Not Your Mama’s Lube

Embracing an age-old necessity in a modern world…

Hillary Quinn

We apologize in advance for putting the words mother and lubricant in the same sentence. But cringe away, because the practice of using a little something extra to get the slip-slide going is not a novelty. Just ask the early Greeks, who relied on olive oil for a lot more than making gyros and spanakopita. Or couples in 17th century Japan, who cobbled together a slippery sex aid by grating up a mother-load of yams (a practice that somehow found its way into one brilliantly memorable episode of the Netflix hit, Grace and Frankie). In fact, it wasn’t until 1904 that a legitimate personal lubricant—like, actually sold in a tube—hit the market. And even then it was for “medical purposes only.”

What is novel—and something Mom, the Greeks, the Japanese, and early-American pharmaceutical geniuses didn’t have the pleasure of experiencing—is the introduction of lubricants that are sophisticated, safe, and openly marketed for sexual gratification. (And, in the case of Pulse, FDA-cleared, warmed, and sold in environmentally-friendly, recyclable Pods.) According to Pulse founder, Amy Buckalter, “In our mother’s time, lubricants were used almost exclusively for easing discomfort and pain, especially with virginity and menopause. But now we’re seeing a true relaxation around the concept.” As in: Not only are the over-50s viewing personal lubricant as a legitimate way to have fun, enhance pleasure, and be creative in the bedroom, but they’ve paved the way for millennials, a whopping 43 percent of whom are shamelessly getting in on the act, not a dry spell in sight.

Olive oil and yams will always be popular. Thankfully, they’re just being cooked up a little differently these days.

Hillary Quinn is a national lifestyle writer, whose work has appeared in many magazines, newspapers, and websites, including Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Good Housekeeping, and Brides.