When I requested the Back it Up Anal Gel, I had no idea it would be so different to all the other lubes I've tried back there. The Back it Up Anal Gel has a very unusual quality, it has a light numbing effect! Now I don't know if people like that kind of thing and I can certainly see how it could be attractive to people who are new and/or scared of anal play because of pain or the idea of pain but for me it was really just WEIRD and made me think "well if I can't feel back there, I could do myself a mischief!". But for the purposes of this review I soldiered on and went at it nice and slow with my smallest set of anal beads.


-Bottle / Packaging

The Back it UP Anal Gel comes in a fairly cool cylindrical pump style bottle, it has a clear cap over the
rather large, easy push pump top and has a cool little plug pushed into the nozzle so stop any leaks. The bottle itself is quite striking in its simplicity, a stark white cylinder with a dark grey UP! logo and some black font underneath it saying "Back It Up" and "Water-Based Anal Gel". The back of the bottle lists that it's "Sensually enhanced with pomegranate and acai, It's fragrance free, sugar free, PH balanced desensitizing gel". It also mentions that it is 100% vegan and not tested on animals. There are other bits and pieces you would expect on the back too like, directions for use, manufacturer info and contact details.
Overall the bottle isn't discreet even though it is understated, if left out where visitors could see I would guess that would likely over look it but anyone who didn't just give it a passing glance can easily read what it's meant for.

-Ingredients

The back of the bottle also has the ingredients list which looks like this:

propylene glycol (Found in lots of food additives and other cosmetics)
benzocaine(0.5%) (A local anesthetic and a topical pain reliever)
water (We all know what that is... right?)
euterpe oleracea fruit extract (Extracted from the Açaí palm)
punica granatum extract (Extracted from the Pomegranate)
carbomer (used as thickening, dispersing, suspending and emulsifying agents in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics)
triethanolamine (used primarily as an emulsifier and surfactant. It is a common ingredient in formulations used for both industrial and consumer products like laundry detergent and hand washes)
methylparaben (produced naturally and found in several fruits, primarily blueberries, along with other parabens)
propylparaben (the propyl ester of p-hydroxybenzoic acid, occurs as a natural substance found in many plants and some insects, although it is manufactured synthetically for use in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and foods)
diazolidinyl urea (an antimicrobial preservative used in cosmetics)

-Texture / Colour / Taste / Smell

The Back it Up Anal Gel is fairly thin for an anal lube. It's a lovely crystal clear fluid but it is just that, a fluid not really a gel which means it does tend to slide off a toy or even your fingers and body heat only makes it worse unfortunately.
The lube has almost no smell which I really liked, there's no fragrance and not even any chemical smell. The taste is slightly sweet and not unpleasant but please take my word for it because it does numb and it did numb my tongue for quite some time (approx 20 mins, Trust me talking like you've had novocaine is NOT sexy).
The lube also rinses off very easily and does not stand up well to play in water.

As I mentioned before, I was a bit apprehensive about trying the lube since it numbs my back passage but I decided that because it is my review item that I would give it a go and got out my beginners anal beads (I didn't want to try anything larger for safety reasons). I lubed up both my back door and the toy and even though I can take my beginners beads pretty easily the slickness of the lube certainly helped.
The numbing sensation was pretty distracting and made the whole session pretty clinical, more like an experiment than a play session and so it was pretty pleasureless for me but a great learning experience none the less.

Honestly, this lube is kinda scary. Its not badly made at all but the numbing thing is just too weird for me. I probably won't use this ever again.