August 17, 2018
For this review i picked up four bottles of Sliquid lube from my local Smitten Kitten:
After researching Sliquid online, I was star-struck when I saw them on the shelves at Smitten Kitten. After all, their lubes are 100% vegan friendly, they never use animal testing, and it’s made in the USA. The bottles are very colorful and their logo is even a flower! If there was ever such a thing as a perfect lube company for me to review, Sliquid seemed to be it.
For extra research, I also interviewed Carla from Sliquid with a few questions. She taught me a lot about lube ingredients, and I included a few quotes from her in this review.
With water lubes, you have to keep the bottle nearby in order to re-apply it when it dries out. But with silicone-based lubricant, like Sliquid Silver, you can grab a squirt and put the bottle away for the night. It’s really the lube that keeps going and going and going.
It also ignores water, making it good for sex in the shower or bath. The downside of this is that it is tough to get it off when you are finished using it, you have to wipe your hands off a dozen times.
The feel of silicone lube is different than water-based lubes and hard to describe. With water-based lubes, i can still feel the ridges of my fingerprints through the lube as I swirl it around, but with sililcone lube their is some extra cushion there. It is also less creamy and more jelly-like in my mind, almost like a ‘bouncy’ liquid, if that makes sense.
Scent – The smell is pretty much non-existent. There is a faint smell of something, a bit similar to how an unscented massage oil smells.
Packaging – As for the bottle itself, it has reflective silvery lettering, which is unique in the Sliquid naturals line of lubes.
Sliquid Naturals Silver only contains 3 ingredients Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Dimethiconol. Our ingredients are 100% silicone and does not contain Vitamin E, as most others do, which would make it have an expiration date” – Carla from Sliquid
Sliquid Silk is a hybrid lubricant with a silky opaque look. Hybrid here means it combines silicone-based with water-based lube to get the most attractive qualities of each.
One of those qualities is lasting longer and not drying out as quick as water-based lubes.
In my experience, Silk lasts about twice as long as the H20 lube. Oh, and it’s also cleanable! I can actually wash it off me when i’m done, unlike with silicone lube, which is quite clingy.
It also contains cream emollients so it acts like a moisturizer, as well as a lube. This makes it a great lube if you experience chronic dryness, and it can also work as a lotion for your hands.
When using it for sex, it feels ‘softer’ compared to the Silver lube, like a slippery lotion that doesn’t absorb into the skin as quickly. I think ‘Silk’ is the perfect name for it.
Smell – The scent of the this lube smells fruity to me, like lemons, probably caused by the citric acid ingredient. It’s not a strong smell though, and I can only smell it if I bring it right to my nose.
Ingredients: Purified Water, Plant Cellulose, Isopropyl Palmitate, Polysorbate 20, Dimethicone, Emollient Ester, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid.
Sliquid Silk is the best of both worlds where the thicker consistency of a water-based product meets the super-slick functionality of a silicone, combined with moisturizing cream emollients that make it perfect for lessening friction during intercourse for self pleasure. This product has great “staying power”, as in it stays in the place you put it because of its viscosity. It’s also longer-lasting than a traditional water-based because of the silicone.” – Carla from Sliquid
Sliquid Sea is made from the Sliquid H20 lubricant plus added the seaweed extracts Carrageenan, Wakame and Nori. These seaweed ingredients contain vitamin B which is good for hydration if you have dry skin.
The Carrageenan ingredient also has gentle antimicrobial effects and is believed to reduce the risk of STIs. In this study, a Carrageenan gel appeared to reduce the risk of HPV infection in women. Don’t by any means take this as a free pass to avoid protection though, there is still more research to be done.
Scent – To my nose it has a faint smell of lemons, the same as H20 and Silk.
Feel – As for feel it feels like a natural water-based lube. I can’t feel any difference between Sea and H20, though.
Carla from Sliquid, also recommended it as a good moisturizing lubricant if you want to avoid silicone products:
I would recommend Sea to anyone who wants to avoid silicone for whatever reason, it’s completely water-based but still offers some moisturizing aspect for those who are experiencing dryness” – Carla from Sliquid
Ingredients – Purified Water, Plant Cellulose (from Cotton), Carrageenan, Nori, Wakame, Cyamopsis (Guar Conditioners), Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid
H20 is a water based lube with an osmolality equal to the mucous membranes of the vagina. It has natural ingredients and avoids nasty things like petroleum jelly that can shrivel the mucous membrane cells. Take a look at my big lube guide to learn more about osmolality.
Compared to the other natural water-based lube I tried, ‘Astroglide Natural’, it lasts longer without drying out or needing re-application. Astroglide Natural also contains questionable ingredients like pectin and phenoxyethanol, here’s a comparison of the ingredients.
Sliquid H20 Ingredients: Purified Water, Plant Cellulose (from Cotton), Cyamopsis (Guar Conditioners), Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid
Astroglide Natural Ingredients: Purified Water, Xylitol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Pectin, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Potassium Ascorbyl Tocopheryl Phosphate (Vitamin C & E), Lactic Acid, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Phenoxyethanol.
H2O is our simplest formula, consisting of only 5 ingredients, 96% of that being purified water. This product is formulated to emulate the thickness and viscosity of your own body’s natural moisture.” – Carla from Sliquid
The expiration date on all the lubes I purchased is in the Spring of 2021, about 3 years from now. I asked Carla about this and she said that because the water-based lubes use natural ingredients they will eventually expire, Silver silicone-based lube on the other hand is inert and has no expiration date.
If it does expire it becomes less effective as a lubricant, and mold can even grow in it. The lube can also go bad quicker than the expiration date if you leave the bottle open, so make sure to close the top after using it.
I made a quarter-size dab of each lube on a piece of plexiglass for a bit of testing. The water-based lubes look more familiar, with a glistening gooey look. They also hold themselves together and don’t spread out much.
But the silicone based lube?
Sliquid Silver kept spreading itself out, and would roll right off the Plexiglass if I let it. It also reflects less light than the other lubes, making it much harder to see.
For the final picture, I ‘raced’ each lube down a piece of Plexiglass. The Silk barely even nudged, while the H20 and Sea coasted more predictably downward. The Sliquid Silver descended a bit slower than the two water-based guys, but it had already fanned out before the race, which probably affected its performance.
Sliquid has over 74 products listed in its shop and 21 different kinds of lubricants. I don’t have the money to review all of them, so i’m going to do the next best thing and list them all out here.
The Sliquid Lube is separated into two categories: Naturals and Organic. They also have a newer line of body care products called ‘Balance’.
Naturals is a broad collection that contains everything from water-based lubes, to silicone lubes, to a coconut-based lube.
Notice how most of them start with the letter S for a fun alliteration. Try to say all the lube names five times fast for a slippery tongue twister.
Each organic brand is a naturals lube infused with extra ingredients like organic aloe vera and extra botanical extracts.
These body care products meant for luxurious relaxation. It’s a new line of products and definitely something to try out if you are a Sliquid fan (me). It also adds three more S-products to add to the Sliquid tongue twister.
Sliquid also has lube dispensers, lube sample packs, and a bunch of t-shirts to choose from.
Sliquid products are sold by woman-owned sex shops like Smitten Kitten, Self Serve, and Sugar who are all very careful about the quality and safety of the products they sell. When I buy a Sliquid lube I feel like i’m in good hands, and I can’t recommend their lubes enough!
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