Once upon a time, if someone said the word “lubricant” to me, I'd automatically assume they were talking about KY. It seemed to me that KY was the only lubricant for sex on the market, even though that wasn't really true. It's just the most popular, the most visible. You can pick it up in any grocery store or pharmacy. It is amazingly common. But you know what? Gas station coffee is common, but that doesn't mean it's good.

KY is a water-based lubricant with the ingredients listed as: Purified water, Glycerin, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Chlorhexidine Gluconate, Gluconolactone, Methylparaben, Sodium Hydroxide. If you try to focus on natural ingredients in body products like I do, at the very least mythlparaben is going to jump out at you, especially with the safety of parabens being called into question across the globe. If you are prone to infection, you'll notice one of the main ingredients is glycerin. It's enough to make me wary.

Maybe you don't particularly care about the ingredient list. Let's say you just want something that works. KY is thick and slick. It greatly reduces friction like most other lubricants. However, KY is so gloopy and thick...You know what? There's really no polite way to put this. It's so thick it feels cold. Really cold. Most lubricants I've tried adjust to body temperature really fast. KY takes a bit longer to warm up. It can ruin the mood if you are sensitive.

KY lasts a little longer than other lubricants I've tried, which isn't surprising. It's probably the thickest lubricant that calls itself a gel/jelly that I've had experience with, but once it starts to dry it leaves a sticky residue. The residue is so thick, in fact, that if you rub it into your skin, all you have to do to bring it back is sprinkle water on that spot. Depending on what you want it for, this may be a good or bad thing. Personally, I don't like my lubes to leave so much residue behind and I sometimes have trouble getting it off.

Shall we see how it stacks up to some other gels? If you've read some of my other lubricant reviews, you know about this test. I simply put a small amount of lubricant in my palm and rub my hands together until the lubricant is either gone or would need to be reapplied. I compared KY, Sliquid Organics Gel and Wet Gel. Here's how they went:

Wet Gel: After 30 seconds of rubbing, the amount seemed much reduced and the texture was very soapy (like I rubbed liquid soap on my hands). At one minute, there was a lot of friction. At 1:30, it was pretty much gone but left a sticky residue.

Sliquid: Slightly soapy as I rubbed, but at 2 minutes it was gone with no residue and left no trace.

KY: Starts to lose some slickness after 1 minute, very sticky at 3 minutes, and reapplication would have been needed at 4.

As you can see, KY lasts a little bit longer than some of it's competitors, but it still has the problem of a sticky residue. As for viscosity, at least the KY will stay put. Take a look.




If you need a lubricant right now, this minute, and are out, it's easy to grab some KY. It's not particularly expensive and easy to get your hands on. However, if you are ordering online, be aware that there are better options without the residue and better ingredients.