Lifestyles condoms|Lifestyles® ultra lubricated are handed out for free at the health services building for my university. I thought--free condoms? BRING 'EM ON! I grabbed a fistful of these little darlings and ran back to my dorm all giddy to try out my free prizes. No penis? No problem! I'd brought along my handy G-spot vibe. Since jelly toys are so hard to clean, it's always a good idea to use a condom with one. That does get expensive over time, but if your university health services offers FREE condoms...

See why I was so excited?

My excitement dimmed a bit, however, when I first opened the individual wrapper for the condom. It smelled like fish oil! What on earth...?! I wondered if it was a defective product, so I ripped open another one and took a whiff. Yup. Fish-scented condoms. There was, however, no hint of a latex odor, which I consider far more off-putting than the fish oil smell, so I shrugged and let it go.

I slipped it onto my little jelly vibrator and it was nice--it unrolled to be of typical condom size, and it wrapped all the way around the vibrator so I could actually pinch shut the opening and the insertable portion of the toy would be sealed off completely. I can't say the same about larger toys, of course, but I blew a condom up into a condom balloon and these things can really stretch!

Compared to the assorted color variety by Lifestyles, the ultra-lubricated condoms are definitely more slippery in a slicker, oilier way. I've used these with my boyfriend before and they are good, reliable condoms. One thing to look out for is that if you use massage oil|Sensual massage oil beforehand or have been using a medical cream for a vaginal infection, latex condoms WILL degrade and they WILL break on you! This is simply the chemistry behind the product.

One definite downside of using any lubricated condom is that for the most part, they use water-based lubes that contain glycerin. Most women can handle glycerin just fine, but since it is an alcohol sugar, it can exacerbate yeast problems in women prone to yeast infections. I've had a bad history with yeast, and two days after trying these condoms, I got an infection. So beware! These are good, reliable condoms that are extra-slick, but they WILL cause problems for the yeast-prone.

I'd heard after I discontinued use of these condoms that Lifestyles actually uses silicone-based lubricant. Unable to find any of this information online, I emailed Ansell (maker of Lifestyles condoms) for confirmation. The brand support manager responded rather quickly that silicone lube is used for all Lifestyles condoms with the possible exception of the strawberry-flavored ones, which use a glycerin-containing lubricant. I can only guess that my mild yeast infection after using the ultra-lubricated condoms were caused by something else.

So... good news for those of us who want to use condoms but don't want to buy non-lubricated or are worried about glycerin in the lube used! Lifestyles condoms are reliable, relatively comfy, and use silicone-based lube. As a bonus for me, I still get 'em for free!