This herbal energy drink is a sexual energy supplement designed for men, and while there is a version for us ladies, it's not set in stone. You can drink it if you're a female.

The glass vial contains 3 servings of Energy Supplement. In its entirety, the vial contains 0.75 fl oz of energy drink. It is recommended that you follow the instructions and drink one serving at a time, instead of the entire vial at once. However, my partner and I took a shot, and then the next day he drank the two last servings at one time with no ill-effects. Labeled 100% natural, you'd think that'd be true, but Shunga forgot that this girl knows her ingredients. Methyl Paraben is not natural, my dear Shunga!


The instructions say to dilute 0.25 fl oz of the Energy Supplement with alcohol or juice, but my partner and I just drank it straight. I would definitely advise using caution if you plan to mix an energy supplement with alcohol as the effects can be intense and sometimes dangerous.

The instructions also say to take the drink 30 minutes before sexual activity. In my opinion, you could take it anywhere from 10 days before sexual activity or 10 seconds before because it isn't likely to do anything for you sexually. It did not have any sexual enhancing effect or increased libido for me nor my male partner.

CAUTION: This product is not recommended for use by people suffering from high blood pressure! I personally would also add to use with caution if you are sensitive to energy products or have anxiety attacks as energy supplements can be troublesome to those who are under anxiety or have sensitivities to energy products. Pregnant women should not use this product -- it contains tribulus, as one reason.

Caffeine is not listed on the label as an ingredient. Instead of caffeine, the almost identical Guarana is used.

INGREDIENTS:

Epimedium, Tribulus, Hard Wood Roots (Muira Puama Root), Maca, Guarana, Water, Glycerine, Aroma (Natural Flavor), Sucralose, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Methyl Paraben

Just something I wanted to note: the men's version of Shunga Energy lists Methyl Paraben as an ingredient whereas the female's version does not. That had me curious, so I thought it could be important to share.

More information about the ingredients in this product for those of you who are interested:

Epimedium: A highly valued herb in traditional Chinese medicine. Also known as "Horny Goat Weed." While this herb may be popularly known for its supposed aphrodisiac effects, it's also used as an herbal remedy since it is beneficial for conditions such as fatigue, kidney and liver problems. But its popularity comes from its so called ability to improve erectile dysfunction and libido-enhancing properties.

The reason people use Epimedium is because like the drug Viagra, it is said to block an enzyme called PDE-5 (Phosphodiesterase) that in turn, promotes blood flow to the genitals.

Something you may find interesting about the plant Epimedium: Icariin, the "active ingredient" in Epimedium is said to decrease the invasion of metastatic cancer cells, or cells spreading from one organ area to another. Hence why Epimedium is used in Asia as a cancer treatment. This according to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Also according to the MSKCC, remedies containing the herb may possibly have estrogenic effects, which can worsen uterine, breast, ovarian and prostate cancers.

A study found that components found in Epimedium can benefit post-menopausal women by preventing bone loss.

Tribulus: Also an herb used in Chinese and Indian medicine. Steroidal saponins are active compounds found in the Tribulus leaf. Tribulus is used for infertility, low libido and erectile dysfunction. Research, while still being questioned, has suggested that Tribulus increases levels of the hormone testosterone, DHEA and estrogen. A different study found that using the Tribulus remedies for 4 weeks at 10-20 mg per kg of body weight daily had no effect on the male hormones androstenedione, testosterone or luteinizing hormone compared to people who did not take tribulus.

Studies have shown that upon using Tribulus, there was no change in body weight, mood.



Hard Wood Roots: Real name: Muira Puama Root. Used in England to treat mental disturbances and exhaustion, and in South America as a neuromuscular tonic. Used in OTC hair-loss treatments. It's said to relieve severe PMS symptoms as well, although there's no research for this and little to back up any of the rest of the claims. However, that does not mean that it doesn't have benefits. I can say that from personal experience, just because an herb does not have non-fallible back up/proof, does not mean it does not have wonderful benefits. So these supposed ones are at least possible.

Muira Puama is a tree that can reach up to 50 feet high, found in Amazon Rain Forest. Muira Puama Root has been used for its medicinal purposes by Amazionian tribes. Its main use is for its libido-enhancing properties. It is said to be one of nature's best-known herbal sexual stimulants. Clinical trials have suggested that Muira Puama can enhance libido in men and make it easier to maintain an erection. Its immediate effects would be increased blood flow to genitals, long term effects could possibly mean promoting the production of sex hormones. It is considered a very strong aphrodisiac, and one with less side effects than the alternative yohimbe.

Another common use for Muira Puama is for treatment of the central nervous system. It is supposed to reduce stress, depression and mental fatigue.

Methyl Paraben: Found in breast tumors. Enough said.

Ingredients continued...

Maca: Also known as "Peruvian Ginseng." Maca is consumed and used for its medicinal purposes. It's commonly used for erectile dysfunction, to increase stamina, energy, sexual function, combat fatigue, increase fertility. While there isn't any studies or enough research to back up these "claims," Maca has been used for these aphrodisiac effects for years, and it's even said to aid in cancer treatment. There have been reports of Maca having some effectiveness in improved sexual dysfunction, but there have also been two trials where no results were seen. Maca has shown to improve libido in a study that involved 20 people with depression, all of those people experiencing SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction.


Guarana: Guarana is a Brazilian plant and when the seeds are used, Guarana is prepared to treat fatigue. The active ingredient is very similar to caffeine.

Guarana contains saponins, theobromine, tanning and catechins which are all phytochemicals. Phtyochemicals are antioxidant compounds from

plants. These are used in many products from those for consumption to cosmetics. The main purpose for them is to prevent disease when

consumed and to fight aging when used topically.

Guarana is used in most energy supplements due to its phytochemical caffeine. Guarana contains 3-7% caffeine, whereas coffee contains 1-2%.

Guarana can supress appetite, relieve mental fatigue and improve cognitive function as well as enhance sports performance.

Other good news about using guarana for consumption: guarana is a tonic and is effective in cleansing the intestines as well as reduce

inflammatory intestinal disorders. This could be good news for those of you who like me, have problems such as IBS, especially if you're unable to consume most energy drinks due to flare-ups of the digestive system.

Guarana is also a diuretic and has been used to treat UTI's, painful menstrual cycles, headache and diarrhea.

According to MSKCC, Guarana can even aid in preventing cancer as well as reduce anzxiety, enhance sexual performance, protect against malaria, elevate blood pressure, but can be dangerous to those with hypertension.

One more Guarana benefit and I'll shut up: it may reduce risk of blood clots.

Aroma (Natural Flavor): can mean pretty much anything.

Sucralose: Artificial sweetener. An extremely sweet artifical sweetener in fact, which probably explains the very sweet flavor of this supplement. It is non-caloric, so dieters turn em' up.

Sodium Benzoate: Preservative. According to Professor Peter W. Piper of the University of Sheffield, sodium benzoate alone can damage and inactivate vital parts of DNA in a cell's mitochondria. This is according to Wikipedia alone though. And according to Natural News: "This killer is flying under consumer radar with its user friendly tag line, "as a preservative." This silent cell choker has found its way into thousands of products, even foods that are labeled as all natural. But don't be fooled. While benzoic acid is found naturally in low levels in many fruits, the sodium benzoate listed on a product's label is synthesized in a lab."





This Energy Supplement drink is not designed for topical application, but for ingestion so we didn't rub it onto our skin or touch it. It's a smooth, liquidy drink with a water-like consistency. It is clear in color with a yellow tint to it. In the photo above you can see a little of the liquid left in the bottle.

The Energy Supplement smells strongly of alcohol and slightly of herbs. It has a very sweet aroma and taste. I would describe the taste as light and spicy. It has a subtle taste of cinnamon and the guarana is noticeable to my taste buds, but surprisingly, not as intense as most convenience store energy supplements. I usually cringe at the odor of a freshly opened energy shot, but this was actually totally tolerable. Of course my energy-drink-loving partner found it tolerable.

Since the vial comes with three servings, you have enough to try it with a variety of things if you like. I really wasn't interested in taking the time to mix it in other drinks, especially since the taste was so bearable. It's not delicious, but if you've ever drank an energy drink like 5 hour energy or the like and been fine, this shouldn't be too harsh on your taste buds. This is coming from a girl who is picky about that funky energy drink taste. I prefer it to be disguised and even I can handle this Shunga Energy.

I bought this for my partner, who is male. I was curious about it and since I wanted to give a review from my own tastebuds too, I described my own opinion about the taste and aroma. Ask my partner what he thinks of the taste/aroma and he'll say "tastes like an energy drink." So it's a good thing I did take a shot of it. But since he's the male, and that's who this product was intended for, I'm going to focus on his opinion performance-wise. As far as my results, I couldn't tell you much besides it did give me enough energy to walk and stay up until 3AM in the motel chatting with my sister. I was exhausted too at this time, so I can vouch for the energy claims.

I began writing this review last night, and today I asked my partner to go into detail about his opinion on this product. I was surprised to hear his very positive response. I knew it had given him energy, but he'd spent the majority of the time on a pier fishing the night he drank this while I went back to the motel with my sister and stayed up talking. Then he took the last 2 doses on our 8 hour trip home, which I'll talk about in the experience section.

I should tell you, my partner is an energy drink fanatic. He's all about some Red Bull and 5 Hour Energy shots. He's tried every energy supplement on the market, including the Crack drink. So that is why I was so surprised when he told me "it's one of the top energy drinks I've ever had." He said he felt it performed better than the typical energy products you find in-store because it worked when he was already super tired. He says most energy drinks don't work for him after he's become so tired, and this did. Like I said, we were both exhausted from being on the beach all day and we managed to stay up until the wee morning hours.

As for sexual "enhancement", he said there was nothing. He said that when he's around me, he's "horny already, so maybe that's why I didn't notice anything." Sweet comment, but there wasn't any added sexual desire for him. It stayed the same. I personally didn't notice any extra desire from him. Sometimes when I wear a pheremone perfume called Eros for women, which does smell magnificent, he'll comment over & over about how beautiful I smell. I've worn that perfume for nearly 2 years and it never fails to catch his attention. I feel like it makes him maybe a tad more aware of my scent mixed with the chemicals in that perfume and I've noticed him wanting to be closer to me, say in the car when he catches a whiff or when we hug and he latches on sniffing me and saying "you smell so amazing." This don't happen with other perfumes, so I do think he kind of wakes up his senses. It doesn't give him an erection, but there's a noticable effect.

So I had a little something to compare with. This isn't a pheremone product, but it certainly didn't cause him to be more aware of me or anything like that as I've seen happen with the Eros perfume.

There was the occasional butt-touch and him hugging me, putting his arm around me and things like that, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The only thing I'd say that was out of the ordinary for him after drinking this was him deciding to fix my salad while dining out, which turned out to be a monsterously huge salad. I guess that was the energy kicking in though because that is when he got all antsy and energetic.


Shunga Sexual Energy supplement is Made in Canada.

The Shunga Energy Supplement came packaged just as you see in my above photo. Besides the shipping box it came in, it arrived in a clear plastic zip baggy that included a small brochure of information and the actual Energy Supplement.

The Energy Supplement came with a safety plastic wrap around the lid and bottle.

To use, you simply screw off the lid and turn it up. It's only a simple glass vial, so you just pour it into your mouth.


The screw-off lid is easy enough to open that you can use one hand if necessary. It isn't leaky or messy. I bought it before our trip to Florida so that my lovie and I could try it and it would possibly be a way to keep us awake on the drive down and back. For the week that we were in Panama the vial stayed in my purse without any leaking. We opened it one night and had a small amount, put the lid back on and tossed it back in my purse. It stayed there without leaking.

Since the glass vial is small and easy to fit in a pocket or purse, and since it traveled for a week with us just fine, I will call it travel-friendly. However, I can't call it 100% discreet due to the text and the couple on the label. The couple is a Japanese woman and man. She has her bare leg wrapped high around the man's... chest it looks like. It also seems his hand is on her crotch, could be her butt though. No actual private parts show. It's not something I personally considered tacky just for a drink my parnter and I were sharing. It's not crude or trashy, more humorous and possibly cute since it's cartoonish.

One the label you'll see a bar in green. It has "dose one, two and three" kind of measured there so you know how much to drink for one dose. In the picture below you can kind of see this green dosage chart thingy.


The label says "man sexual energy" in white text as well as "Shunga Erotic Art" and "Herbal Supplement." It also states that this is 100% natural and ultra concentrated. Then you have a bar code, and in finer print "these statements have not been evaluated by the Food, Drug and Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, prevent, cure or treat any disease."

Under the directions it tells you that three doses over three days may be necessary for the first use, and then a single-use is sufficient there after. I suppose if you wanted to pay $9 each for enough energy supplement to do this, then that's fine, but I don't feel like it's very realistic for most people.

The label also assures you that if a deposit forms near the bottom of the bottle, it is normal. Just shake it up. I didn't see this happen.

They also provide an address and a 1-800 number to call for questions, which I thought was kind of considerate since that would make getting in touch quickly easy for someone with an allergy, ingredient or other concern.

If you want though, this label can be peeled off and then you'll be left with a clear glass vial. That's discreet enough I suppose.

I don't think there's many people I would recommend gifting this to. I bought it for my partner, and unless you're getting it for yours or yourself, I can't think of this as being a great gift to others. Maybe a close friend who has an interest in energy drinks and a good, dirty sense of humor.

I highly recommend keeping it out of reach of children. Do not allow children to drink it and if they're old enough to read, you may feel better keeping it stashed in your purse. However, while in Florida, the kids seen me hand it to my partner and asked "is that an energy drink?" I told them yes because they know they can't have energy anything. They expressed interest, but I didn't allow them to see the bottle enough to know what was on it. It is something that would draw a younger person's interest though.

References:
-Ray Sahelian, M.D.: Horny Goat Weed
-Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center: Epimedium Benefits
-Prescription for Nutritional Healing; Phyllis Balch; 2003
- Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center: Guarana
-Journal of Bone and Mineral Research: Epimedium Flavonoids Preventing Bone Loss in Postmenopausal Women
-J Ethnopharmacol. 2005 Oct 3;101(1-3):319-23. Links Neychev VK and Mitev VI. The aphrodisiac herb Tribulus terrestris does not influence the androgen production in young men. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 101.1-3 (2005):319-23.
-Balick MJ, Lee R. "Maca: from traditional food crop to energy and libido stimulant." Altern Ther Health Med. 2002 Mar-Apr;8(2):96-8.
-Dording CM, Fisher L, Papakostas G, Farabaugh A, Sonawalla S, Fava M, Mischoulon D. "A double-blind, randomized, pilot dose-finding study of maca root (L. meyenii) for the management of SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction." CNS Neurosci Ther. 2008 Fall;14(3):182-91.
-Gonzales GF, Cordova A, Gonzales C, Chung A, Vega K, Villena A. Lepidium meyenii (Maca) improved semen parameters in adult men. Asian Journal of Andology. 3.4 (2001):301-3.
-https://www.naturalnews.com/033726_sodium_benzoate_cancer.html

While the energy part of the drink is definitely real, I'm sure that the increased sexual desires were not for my partner. The days that he drank the energy supplement we didn't even have intercourse, which that could be because one of the days we were driving back home, but this isn't realistic for someone looking to increase any sexual desire.

I've already told about his increased energy the first time he drank a shot. I bought the supplement so that he could try it on vacation and maybe even help keep us awake while driving. I thought it'd be fun at least and since he's such an energy drink fanatic, I knew he'd be excited to try it.

I offered it to him when he got sleepy on the drive down to Florida and he wouldn't try it because he was worried that he would crash before we made it, and that'd be dangerous. So we both tried it for the first time while in Florida.

Since there was no crashing, he saved the rest for the 8 hour trip home. And thank God we had it because he starts talking about stopping and taking a blasted nap before we even arrived home! He drank it and ended up talking my ears off. We made it home though without needing a nap and he says he doesn't think he'd have been able to keep driving had the Energy Supplement not been so effective.

One thing that might be important to note, he said today that he would want to try this again, especially because he wonders if drinkiing it again would give the same effects or not. Him and I have both experienced energy drinks that give us a lot of energy the very first time and then don't seem to work again. However, it's not likely that'd you use the Shunga Supplement daily or even weekly due to its price and not being available in-store.

So if you're looking for a super boost of energy for a special occasion, this is perfect. It you're looking for stamina to go all night long with a lover, don't have high hopes.

In the past, we've tried a few similar products from Happy High Herbs. These too were intended to be sexual stimulants when consumed as well as enegry supplements. The taste of the drinks were horrendous and neither me nor my partner noticed any effects at all. So Shunga has the upper hand so far.