QUICK NOTE ON BUTTS!
- Posted on
This evening, the Art of Loving sex shop in Vancouver is hosting one of our many seminars: Anal Play for Women. I'm often present for this one; the presenter (the ever knowledgeable Reddest of Robyn) and I seem to have similar schedules and so here I am. And while I type away in the back office, I often tune in and out of the seminar going on behind me. This evening I happened to pick up a piece of information that I hadn't known before, and it seemed so important that I thought I'd share.
A little background here. We're talking butts, and we're talking the system attached to them: the Digestive System. The rectum, which is actually the end portion of the large intestine, is designed to pull water out of food matter, turning it into something easy to pass (poop. I may as well just say poop.) Why am I telling you this, you may ask? It's actually super relevant!
Butts, unlike vaginas, aren't self-lubricating. And so while they're chalk-full of nerve endings and super fun to play with, added lubrication is absolutely paramount for comfort and safety. The majority of lubricants are water based, meaning the primary ingredient is water, with other added components to make that water thicker and slipperier. These kinds of lubricants are great for many kinds of sex, as they feel natural and can be made with organic and botanical ingredients. However, given what we now know about the water absorbing nature of the large intestine, and by extension, the rectum, water based lubes aren't actually the best for butts. The walls of the large intestine will quickly adsorb the water, and whatever other ingredients are mixed into it, meaning things will get sticky fast.
Silicone lube, on the other hand, does not absorb into the body. It sits on the surface, staying slippery, for much much longer than water. This makes it the ideal lube for anal play (and its a great moisturizer too!) This is great for sex toys too, so long as they aren't themselves made of silicone. (If your sex toys ARE made of silicone, and I totally understand because silicone sex toys are AWESOME, try using coconut oil! Just make sure you aren't mixing coconut oil and latex, as the former degrades the latter.)