One woman explains the "peculiar feeling" of getting your vagina fogged.

When Fiona Coble’s hairdresser mentioned she should get her vagina steamed on her next Bali trip, she didn’t shut down the idea.

She had heard of the concept – after all, the media and women alike had all but fallen over themselves when the purveyor of all things affordable and realistic, Gwyneth Paltrow, wrote about it for Goop in January 2015.

“You sit on what is essentially a mini-throne,” Paltrow wrote about it at the time. “A combination of infrared and mugwort steam cleanses your uterus, et al.”

The experience, wildly known as vaginal “steaming” or “fogging” is actually formerly called Ratus, Fiona said.

“I had a girlfriend coming over [to Bali] and I knew if I was ever going to do it, it would be with her,” she told Mamamia.

After reading a few articles about it, Fiona decided to give it a shot. At least, if all else failed, she could walk out onto the streets of Bali with her girlfriend and laugh it off over a margarita or two. And more than that, it would be something to share on her notoriously candid Facebook page, Rock Star Mums Drink Champagne.

So, with her friend Chris in tow – and an iPhone camera to capture the experience on – the two entered the salon “giggling like a pair of hapless virgins on their wedding night”.

Here’s what happened.

Fiona says although it sounds like a wildly exotic procedure, it’s actually pretty simple.

“I was really nervous before I went in and was initially suspicious about the whole scenario. I read something about them putting something inside your flaps, but it’s not quite like that.

“You’re sitting on a box with your leg spread and there’s a hole cut out of the middle.

“I perched on the hot box and let the steam/fog/smoke from the hot coals do its work,” she said, adding she wasn’t aware she was in for a shoulder massage before the coals went to work.

For most women, the intrigue lies in what exactly the experience feels like. Fiona called it a “peculiar feeling”, in an effort to nail down exactly what the steam does.

“I love a sauna but it’s completely different experience, let me just say that. I went for a drink with [Chris] after, and the warm sensation lasted well after the margaritas, let me tell you that,” she says.

In Bali, Fiona said the whole experiences cost about $20.

While we’re here, what about Vagina balls?

As for the benefits, Fiona says the fogging is meant to be great for blood circulation, the vagina’s smell and says many women in Indonesia get it after their periods. Curiously, she added it helped with her sex life if nothing more than to encourage her and her husband to have sex to see if anything was different.

In describing the smell, she says she walked away and felt like her vagina smelt like “an offering to the Gods combined with a herbal tea”.

“I have so many friends that say they would now get it done and I’m going back in July on a girls trip so I might stand outside while they get it done,” she said.

Although Fiona acknowledges it was a great opportunity to film and blog about, there isn’t a huge need to get it done again. After it all, she’d “ticked a box for [her] box”.

You can find follow more of Fiona’s writing on website here, her Facebook page here or her Instagram here.