with French Chantilly Lace Pencil Skirt Dress. Bvlgari B.Zero1 18kt Gold Hoop Earrings with Diamonds, Tubogas Bangle Bracelet in Yellow Gold Diamond Accents, and Cabochon Gold Ring.
