New Astroglide Natural

Astroglide is one of the biggest selling lubricants on the market.  Like KY, they have successfully launched themselves into drugstores, so are one of the most readily available personal lubricants as well.  Many people swear by Astroglide, but that may be due to them not having tried many other brands.

I was always a bit wary of using Astroglide myself as I had heard it had more foul chemicals in it like parabens than many other body-safe lubes.  So, when the company contacted me asking if I would like to try their new Natural Astroglide, an “all natural and botanical personal lubricant”,  I was eager to test out this new formula, as I try to use mainly natural, body-friendly lubes now.

Now, just because a products says it is natural, doesn’t mean it is body-safe.  You wouldn’t rub poison ivy on your pussy would you?  While Astroglide Natural is glycerin, alcohol, fragrance, flavoring and hormone free, it still contains parabens.  I thought this was strange since this is one of the main things most lube manufacturers are really trying to eliminate now, promoting themselves as paraben-free.

Why should you be worried about parabens?

“Parabens are a group of ubiquitous cosmetic preservatives. All parabens are synthetically produced by the esterification of para-hydroxybenzoic acid  that is in turn produced industrially from potassium phenoxide and carbon dioxide. As you can see, there’s nothing relatively green involved in the process.  Parabens are rapidly absorbed by the skin, metabolized, but not always readily excreted. The major metabolites of parabens have shown to accumulate in human body, especially in tissue of women’s reproductive organs such as breasts and ovaries. This happens because parabens act as environmental estrogens, substances that mimic estrogen hormones and break havoc on women’s hormonal balance. In studies on breast cancer patients, parabens were found in samples of breast tumors…”—The Green Beauty Guide

I don’t  want you to think that Astroglide is the only lube that has parabens in it.  Most likely what you are using right now contains parabens.  In fact, mostly likely every cosmetic product you own has parabens from your shampoo and facial cleanser to your lipstick and toothpaste. Yes, they are everywhere.

Still, it makes me wonder why when so many of the “green” body-safe lube companies are seeking to eliminate parabens, that Astroglide would leave them in.

The paraben issue not-withstanding, I had other issues with Astroglide Natural as a how well it works (or in this case doesn’t).  The consistency of this lube is more thick than thin.  It has a mild “hand-cream” smell and a slight tang to the taste, but is mainly odorless and tasteless.  I found this lube dried up fairly quickly (I applied it twice while masturbating) and gets pretty sticky once dry.  I actually had to wash right away as I felt so sticky and well… gross. It is one of the stickiest lubes I have tried, and for me just didn’t work effectively. So, I wouldn’t use this lube again just for that fact alone.

I guess for all the faithful Astroglide users out there, this is a better alternative to what they are used to.  But, like several of the companies who make personal lubricants, Astroglide is just one of the many who are trying to make a claim in the new “trendy” green market.  I sincerely doubt their motivation, however, unlike the  smaller companies who are dedicated to making safer products like Yes!, Intimate Organics, and Good Clean Love.  These companies forged ahead, against all odds, to create body-friendly, natural, organic lubes because they were concerned about what people where putting in their bodies, not because  it is trendy.

So, while it is a noble effort on Astroglide’s part, Natural Astroglide comes a little too late.  And, you forgot the parabens.