This video is sponsored by Necessaire, but as always, the views and opinions in it are mine.

(Intro)

Studies published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine found that more than 2/3 of people use exogenous lubricant, lube produced on the outside of their bodies to increase moisture, glide, and comfort, to make it more fun to have sex and masturbate, so most of you.  Do you know whether or not that slippery sex gel is safe?  Welcome to Dr. Doe's lube lab, where I, Dr. Lindsey Doe, collect and cross-reference this data to get you the answer.  This is called triangulation.

The sex gel from Necessaire are water-based test object.  It's been cleared by the FDA for use as a personal lubricant.  "Coats vaginal and/or penile tissue to reduce friction during sexual activity, without or without a condom, is non-toxic to sperm, oocytes, and developing embryos and does not interfere with the fertilization process, lubricates devices used during fertility interventions."  

What about toys and anal?  I called the FDA to ask how they determine whether or not a lube is safe.  I was transferred twice because it's not cosmetic, it's not a drug or medication, personal lubricant, as the receptionist also learned, is a medical device, and the only assessment I could access is standard ASTM D7661-10.  Does a condom hold up to it if it's submerged in the lube?  

Okay, sex gel.  Prove yourself.  Mm, that's precious lube, but for science.  Condom.  Go in the lube.  Goodbye.  Get up in there.  Mm.  Scrumptious.  

Plus, the FDA is notoriously more lenient with what goes in and on my body than they should be.  They don't even mandate that lube packaging list the ingredients in their products.  Fortunately, some companies disclose that information anyway.  Purified deionized water, aloe barbadensis leaf juice from organic aloe, sorbitol, hydroxyethylcellulose, sodium benzoate, allantoin, lactic acid from sugar cane, potassium sorbate, sodium hyaluronate, and tocopherol.  

As you've probably heard, the fewer ingredients, the better, but that's not always the case.  You can also look out for the ingredients that are hazardous and avoid those.  A shortcut to this would be avoiding the following: parabens, which they don't have, phthalates, they don't have, sulfates, nope, petrochemicals, nope, synthetic dyes or fragrances, nope, nope, coal tar, no, drying alcohols, no, glycerin, no, nonoxynol 9, no, and benzocaine, nope.  They don't have it.  Here's a chart you can pause on of what each of those do, keeping in mind that the vagina and anus can absorb substances much faster than the skin or the mouth.

Okay, since none of these ingredients are in the sex gel, let's put it in all the places to determine whether or not it irritates my body, starting with a patch on my inner arm to make sure that it washes off easily if I do have an adverse reaction.  Baby wipe, it comes off easily.  Your body might have a different response.  Glove on, some more lube for my inner arm, my outer labia, my inner labia, my vagina, and my anus.  Inner arm, outer labia, inner labia, vagina, anus.  Still feeling good.

The sex gel has a pH range of 4-5, at least for vaginas this is important.  Vaginas are usually happiest at a pH level of 4.5, somewhat acidic.  Anything higher would increase the risk of bacterial vaginosis, a common but smelly and sometimes itchy gross.  Hmm. 

Sex is not always crotch on crotch.  I might get some lube in my mouth, so let's test that, too.  First, how does it smell?  Odorless.  Not something I would encourage drinking, but feels fine.  Tastes kind of like a mild cough drop. 

Last experiment of the day, whether or not the sex gel is good lube in addition to safe lube.  How's our condom doing?  Did you know that water-based lube actually decreases failure rate of condoms?  An article published by the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists reports that without lube or just saliva, a condom is 5.7% likely to fail, but with a water-based lube like the sex gel, that failure rate is down to 1.7%. 

One with the condom, one without.  (music plays)  Not getting sticky.  Not getting tacky.  Not gritty.  Not clumpy.  Just going.  Ba-pa-pa-pa-pa-paaa.  Well-known researcher Dr. Debbie Herbenick and her colleagues found that people who use water-based lubricants report higher sexual satisfaction and pleasure than when they go without lube, so even if the lube has minor issues or ones that can be managed, people will use that lube that works instead of nothing because of the benefits.  This would be where your personal use of lube and how it serves you fits into the meaning of body safe. 

Honor that and call the experts.  Inspect the packaging.  Read online reviews, and run some tests.  Stay curious.

I want to give a special thanks to Necessaire for sponsoring this video and introducing me to the sex gel.  If you'd like to learn more about their clean personal care products, they have body wash and body lotion, too.  You can go to their website, necessaire.com, which is also linked below.  The sex gel is what I reviewed today.  In addition to it feeling good, tasting good, and being compatible with my body, it is marketed to all genders, tested and manufactured in the USA at an FDA and National Science Foundation certified manufacturer, and most of the packaging materials are made from recycled materials with the ability to be recycled again.  Yeah!

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