Sex

The Lifehacker editorial team tests lubricants: 4 honest stories.

The Lifehacker editorial team tests lubricants: 4 honest stories.

Alice, 21 years old



Lubricant: Lubrimax Sensitive, intimate gel-lubricant for sensitive sliding.

Ingredients: water, lactic acid, panthenol.

Price: from 237 rubles for 75 ml.

The topic is specific: few would want to test lubricants and reveal their sexual escapades. I consider myself a fairly liberated person, so I decided to participate.

Since everything in my intimate areas is very delicate and sensitive, I chose the green Lubrimax from the four tubes with a maximally simple and safe composition. Ginger, cinnamon, anesthetics — these are definitely not for me, so the presence of a classic product in the lineup is a big plus for me.

The packaging is nice, the lubricant has a thick consistency and, despite the absence of a dispenser, is used up normally. However, there is one downside noted by my partner: if the lubricant is not moved away during sex, there is a chance that in a fit of passion it might get squished and you could get a fountain of lubricant.

During the process, the lubricant showed average performance: it dried up five minutes after application and was quite sticky. That is, it created ideal conditions for docking, and then we went on to explore space in natural conditions. Thankfully, we are doing fine with that even without additional helpers.

We rinsed off the lubricant with water without soap, leaving a very pleasant feeling of cleanliness and hydration. I was pleasantly surprised by the absence of consequences the next day: I rarely use lubricants precisely because most of them have caused me severe thrush.

Conclusion

I think such a neutral lubricant will suit absolutely everyone. It has no taste or smell, it doesn’t burn, and there is no irritation on the body and hands. It can be used not only for vaginal sex, but also for petting or anal sex. The only thing is, you need to be ready to add lubricant during the process.

Sasha, 31 years old

Lubricant: Lubrimax Prolongator, intimate gel-lubricant for prolonging sexual acts.

Ingredients: water, lactic acid, panthenol, peppermint essential oil, polidocanol.

Price: from 237 rubles for 75 ml.

We never needed lubricants, but the lubricant gel we got by lottery with a prolonging effect allowed us to conduct an interesting experiment. Usually, if one refrains from sex for several days, the sensations are stronger, but the time noticeably shortens. We decided to find out if we could extend the duration of the act and preserve the level of sensations after a short abstinence.

When it comes to intimate products with additional effects, whether prolonging, warming, and so on, there is always fear. What if there’s an allergy? What if it burns? My wife suggested trying the lubricant first on the mucous membrane of the mouth. We don't even know if that was allowed or not (who even reads these instructions?), but there were no negative effects. It tastes like chewing mint gum: a chill and a characteristic "frosty" sensation. It has a slight pharmacy smell, but the scent is barely noticeable.

Then I decided to try the lubricant on myself: I simply applied it at the moment of arousal and started listening to my sensations. At first, its effect was reminiscent of an anesthetic — as if sprayed with a lidocaine spray. After a minute, the chill went away, and the sensation of having something foreign completely disappeared. I rinsed off the lubricant with water without soap. Everything washed off quickly and easily, but a thin film sensation remained. It disappeared when the skin dried.

Finally, we proceeded to the test. Before starting, I reapplied the lubricant and waited about a minute. We didn't use a condom.

How it felt for me:

  • the chill disappeared after a minute, even before the act began;
  • everything happened as usual, but that feeling of "It's about to happen" came noticeably later;
  • the overall level of sensations was about 80% of the usual.

How it felt for my wife:

  • the chill persisted throughout the process;
  • everything happened as usual, but the chill still distracted a bit and dulled sensations;
  • the overall level of sensations was about 80% of the usual.

Conclusion

We got the effect we expected — an increase in the duration of the act with virtually no detriment to the quality and intensity of sensations. We didn’t use a stopwatch, but based on our observations, the prolonging lubricant extended the duration of the act by about twice. Pros: no unpleasant sensations, allergies, or burning, and it's easy to wash off with water. Cons: the chill. It slightly distracted my wife, making it hard to focus on the main thing (that is, on me). But this sensation disappeared over time, and in the following times, the chill was much less noticeable.

Anya, 26 years old

Lubricant: Lubrimax Stimulate, intimate gel-lubricant for enhancing arousal.

Ingredients: water, lactic acid, panthenol, camphor, cinnamon essential oil, ginger essential oil.

Price: from 237 rubles for 75 ml.

My acquaintance with this lubricant began when it was brought in an opaque bag. I hadn’t seen which specific sample I got, but by the smell, I realized it was the red lubricant with cinnamon and ginger. Its aroma is slightly sweet and quite strong. I could smell it even while carrying the lubricant in my bag.

The packaging looks cute, pleasant to touch, and looks like ordinary cream. There is no dispenser, and the first time I squeezed out too much lubricant. But that's okay: next time I just squeezed more carefully.

As soon as I opened the lid, the sweet smell immediately enveloped everything around. The lubricant itself is transparent, with a gel-like consistency. It applies and spreads easily.

I read that the product has warming properties and enhances arousal, so while applying it, I awaited the "wow effect." The first thing the lubricant really warmed and enhanced was my curiosity. I also felt a slight warming effect in the intimate area, but in terms of additional sensitivity, the product didn’t work on me. On me, but not on my partner! His sensitivity increased even with a condom on, and the condom itself was almost unnoticeable thanks to the lubricant. With a sparkle in my man's eyes and my skeptical mood, we continued testing.

We tested it for a long time and didn’t add lubricant a second time during the process: it hydrates excellently from the first application. This is a huge plus. There’s no need to be distracted, you don't experience unpleasant sensations, and you can enjoy the process and the feeling that you are doing something useful for your relationship.

It didn't feel at all like this was not my natural lubricant, but a lubricant. The only thing that bothered me was the smell. During sex, it distracted me and seemed a bit intrusive. But here, my partner's impressions again didn’t match mine: he actually liked the smell. And the stronger the aroma became, the more I heard: "Wow, it smells so great. If there were such an air freshener for the car, I would take it!" Well, to each their own.

The lubricant washed off quite quickly, but only with soap: plain water was not enough. It didn’t leave any marks on the bedding even the first time I squeezed out too much. There was no discomfort during or after — except for the strong smell. My partner said that the lubricant tastes slightly bitter. So if you’re using the red lubricant, rinse it off before oral sex.

Conclusion

Both my impression and my partner's impression are positive. The lubricant performs its main function — it hydrates well. It hydrates just excellently. The warming effect is also present. After that, opinions diverge. I didn’t feel any additional arousal, and I didn’t like the smell of cinnamon and ginger very much. My partner felt an increase in sensitivity, and he liked the smell — even very much.

Lena, 28 years old

Lubricant: Lubrimax Protect, intimate gel-lubricant for additional protection.

Ingredients: water, lactic acid, panthenol, green tea extract, licorice extract, biosalt.

Price: from 237 rubles for 75 ml.

Acquaintance with any product starts with the appearance of the packaging. Well, here it’s simple and straightforward: a small transparent tube on which the composition and distinguishing properties are written. Everything is visible, convenient to control the consumption of the lubricant.

I opened the lid cautiously: the smell of the lubricant is my sore spot. Too sharp or sweet aromas irritate me and prevent me from relaxing. But here I was greeted with a pleasant surprise: the lubricant has no smell. Absolutely none! How cool is that? The scent doesn’t knock you off your feet, doesn’t cause a headache and the desire to drop everything and run away. If you bring the lubricant close to your nose and sniff, you might notice herbal notes and a subtle medicinal smell. But it’s unlikely anyone would do that: the lubricant is needed for other purposes. Well, I only sniffed for the sake of the experiment. In general, in terms of smell, the test was passed with flying colors.

The day we conducted the experiment was very hot, with temperatures close to 30 degrees even at night. So I thought the lubricant would dry quickly or simply evaporate. When I applied it, I was mentally prepared to add every 15 minutes. I liked the consistency of the lubricant. Gel-like, quite thick, applies and spreads conveniently and quickly. Perhaps due to its thickness, even in such heat, the lubricant behaved very decently: one application was quite enough for comfortable sex.

My partner and I were once again pleased that the lubricant is odorless: even the most unobtrusive scent in such heat could become unbearable. As it is, nothing distracts, and there’s no feeling that the lubricant isn’t "native".

Conclusion

The lubricant satisfied me on all points. It hydrates excellently, does not irritate with smell or taste. That’s enough for me. My partner prefers stimulating lubricants.

We could not verify the protective properties claimed by the manufacturer: it’s hard to do so when testing a lubricant with a steady partner with whom you regularly get tested. Of course, if the lubricant really protects against infections, STIs and fungi, then that's great. But even without that, I’m giving this sample a huge plus.

The employees of Loverssex are ready for the most daring experiments, but out of respect for their privacy, we changed the names and ages of the heroes.

You can order Lubrimax lubricants for your own experiments here.