Hello! I'm curious to know what everyone's go to lube is. I'm looking for a good one I can use with silicone toys. I have only really used durex lubes before but I dislike how sticky they are.
We use this lube think that it great and got no complaints with it.
My personal favourite is - http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/product.cfm?p=31209 Can be used with silicone toys :)
When I first got it, I thought I hated it, and then I used others and was all 'Nooo that one I thought I hated is actually the best!!'
Just a quick warning: Lovehoney always lists the ingredients on the product pages, it is worth looking into for making healthy choices too - some of these lubes contain stuff you shouldn't put in your body. :)
Thanks for the tip era, I'd never have considered that! So I need something as natural as possible and something waterbased?
I do like the look of those two. Also liking the idea of Sliquid and the look of the Lelo one.
Water based is always a great allaround choice. I've never tried Sliquid but I'm curious. Lately I've been using the LoveHoney Enjoy and though I find it pretty watery, I'm very happy with it. Lasts a decent amount of time (way longer than any Durex I've tried) and it's not sticky.
You most definitely need something water based for silicone toys. Here are a few pointers: less ingredients is better than more, avoid all parabens, consider potential allergens. But hey, that's just me trying to stay all natural, others might not feel as strongly as I about potential health risks. I for one would choose a 'healthier' lube over a 'better' one in a split second. And Lovehoney does have a few on stock.
Oh, hello there Eleanor, you can surely explain better what I was trying to about the ingredients to avoid... :)
Hi there, I have sensitive skin, and I personally use Sliquid Sassy for everything as it is slightly thicker than most lubes, and does not contain any chemical nasties. Sliquid H20 is another firm favourite of mine too:) xx
I have just started using the Swoon smooth mover lube, and it feels very natural, my OH loves it too he said he wouldn't know it wasn't all me. It's also water based and almost entirely natural ingredients. I would recomend it.
sliquid h2o !!
era wrote:
Oh, hello there Eleanor, you can surely explain better what I was trying to about the ingredients to avoid... :)
Well, the shorter the list the better, that's for sure. Lack of parabens, artificial flavourings or scents would make it nearly anallergic, I try to avoid lubes that have castor oil in them because the process to extract it requires lots of solvents and let's say it's not the most ecological way to create an emulsion.
But, honest opinion of a chemistry student, not everything that sounds too "chemical" is bad. I mean of course some of them are, but same goes for many "organic labeled" products. It all stands in the dose. I mean, each time we eat a peach or an apricot we ingest cianide, but it doesn't kill us.
If you look at ingredient list of any waterbased lubricant you'll find that water is of course the first ingredient, meaning the majority of the lube is actually water, then usually there's a small quantity of glycolpropilene (main ingredient of engine antifreeze), which acts as a catalist for dissolving other ingredients like essential oils used to add a more pleasant scent (essential oils are not soluble in water). There's phenoxyethanol, another preservative agent that kills bacteria, in very small concentrations (less than 1% of the total product) there's hydroxyethyl cellulose (big name uh?) that is simply a thickening agent deriving from cellulose, same thing we use to manufacture paper. It only has a methyl- group attatched to it in order to create a polymeric solution that actually creates a gel. The more you add, the thicker the gel is. Consindering how watery is the Enjoy lube, there isn't much of that. The Discovery lube, being thicker, has more of that compound in its ingredients.
Lovehoney Enjoy lubricants then have potassium sorbate, an antimicrobial agent that keeps the lube from spoiling too fast (it's also the main ingredient of drugs that cure yeast infections, that makes it pretty safe to use), citric acid (basically, concentrated lemon juice) as a stabilizing agent and disodium EDTA, another stabilizing agent that also works like potassium sorbate, it creates a harsh environment so bacteria can't grow. Then there's ginseng root extract and aloe.
Discovery Lubricant though, since it's formulated for anal use (an area that's a lot more sensitive that the vagina), has a shorter list. It's more delicate, it doesn't have disodium EDTA (it can make a solution quite acidic and it's not something you want when you have to stick something up your butt) (friendly reminder that vaginas have a naturally acidic pH so using a little more acidic ingredient doesn't hurt that much) and the last ingredient listed is citric acid, which makes it way less acidic than the Enjoy lube.
But, you see, most of the ingridient listed are commonly found in nature in raw forms with specific proprieties. Companies like those that produce the Sliquid lube just thake the raw form or something with similar properties and switch it. It still contains cellulose, only a different form (it doesn't state though which form of cellulose it uses, only that it comes from cotton... mmh... I smell hydroxyethyl cellulose all the same) but it's pretty much the same, only with a less understandable ingredient list as they don't make specific statements, they just randomly cite the plant where they extract the ingredient. Which ingredient? With which extracting method? Are you using organic solvents? Soxhlet methods? Cyclical low volume solvent extracton with vaporation? You see, I'm wary of "organic" labels because of that. They are vague. They say they take something from this that and also those. But what? They don't cite the ingredient but the source. I don't think they use raw guar gum for the lubricant as a thickening agent, as it's very very sticky.
It's like "organic vanilla extract" or even worse "ecological vanilla flavoring". You know what they do? They take the waste of paper production, make it boil in organic (which means something synthesized from petrol) solvent, purify it, add some benzene rings here and there, and there you go. There's nothing ecological about "eco vanilla flavouring". Makes me gag, actually.
Most of the time, chemists only add a little bit to the natural compound, like that methyl- group to the hydrocellulose for the thickeking agent, to make it work better or faster or make it less toxic. Sometimes some compounds have loose ends that could attract something not useful or worst, that could cause a chemical reaction that would turn something harmless into something extremely toxic so it's better to attach something to that loose end and block it. Like locking a door with the key. That doesn't make it less effective, only makes it work better. Like that little acetylene added to salicilic acid. Makes it less acidic, thus lowering issues for those who suffer of heartburn, and makes it more soluble in water. Also, the process of synthesis of aspirin is crazy simple, you start from menthol oil and in a couple of days you have aspirin. It's crazy how simple it is!
Anyway, TL;DR: The shorter the ingredient list, the better. Avoid parabens if you're prone to allergies. The more specific the ingredients list is (even though you're not a chemist you can look up the specific ingredient on Wikipedia) the better. Avoid contact with eyes and don't ingest unless lube is marketed as edible. And even in that case, spit, don't swallow as edible lubes sometimes can cause stomach cramping. Durex lubes are kind of crappy in that department. Don't fear the big chemical names that make everything look nasty. Also remember that each time you eat a peach you eat cianide and when you eat an apple you ingest formaldehyde.
Never use silicone based lubes on silicone toys.
And sorry for the long post
No, please don't apologize, that was fascinating! (I always thought the cyanide was in peach stones - there's really some in the flesh as well? Wow! How many peaches would one need to eat to become poisoned?)
As for the lube question: I got a slight burn from the Lovehoney Discover Anal lube. As I had read Sliquid recommended on Epiphora's blog for being glycerin and paraben free (glycerin is said to potentially cause yeast infections in the vagina. No idea whether that is true, but I don't want to risk it.), I bought the 255 ml bottle of gel (http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/product.cfm?p=15951) which has the advantage of being very reasonably priced. No sting or burn with that!
No idea whether that's the "best" lube, but I won't test any others till I've emptied the bottle...
This is what I use, I have 0 complaints about it:
http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/product.cfm?p=6016
I was put off because it's a 2 in 1 but nope, it's brilliant! ^_^
Talia wrote:
No, please don't apologize, that was fascinating! (I always thought the cyanide was in peach stones - there's really some in the flesh as well? Wow! How many peaches would one need to eat to become poisoned?)
As for the lube question: I got a slight burn from the Lovehoney Discover Anal lube. As I had read Sliquid recommended on Epiphora's blog for being glycerin and paraben free (glycerin is said to potentially cause yeast infections in the vagina. No idea whether that is true, but I don't want to risk it.), I bought the 255 ml bottle of gel (http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/product.cfm?p=15951) which has the advantage of being very reasonably priced. No sting or burn with that!
No idea whether that's the "best" lube, but I won't test any others till I've emptied the bottle...
Yes, there's a little bit of cyanide even in the flesh of peaches and apricots. Very small quantities though, it would take something like a thousand peaches eaten in a very short time to die from cyanide poison. Not to mention that there's more formaldehyde in an apple than in 100 shots of any vaccine. It's all in the quantity, really.
Glycerin should be avoided, paraben can cause allergic reactions and vaseline definitely causes yeast infections. There are a lot of factors in choosing lubricants, personally I prefer lubricants that actually tell me what's inside, without parabens and glycerin, but it's a matter of personal preference.
Love the science Eleanor 👍
I always think with things like this, do you drink, do you smoke, do you take recreational drugs? How about getting those sorted before worrying what's in your lube.
Thank you Eleanor, seriously.
Can I please have your cellphone number and ring you up every time I go grocery shopping so you could put my mind at ease about the food I'm buying??? Even though I basically only buy raw fruit and vegetables, maybe fresh fish, but still, I think you'd be much more efficient than my E-codes app on the phone... LOL!
Sum Sub wrote:
Love the science Eleanor 👍
I always think with things like this, do you drink, do you smoke, do you take recreational drugs? How about getting those sorted before worrying what's in your lube.
That's exactly what I think, but I think many are more worried about the short term issues like allergic reaction, rashes or irritations.
Remember with any water based lube, if they're too sticky( to start with ) or start to dry out on the skin, just add a splash/spray of water to thin them down or replenish the slippery factor, works up to a point.
Sum Sub wrote:
Love the science Eleanor 👍
I always think with things like this, do you drink, do you smoke, do you take recreational drugs? How about getting those sorted before worrying what's in your lube.
I love that you seem to be walking with two feet on the ground, and your sense of irony and realism.
BUT lube is something that goes INSIDE of your body too. With friction, I might add. Just like creams that might resolve a skin disease by absortion. So I think it is only fair to care. I also care a great deal about what I eat, what I wash myself with, what I clean my house with to name a few. :)
I'm more worried about long term issues. Such as cancer. When you have seen most your family die of disease from a very young age, this might just have a slight influence on your views.