I review sex toys for sextoy.com. You can find The Natural and other lubricants on their site.
Lube is important to good sex. Even if one is dealing with the wettest of women, there are times when natural lubrication is unavailable — for instance, when engaging in any kind of anal play. After testing so many lubes, I think the best products are the ones with a minimal number of unnecessary ingredients and which are good for many purposes. Though as a sex toy reviewer I have a half-dozen or more by my bedside, I think most people are able to make do with just one or two.
The Natural is a water-based lube from Oceanus’ Sensuals line. Like Water Slide, another lube I reviewed recently, it has carrageenan in it, a product derived from sea weed which is not only slippery but may also help prevent transmission of some STDs. Let’s take a look at the complete ingredients list:
- Water, making this lube compatible with all toys including silicone.
- Propanediol, a moistening agent which the manufacturers claim is not petroleum-based propylene glycol but from a natural source
- Carrageenan
- Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate, a preservative that some people report may cause irritation
- Citric acid, for pH-balancing
- Organic Aloe Concentrate, a plant that can soothe irritated tissues (but may be an allergen for people who are also allergic to onions and garlic)
- Organic Agave Inulin, which the manufacturers claim will protect a woman’s natural bacteria from imbalances
- Vitamen E acetate, another common lube ingredient which soothes irritated skin
- Sodium Benzoate, another commonly used preservative with mixed reports of safety
As always, it may need trial and error to discover which ingredients one is sensitive too, and I urge my readers to do their own research into product safety. This lube does not contain glycerin or parabens, two ingredients which often irritate or have harmful side effects.
One interesting feature of this lube — and all of Oceanus’ similar products — is that it dispenses via a pump which apparently forms an airtight seal between uses. I did accidentally spray it across the sheets once during testing, but in general this was an easy and safe way to apply lube. The seal on the pump helps prevent contamination from germs or disease. I would like to see more lubes come in pump bottles!
I brought The Natural as a gift on my most recent visit to my lover Grace, who lives in the nearby town of San Marcos, Texas. We tried it out during an evening that also included introducing her to her first anal plug (subject of a future review). This lube seemed to work well for anal play as well as mixing nicely with her natural lubrication. It did not have a noticeable smell or taste. My only complaint was that when I tried it out for masturbation, it left a sticky residue on my hands and did not stay slippery for long.
Though I still prefer Water Slide, which has fewer ingredients and is more versatile, The Natural seems like a good product, overall. I recommend it to women or anyone else with access to female genitalia, especially those who will be sharing this lube across multiple partners.
