Playground Bare Love Lube Assessment: We Tried It, We Beloved It

Beautiful and a lil’ lop-sided. Demure and lovely. Delicate and supple. These is perhaps the phrases that first come to thoughts once I consider my vulva. However given how inclined I’m to yeast infections and bacterial vaginosis, finicky additionally deserves a spot on my downstairs descriptor record. No shade to my snatch meant—as a Most cancers rising I do know all about what it’s prefer to be a bit of delicate. However being liable to irritation and an infection has made it nearly not possible for me to discover a lubricant that successfully improves sensation throughout intercourse, with out additionally resulting in discomfort afterward.

After a lot trial and error, I’ve fortunately discovered a lubricant that was clinically designed for vulva homeowners who’re as liable to vaginal well being points as me: Playground Bare Love Lube ($20). Learn on to be taught all about this lubricant that has been clinically confirmed to exchange ache with pleasure within the second, all whereas serving to forestall infections from popping up post-play.

Playground Bare Love Lubricant — $20.00

Base: Water | Measurement: 3.7 ounces | Dispenser: Flip-top

Key elements: Water, hyaluronic acid, ashwagandha, vitamin E

Freed from: Glycerin, parabens, phthalates, GMOs, petrochemicals, mineral oil, propylene glycol, gluten, sulfates, dyes, and hormones

• Clinically-proven to help pleasure whereas lowering ache
• Very long-lasting for a water-based lubricant
• Freed from perfume and potential irritants (like glycerin and parabens)
• Consists of moisturizing vitamin E and hyaluronic acid
• pH balanced to match pH of the vaginal microbiome
• Protected to make use of with latex condoms and different limitations
• Suitable with all toys (together with silicone toys)

• Lack of pump dispenser makes for slippery re-application
• Directions on bottle are arduous to learn in the dead of night
• Not designed with anal play in thoughts

Why the suitable lube issues

Should you, like me, are liable to vaginal infections or vulvar irritation, you would possibly assume that it’s higher to go for vaginal dryness than to threat an infection utilizing a store-bought lubricant. However discovering the suitable lubricant that does work along with your distinctive vulvovaginal chemistry can do your intercourse life a critical stable.

“Anybody that wishes to boost their sexual expertise ought to think about using a store-bought lubricant,” says pelvic ground bodily therapist Heather Jeffcoat, DPT, creator of Intercourse With out Ache: A Self-Remedy Information to the Intercourse Life You Deserve. Bottled lube is designed to complement the vaginal fluid that the physique naturally produces throughout sexual arousal, she explains. This pure wetness is made to facilitate and reduce friction throughout intercourse, because the genital tissues are extremely delicate and liable to micro-tearing.

The factor is, some people constantly produce much less vaginal fluid throughout arousal than they should help the kind or length of intercourse that they’re having, says Jeffcoat. Fluid ranges can fluctuate, too, like when people are dehydrated, at sure phases of their menstrual cycle, or taking sure drugs. In these situations, “supplementing with a lubricant can help in lowering any ache or discomfort that could be current,” Jeffcoat says.

Associated Tales

There are advantages to including a squirt or two of store-bought lube into your play, even if you happen to naturally produce sufficient vaginal lubrication to facilitate pleasurable (vaginal) penetration, she continues. For instance, as a result of it’s the inner vaginal canal that manufactures body-made lube, the exterior vulva stays dry. As such, “making use of lubrication across the vulvar vestibule (the interior a part of the interior labia, or labia minora) and clitoris could make exterior vulvar play extra pleasurable,” Jeffocat says. Additionally: The rectum by no means self-lubricates, she says, which implies store-bought lubricant throughout anal intercourse is important for safeguarding the injury-prone anal tissues and facilitating pleasure.

About Playground Bare Love Lube

Playground’s Bare Love is a water-based lubricant. As a refresher: Most lubricants are additionally obtainable with silicone or oil, however silicone-based lubricants can’t be used with silicone intercourse toys and oil-based lubricants can degrade condoms. As such, water-based lubricants (like Bare Love!) are broadly thought of essentially the most common and accessible lube kind.

However Bare Love isn’t simply any ‘ole water-based lubricant. Fairly, it’s a water-based lubricant that has been particularly formulated to guard the vaginal canal in addition to the vaginal microbiome, says board-certified OB/GYN and NAMS-certified menopause practitioner Shyama Mathews, MD.

“Bare Love has a hydrating complicated that accommodates vitamin E and hyaluronic acid which assist present long-lasting hydration to the realm after intercourse,” she says. In a single research printed within the African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology researchers discovered that when used internally, hyaluronic acid and vitamin E relieved vaginal signs and elevated the velocity of therapeutic of the cells lining the vaginal tissues. In the meantime, a second research printed within the Journal of Menopausal Drugs discovered that the 2 elements had been useful to folks in menopause with genitourinary syndrome, which is actually vaginal dryness in intercourse and day by day life.

“Bare Love can also be clinically formulated to assist the vagina preserve its optimum pH throughout and after intercourse,” says Dr. Mathews. Usually, a vagina’s pH ranges between 3.8 and 4.2; if it falls exterior of this vary, a person is at a heightened threat for frequent vaginal infections, she says. In truth, a pH greater than 4.5 sometimes indicators bacterial vaginosis.

As a result of Bare Love is formulated with the vaginal pH in thoughts, it’s much less prone to disrupt the pure microbiome that retains issues in verify than lubricants with fillers, sugars, and different components, says Dr. Matthews. In truth, in a medical research funded by Playground, ladies who had been liable to vaginal infections reported much less vaginal burning, much less irritation, and different UTI signs when utilizing Bare Love than once they used both one other lubricant or no lubricant in any respect.

My expertise with Bare Love

The primary time I used my Playground Bare Love lube, I used to be shocked by how related it’s in texture to bodily fluids. Many water-based lubricants are, properly, watery in texture. Bare Love, then again, looks like a gel or serum. As a result of Bare Love matched the consistency of my cum, once I introduced my fingers between my legs it didn’t really feel like I used to be utilizing a store-bought assist. Fairly, I merely felt I used to be utilizing nothing greater than my digits and downstairs to make myself orgasm.

I used to be additionally happy by the whole lack of scent of Bare Love. From trial and error with different lubes, I do know most fragrance-free lubricants scent like glue. Or worse, day-old hen. However at no level throughout my soiled DJ-ing did I get a waft of adhesive or meal prep. Woot!

Lastly, I used to be impressed by the longevity of the lubricant. Once I unpackaged Bare Love, I used to be bummed to find that it has a flip0top dispenser. Whereas pumps enable for simple, mess-free re-application, flip-top dispensers require grabbing the bottle with slippery “intercourse arms” with a view to re-apply. Every time I’ve used Bare Love, nonetheless, it is lasted the length of intercourse classes, so I’ve by no means really wanted to re-apply.

Oh, and in case you had been questioning if my finicky vagina survived the solo sesh sans an infection? The reply is sure, sure, sure. In truth, I’ve been utilizing the product nearly day by day for the final month and have remained yeast and BV-free. Success!

Closing ideas

Finally, each pleasure-seeker has a novel vaginal make-up, in addition to preferences for his or her lubricants throughout solo or partnered play. Nevertheless, I’d readily advocate Playground Bare Love to any particular person in the marketplace for a store-bought lubricant. In any case, even when your physique can deal with a pleasure assist jam-packed with chemical substances and components, it’s in all probability finest to deal with your love tunnel with the utmost TLC. And sure, meaning choosing a lube that’s formulated along with your vaginal-health in thoughts.