Sex Toys, Part 4: Lubricants
When choosing a personal lubricant to facilitate sex play (with or without toys), pay particular attention to the ingredients. Taste and longevity are also important factors to consider when purchasing lube.
Silicone-based lubes are long-lasting and safe to use internally, but they can be harder to wash off. These are the most expensive lubes. Silicone lubes will damage silicone and cyberskin toys so cover dildos made from those materials with condoms if you want to use silicone lubes with them. Silicone-based lubes don’t wash off with water so they work well when engaging in underwater sex.
Water-based lubricants are the healthiest for your body. They work well with condoms and all latex products. They are easy to clean up.
Oil-based lubes will break down condoms and are generally not recommended for internal use because they are difficult for the body to eliminate. The use of oil-based lubes has been linked to an increase in vaginal yeast infections as well.
Some lubes, such as Emerita Natural Lube, are made from natural ingredients. O’My is a great tasting water-based lube that contains hemp oil.
There are fruit-flavored lubes made by Sliquid, which also makes a Sizzle Warming, a tingling/warming formula. Tasteless lubes are also available.
I suggest you purchase a sampler pack to experiment with, carefully considering the type of sex toys you have.
If you have particularly sensitive skin, you may have to experiment with different lubes to see which are less likely to cause irritation. Avoid lubes containing methyl, propyl paraben, or Nonoxymol-9.
