The majority of lubricants available are water based lubricants. Water based lubricants are typically recommended by doctors and health care workers, and they are the kind usually made available for free at sexual health clinics.
Water based lubricants are considered safer and better than the old style oil based lubricants because they don’t damage condoms and they flush out of, and off of, the body more easily than oils.
There are three main differences between most water based lubricants:
- Feel and consistency
- Ingredient list
- How long they last
Feel & Consistency of Water Based Lubricants
Water based lubricants are available in every conceivable consistency; from thin as water to thick as pudding.
Thicker lubricants can be better for anal play and easier for playing with toys. It is possible that a thicker lubricant creates an extra cushion of comfort for anal play, and certainly true that it’s easier to use with toys as it stays on better than a thin lubricant will. But they can also be messier and more noticeable while using them.
Some people find thinner lubricants are cleaner and less noticeable.
You may also want to consider how the lubricant feels when it dries. Most water based lubricants will feel a bit tacky when they dry up. There are a few non-tacky products that are less sticky when they dry.
Thin water based lubricants:
Medium consistency water based lubricants:
Thick water based lubricants:
Ingredients of Water Based Lubricants
Knowing ingredients is important to determine if you will have a bad reaction to a water based lubricant. There a three types of ingredients people are most likely to react to:
Preservatives and antiseptics. These are the ingredients whose long names end with “parabens.” People can and do react to these, and increased exposure to them increases the allergic reaction.
Paraben-free water based lubricants include: Probe , Hathor Aphrodisia
Glycerin. Many educated sex stores tell their customers who are prone to yeast infections to avoid lubricants with glycerin or sorbitol. While research hasn’t been done on this, glycerin, is very sweet, and that sweetness could feed the yeast that is naturally occurring in a healthy vaginal canal.
Glycerin-free water based lubricants include: Liquid Silk , Maximus
Extras: warming, scented, flavored. There is nothing necessarily harmful in these products, but if you are already sensitive to products, stay away from these options and stick with the regular lubricants above.
Lasting Power of Water Based Lubricants
Some companies claim that their lubricants contain less water, and therefore don’t dry up as quickly as other brands. But after 20 years of talking to people about lubricants I have found that different people report the same lubes very differently. One person will say that lube X lasts much longer than lube Y, and another person will swear that lube Y lasted longer for them. It may be that lubes feel and last differently for different people because perception and individual bodily fluids are involved.
The bottom line is that the only way to find out which lubricant lasts longest for you, is to try them out. Many on line sex stores offer “lube samplers” which allows you to try a small amount of several brands to see which is best for you.
One important trick is that you can reinvigorate any water based lubricant simply by adding more water, you don’t need to keep applying more lube.
Sadly, all water based lubes do eventually dry up, and almost all of them get a bit tacky when they do. The only product that doesn’t dry up like this is silicone lubricants.
