YES Oil-Based and Water-Based Personal Lubricants
$14.99 USD (2.6 fl oz/75ml)
Available from: Hip Apotheca (October 2011)
Don’t lie! If a company wanted to send YOU free lube to test and review… you’d jump at the chance too! WARNING: This post contains some frank talk about lubricants. If this makes you uncomfortable, please move along to another post.
Yes brand lubricants are certified organic and offer an alternative to the traditional glycerin-based or silicone based products you find on a drug store shelf. You’ll find no propylene glycol and no paraben preservatives in any of the ingredient lists. Yes’ basic line-up consists of a water-based and oil-based version (plus a very interesting “Yes Baby” pH-balancing lubricant system which helps to create a “sperm friendly” environment – should you ladies be trying to get pregnant), all available in multiple sizes. You can read all about the brand on their website (yesyesyes.org); I’m not going to make any claims to the organic nature of their products (though the short, 6-month shelf life is a good indicator of natural ingredients), I’m just going to be reviewing the water-based and oil-based lubricants.
Yes Water-Based has a very different texture from other water-based lubricants. It’s VERY non-sticky. It contains no glycerin at all, instead offering up aloe and various plant gums to provide slip. This also makes it an incredibly skin-friendly product to use (glycerin lubricants can sometimes irritate the body’s more sensitive areas). There is a down-side to this type of ingredient list though: The slip doesn’t last very long. Rather quickly you’ll notice this product dries up and disappears. Sure it doesn’t get sticky but depending on how exactly you plan to use it, you could easily go through half the bottle just to get the job done. If you just need to get the job started though, this is a good product with gentle ingredients that’s worth a try if you find most over-the-counter water-based lubricants uncomfortable to use. Yes Water-based is safe for use with both latex and polyurethane condoms.
Ingredients: Aqua (water), Aloe barbadensis (Aloe vera)*, Cyamopsis tetragonolobus (Guar Gum)*, Ceratonia siliqua (Locust Bean Gum)*, Linum usitatissimum (Flax extract)*, Phenoxyethanol, Potassium sorbate, Xanthan Gum, Citric acid. *Organically grown ingredients
Yes Oil-Based is Yes’ oil-based version of their personal lubricant. I have a love-hate relationship with oil-based lubes. On one hand they are wildly non-skin irritating and very comfortable to use, they often absorb into the skin and aren’t sticky at all – so they are easy to clean up. On the other hand they can stain sheets and are not safe for use with latex condoms. NO oil-based lubricants are; oils break down latex. That doesn’t mean you can’t use oil-based lubricants… polyurethane condoms are completely safe to use with oil-based lubricants (polyurethane is also thinner and less skin-irritating than latex).
Yes’ oil-based lube is different than most oil-based lubes because of it’s high butter content. Cocoa and Shea butter (as well as Bees wax) blend with Sweet almond and Sunflower oil to create a paste instead of a liquid. To those of you who are a little more adventurous, this makes it an ideal product for under-water activities; it will stay where you put it and because it’s an oil, it won’t dissolve in water. The ingredient list is impressively natural – I found that a plus – you could easily use this as a face and body moisturizer. Because the ingredients are mostly oils and butters though, you could save some money just buying butters and oils in bulk and DYI-ing this.
Ingredients: Prunus dulcis (Sweet almond) oil*, Butyrospermum parkii (Shea butter)*, Helianthus annuus (Sunflower) seed oil*, Theobroma cacao (Cocoa) seed butter*, Cera alba (Bees wax)*, Natural Tocopherols (Vitamin E). *Organically grown ingredients
FINAL THOUGHTS: The packaging for both of these products is just horrible. Let’s just be honest about that. Everything about these bottles makes me giggle and say “EEW!” all at the same time. Also, neither of them turned me off of silicone (still tops on my list for glide and longevity) BUT they are an interesting alternative (especially the water-based formula) to anyone who prefers more natural products in their medicine cabinet… or on their nightstand. I think they are well worth checking out.
14 Comments
For my 2c I actually love the Yes water based lube (I’m a woman in a hetero relationship so mostly water-based is the go… lol), but am far too cheap to buy it compared to the price of Probe (which I presume you have in the US?)
But yeah I’m a woman who has always had issues self-lubricating. The water-based Yes pretty much looks like snot and due to being *so* non-sticky seems like it wouldn’t last. But I have personally never tried anything more natural-feeling or longer lasting for PIV sex. Love it.
I also used to work for a sex toy company and had clients who could *only* use Yes of all the lubes on the market here in NZ so if you’re super-sensitive to chemicals it may be worth a look.
If you’re a woman who appreciates a bit of lube but has never looked beyond KY please do yourself a favour and check our your local sex shop (most are online now too!); I personally buy Probe in 500mL bottles. I love that it comes in a big bottle, it lasts at least 3x longer than any of the basic supermarket lubes, is actually tasteless, and believe me lube makes everything better. :D
Thanks for sharing Dusty!
Awesome! Thanks for throwing your 2c into the ring :)
oh Dusty, you had to say “into the ring” didn’t you?
:)
Ah ha ha, I would have missed that if you hadn’t said it t.j. :P
I despise Yes products. I don’t need it anyway (TMI?) Regardless…I giggle at how much fun you must have had testing this ;)
What is it that you don’t like about their products? Elaborate, I’m really curious! :)
Well, for starters the packaging looks like a sex toy…a little phallic, no? The way it sits promotes a mess when trying to dispense it which is just ew. The water-based product itself is just as you said…”oh, I’m wet, oh…nevermind, more please”. $15 for one good um…romp? Nah. The oil-based one is just gross….and let’s not forget that they taste like a vile word I will not say here….and if you’re doing it right…you WILL be tasting it. Unless you’re alone…but I digress…
I do like the organic aspect of it…but when it comes to that…I’ll sacrifice natural for performance.
LOL I actually like that it sits so that the product is always near the cap, but no… I don’t really like the shape (or color) of the bottle. Looking at Yes’ other products and reading about the brand, they seem to be really focused on a specific target and my guess is they’re probably hitting that target with the approach they’ve got. In the end it was one of those, “Not really for me but…” kind of products. I like the organic thing though.
Heh, nuffink wrong with looking like a sex toy IMO but yeah that looks like an UGLY sex toy. The NZ version is a mint-y green and it’s disappointing because the box itself is silky and reasonably nice looking but the bottle… not so much.
Interesting you didn’t find the water-based lasted. I was pretty impressed! I would say even very… juicy (oh isn’t that a nice descriptor??)… people can benefit from lube but maybe more slippery silicone-based stuff would be better for you. I don’t know if it’s the contraception I’ve been on forever or just me but I virtually don’t self-lubricate at all, so I definitely like the stuff that’s more like actual vaginal secretions.
Oil based really isn’t designed for vaginal use and I’m not surprised it tastes nasty. If you’re into rimming I still think water-based or nothing for that particular activity – of course dental dams are always a good idea! In which case definitely no oil-based.
I don’t think you can have TMI in a conversation about lube. ;)
Great review! I’m very easily irritaded, so this is definitely worth looking into. The packaging is truly hideous, unless it’s actually designed to double as an ugly sex toy? I always trasfer lube to other containers though, to save myself embarassement if I accidentally leave it out. Cosmetics bottles (the kind that come with a pump) are perfect for on the go :-)
Haha! I think we can all agree on that bottle shape. It’s pretty bad and – Yes indeed – That is the FIRST thing I thought when I saw it too. Good idea to transfer to seperate containers. I used to be a HUGE fan of Aveda’s Light Elements Smoothing Fluid. It’s a haircare product. But it’s also a natural-ish silicone-based liquid with soft lavender scent :) Worked AMAZINGLY well and had a soft lavendar scent which was nice. LOL! I turned SO many people (well… maybe not THAT many) onto the stuff. Unfortunately they reformulated it sometime last year and now it has a MUCH stronger perfume… just too skin irritating now. Sigh…
Hi Marit! Just want to let you know that Yes comes in a less sex-toy looking 25ml bottle.
I am upset that there isn’t a youtube video to demonstrate the product. :-)
LOL! I may actually be doing a big lube review video… It sounded like fun. But again, probably no demonstrations ;)