Stimulating & Warming

Stimulating lubricants add something to the slip: warmth, a cool tingle, a buzz, or a heightening of sensation on the clitoris. Some people find them the missing piece; others find them irritating and go straight back to plain. The difference is almost entirely in the active ingredient and in how much is used, and this guide explains what those ingredients do so the first bottle is a small one and the right one.

Warming

Warming lubricants use glycerin, propylene glycol or capsaicin in tiny amounts to create heat that builds with friction and with breath. They suit people who like a slow build and are the gentlest of the group. Most are water based and safe with toys and condoms. Glycerin heavy formulas can bother anyone prone to yeast infections.

Cooling and tingling

Menthol and peppermint give a cool tingle that turns to warmth, and a sense of everything being more awake. They are the most intense of the sensation lubricants and the most likely to be too much; a pea sized amount is enough, and more does not improve it. Mint formulas double as oral sex lubricants for the same reason.

Arousal gels

Clitoral gels and arousal balms are not really lubricants but a small amount of gel applied to the clitoris before sex, with L-arginine, menthol, niacin or plant extracts that increase blood flow and sensitivity. They are used in a drop, not a squeeze, and take a few minutes to work. The stronger ones are marketed as orgasm gels; the effect is real for many women and nothing at all for some, so buy a small tube first.

What to avoid

Numbing agents, benzocaine and lidocaine, are the opposite of stimulation and are for delay products, not this category. Anything applied to sensitive tissue should be tried on the inner wrist first, and anyone with a history of irritation should start with the warming type rather than mint. Do not use stimulating gels internally in the vagina or anus unless the product says it is made for that; most are for the outside.

With toys and condoms

Nearly all sensation lubricants are water based and safe with silicone toys and latex condoms; check the label, because a few are silicone hybrids. Flavoured warming lubricants for oral use are usually thinner and sweeter and not the bottle for anything else.

How much and how

A small amount, on the outside, a few minutes before it is needed. The effect grows with friction and breath and fades in twenty to thirty minutes. Combine with an ordinary lubricant for the slip and keep the sensation product for where it works. Wash off with warm water if it becomes too much; the effect stops within minutes.

Frequently asked questions