Creamy. Rich. Decadent.
These are all terms that are regularly applied to sex toys but rarely are they as accurate (and literal) as when it comes to The Butters All-Natural Lube & Moisturizer.
The Butters All-Natural Lube & Moisturizer is an oil-based lubricant which aims to keep it as simple and natural as is possible. All-in-all this lubricant only has 9 ingredients, 6 of which are luxurious, nutrient-rich oils. You really can’t get much more natural and nurturing then that.
What drew me to The Butters was the fact that it’s also a viable option for vegans, as none of its ingredients are derived from animals and the product itself has not undergone any animal testing.
However I soon learnt that there’s much more to love about this lube beyond its au natural aspirations.
About LTASex
The Butters Lube is brought to us by Jerome, the mastermind behind LTASex. Jerome describes himself as ‘your average 28-year-old gay black polyamorous socially woke functionally impoverished chronically depressed and anxious PrEPared Atheist Dom’ which makes me adore him for his frank approach.
Jerome actually owns a pretty awesome blog space, where you can see multiple articles and YouTube videos on all topics sex and sexuality. I highly recommend checking this out and it’s nice to know that The Butters is the product of someone who is truly immersed in the industry and has their own personal investments in the product.
In fact Jerome states that the reason he made The Butters was because he was lacking a good lubricant to suit all of his needs. The Butters is the end product and is retailed at a very reasonable price (anywhere from $3.00 onwards) primarily because Jerome only charges what he personally feels is reasonable for his product. What a stand-up gent!
Despite coming from the US, my tub of The Butters arrived promptly and was nicely packed in a discreet manner. Given the ethos and approach of this company I can highly recommend LTASex and think that it’s fab that they’ve ventured in to the realms of personal lubricant.
The Butters All-Natural Lube & Moisturizer
But how about the product itself? Does The Butters Lube stand up to scrutiny? I personally think so but the more balanced answer is that it depends on what you want from a lubricant.
From the way The Butters Lube is formulated and marketed it’s very clear what Jerome wanted personally from his own product. The Butters Lube can act as both a lubricant and a moisturizer—suitable as a hair & skin conditioner, a massage lotion, a makeup remover, a shaving lubricant, an ashiness eraser, and tattoo aftercare (to name just a few of its many uses). Of course I tested this item mainly as a lubricant but I can attest to one thing: The Butters works really well as an all-body moisturizer. Just ask my now silky-smooth thighs.
The Butters is completely devoid of many of the questionable ingredients found on the shelves of certain retailers. You won’t find any scents, dyes, glycerine, sweeteners, parabens, alcohol, fillers, artificial stabilizers and thickeners, gluten, or phthalates in this lubricant. And, according to the label, it’s also ‘bullsh*t’-free too, which did make me chuckle a bit.
Instead here are the ingredients of The Butters:
Pure organic aloe vera fillet gel, raw grade a golden ghanaian shea butter, pure coconut oil, pure extra virgin olive oil, pure grapeseed oil, pure palm kernel oil, pure soy lipid emulsion, apple cider vinegar, arrowroot gel.
Each of these ingredient has a reason to be included in The Butters, though I believe the reasons for why are best conveyed by Jerome himself:
Aloe provides pure, easy to absorb moisture and prevents The Butters from feeling oily. Apple cider vinegar balances pH, manages bacteria, prevents yeast infections, and gently cleanses. Arrowroot prevents drips, increases the feeling of softness, and helps mix any lubrication your body makes with The Butters. Coconut and grapeseed oil give your skin essential vitamins and lipids, while offering immediate lubrication. Shea, palm, and lipid emulsion condition tissues, melts into slick long lasting lubrication, and offers healing properties for delicate areas.
On his site Jerome also lists additional benefits for each ingredient which is easy to navigate and sounds very promising (though I wish sources were linked for each claim).
It’s fair to say that, although I’ve tried oil-based lubricants before, I’ve never has anything quite like The Butters, and so I made sure to give this lubricant some very thorough testing.
Scent-wise The Butters relies on the natural fragrance of its 6 natural oils and this gives The Butters a very pleasant, subtle oil-like aroma that has a hint of shea butter to it. This scent may be a deterrent for anyone who dislikes the smell of cooking oils (as it also smells similar to these) but it really is incredibly minor and near-undetectable until held very close to the nose.
Taste-wise The Butters is, again, incredibly mild and the main flavour you’ll get is, no surprise here, oil. Because of this The Butters is fine for use during oral sex but I personally wouldn’t recommend it—not only because it’s an unnecessary intake of oil (and thus calories) but it also feels like you’re sucking a penis or vulva covered in butter (which is accurate, really). This leave your mouth feeling oily, which isn’t necessarily pleasant at all.
No, this product is definitely best when used as a classic personal lubricant, and it serves this process extremely well.
Considering this product is called ‘The Butters’ you might expect that it feels like butter when first applied, but this isn’t quite the case. Instead The Butters feels like a pleasantly creamy combination between butter and an expensive moisturizer. This leads to a product which lacks the thickness of butter and wisely replaces it with the light smoothness of moisturizer while still keeping a slick, luscious sensation when slathered over the skin.
This is one of those lubricants which truly makes you feel like you’re pampering yourself when using it, and a little actually goes quite a long way. The Butters has a natural grab to it which adds a sense of grip to any toy of shaft that it comes in to contact with, but this is perfectly balanced with the smooth and gliding qualities of this lubricant as it melts in to a warm, rich lubricant on the surface of the skin.
When using The Butters during intercourse it enabled rapid thrusting and prolonged use without issue but managed to make Mr. Peaches’ shaft almost grab against my vaginal walls to some degree in a manner that really accentuated the natural shape of his penis. The result was definitely a more intense experience and I never once felt the need to reapply more lubricant, even though The Butters lacked the distinct ‘wet’ feeling that I get using water-based lubricants (my general go-to).
With toys The Butters was even more exceptional in some ways and this is because of the lubricant’s willingness to rejuvenate when it comes in to contact with the body. Because The Butters is thicker than your average lube it provides a nice buffer for strong vibrations without detracting from them at all. And, again, even though this lubricant left me feeling noticeably aqua-free during use (which was a surreal sensation for me at first) it still managed to make thrusting even my most highly textured of toys an absolute breeze.
But, best of all, because this lubricant melts upon contact with the body I could often place down toys I wasn’t playing with then return to them and, voila, within a few thrusts my body temperature had caused The Butters to regain its slick slide.
This is something I’ve never really experienced in the same way with water-based or silicone lubricant and it was a real point in The Butters’ favour, as I felt like I was getting a lot more value and use for the amount I used.
Cleaning toys and body parts after using The Butters was also incredibly easy. Soap and water did the trick with my sex toys—cutting through The Butters without issue—and I simply spread The Butters further in to my body and allowed it to naturally massage in to my skin. The result of this is that things are feeling a bit suppler down there, even after a relatively short period of time. I’d call this a win-win situation.
From experience I’ve also found that The Butters doesn’t stain sheets or clothing, or leave a mark at all, which is a considerable upside compared to silicone lubricants—which provide a similarly long-lasting product but can have issues with staining. Unlike silicone The Butters can also be used with silicone sex toys, though I’d avoid using it with TPR/E.
Now, while I might really like this lubricant there are a few things that I need to stress before I give this product my whole-hearted thumbs up. As it stands The Butters doesn’t really have any definitive flaws, per say, but using it does require some extra consideration compared to other lubricants, so here goes.
Unlike water-based and silicone lubricants, oil-based lubricant will damage and potentially break latex and polyisoprene condoms (such as Durex and Skyn). This means that if you want to use The Butters and a condom (or similar barrier-based protection) you’ll need to factor in the material of the condom. The only compatible condom material for use with oil-based lubricants is polyurethane, but not everyone likes how this material feels.
Trojan sells polyurethane condoms but generally polyurethane condoms tend to be harder to find, much more expensive than their silicone counterparts, and a little bit less reliable. These are all things to keep in mind before you grab for The Butters as you don’t want to be caught without a condom or, worst, using the wrong kind.
It’s also important to note that The Butters comes in a tub and not a tube or other dispenser and this means additional precautions need to be taken too.
Once you’ve scooped out some of The Butters and applied it you can’t just re-scoop another dollop without potentially getting bacteria and other germs in to the rest of the batch. This means that you either have to religiously wash your hands in between every reapplication or simply guess the amount you’ll need and go in for a single dollop (two at most if you’re happy with oiling up both hands).
This may not seem like a problem for some but when you’re using multiple toys and you want to swap them out and give each of them a bit of lube it becomes a bit more of a logistical nightmare.
The easy fix for this is for The Butters to move away from tubs in future and towards tubes or something similar, but I’m not sure if this is a viable option while still keeping prices low. Personally I wouldn’t mind paying a few more dollars if I knew I could get unhindered access to my lubricant rather than worrying about cross contamination if I’m craving some more.
And, as a final note, while The Butters may be vegan in the sense that it’s free from animal products it does contain palm oil, which I know is a huge point of debate among the vegan community. If you wish to know why palm oil is avoided like the plague by many then please do follow this link. And, while there are ‘sustainable’ sources of palm oil these are also brought in to question by some. Because of this if you’re a vegan (or ethical consumer) it is important to consider whether or not buying The Butters is still in keeping with your personal values and where you draw the line.
In future I would love to see Jerome move away from using palm oil and feel like, if he did, this product would be the perfect oil-based lubricant for me too.
Final Thoughts
Overall I’m absolutely thrilled with The Butters and can honestly say that no other lubricant on the market feels quite like this exceptional and affordable product.
The fact that The Butters was made by someone so passionate about the adult community is the icing on the cake for this deliciously natural treat. This product has so many practical applications beyond just lubricating the body that I am honestly in a bit of awe, especially when it comes to how easy it made revisiting toys during a long tester session. It was upon that discovery that I realized just how truly magical this lubricant is.
The Butters is like my spirit lubricant in this regard and I honestly think it could be many sex toy tester’s dream come true.
If you’re looking for an oil-based lubricant then The Butters is an incredibly strong contender and I highly recommend it. No ‘Ifs’ or ‘But-ters’!