If you love it, lube it.

Last night, I touched upon toys. Tonight, I bring you the world of sexual lubrication.

I shall start from the do-it-yourself side of things.

The vaginal vault of a biological female produces the original, the industry standard for sexual lubricant. The amount and viscosity will however vary from woman to woman and encounter to encounter. Obviously, this could and does lead to issues in pursuit of consistently mind-blowing sex. And if one's preference does not include biological females in one's trysts, it's a whole new world of aggravation.

Saliva is often employed. Easily at hand, it's hugely popular in porn. It is the choice for folks too involved in the moment or too lazy to retrieve anything better or equates porn scenes with how sex should be. Sadly, it is not the best choice. Unless you are engaged with an area that generates saliva, such as say oral sex, it will evaporate at a rapid rate. This tends to lead to the discovery of chafing and the overall failure of the reason lube is good. It also contains digestive enzymes. That can aggravate chafing that does occur.

Semen, though surprisingly slick tends to naturally occur late in the session and can lead to severe complications of one stripe or another, and so lacks as a good choice for employ as a lubricant.

Water may seem a good choice, but oddly enough tends to lack the desired qualities when so employed. Much of the human body employs fluids that are water-based and even more telling, water-soluble.

Cooking oil is employed by some. Bear in mind it will destroy most toys and create a large mess in the area you are playing. If it possesses a sugar content, it can wreak havoc with a woman's physiology. If it has a pepper or "spicy" component, odds are excellent it will irritate mucus membranes and thus have a negative effect on your sex life.

Whipped cream, chocolate syrup, champagne, etc. Romantically inspired perhaps, but when introduced internally will by and large spawn issues. Sugars will bring about a bonanza of growth in the internal bacterial community. Often, this will become what is commonly referred to as an infection and is not to be desired. Alcohol will irritate mucus membranes.

More consistent results will be provided by commercially produced lubricants.

Oil-based are inexpensive, do not evaporate, and varies little across brands. The disadvantages are latex incompatibility, tendency to stain, and unpleasant taste.

Water-based are huge on the market. They come in a wide range of viscosity, flavors, and variations. They work with about any toy on the market and are easily cleaned from the body. Unfortunately, depending on the ingredient list some people will react to certain brands. Water-based will also eventually lose lubricity as it evaporates. Again, the time frame from application to tackiness varies with people, activities, and brand of lube.

Silicone-based lubes are the third popular choice on the market. They do not get tacky or sticky, they generally have no taste, are non-staining, and are latex friendly. On the other hand, some people find the texture not to their liking. In some cases, people will notice a reaction though it is usually considered hypoallergenic. Less refined brands may give way to a slightly sandy feel as the solution suspending the silicone beads evaporates and the edges of the beads start to abrade. In better quality, the beads are refined to smooth out any rough edges. Lastly, this type of lube is to be avoided if silicone toys are to be used as it will react with the toys.