I have a cool job, or as my fifteen year old son would correct me, it is fresh! I get to imagine and then sell amazing love products. My husband bought into the concept because he of course gets to be the primary tester. This is a real perk in a love products company. I have learned a lot about product formulation and ingredients over the years, but what I have learned about love and marriage has been even more inspiring.

So here is the big key that I wish someone had told me years ago – the more you love your partner, the more loving they become. Ever since I started this little love business, our marriage has improved steadily and our sex life is better than any other married couple I know.

Love products are an essential part of any good married life and make great nightstand reminders to love each other. Good love products that are made with natural ingredients should invite the healthy exploration of touch and scent that can often be a more easily understood form of communication. Sometimes it is good to give our words and voices a rest and let our bodies lead us to the communicating and bonding that they carry inside. In fact, after decades of marriage, I would say that it is through the physical conversations that I connect with my husband in ways that words cannot. This connection is where sex is making love.

Good love products should make touching, kissing and smelling each other better. They should be made with natural ingredients that actually interact with your brain and don’t leave nasty and sticky residue on your skin. The products you use for love should make you feel like you love yourself and as far as I am concerned that leaves petro- chemicals out of the mix entirely. Surprisingly over 90% of the OTC lubes available are made with chemicals designed first for cars or oven cleaner. Many women have severe reactions to these products and because they are all made with the same base ingredients; many women come to the false conclusion that they don’t like sex. (It’s the products…)

Scent is the most basic reflex we have when it comes to sexual attraction. Imagine kissing someone who smells bad to you. Love products that capitalize on true scent are actually waking up the limbic part of your brain, where memory, sexuality and emotion are conveniently stored. The gentle nudge of scents gets that arousal mechanism going and after kissing and massaging with aphrodisiac scents, your imagination (which is a really important sex organ) lets loose. Cleopatra knew this; she was known to make love on a bed of rose petals 10 inches deep.

Lubrication is at the core of good feelings in sexuality. When you are young and fit, it is a natural mechanism that just happens, reminding you that you feel sexy. As we age and experience more of life’s cycles (kids, nursing, illnesses and some medications) we often don’t get those messages from our body. The cool thing, or well the fresh thing is this – if you can apply a good and natural lube to your body and wake up those arousal feelings yourself. Anything that is oiled, wet, slick and smooth feels sexier than the same body part dry.

Stay tuned and we will review a variety of love products and toys that you might want to include in your love first aid kit. If you have questions about products or toys send them in and I will be happy to share what I know.

Lubrication is a fact of life. In any relationship where working parts are at play, whether it be an engine, a dinner party or an evening of love, everything works better when it is “well oiled.” Lubrication allows for glide, ease and effectiveness.  When lubrication is working well, it is invisible, a thought we don’t have. When it isn’t working, we know it immediately, although not always by its name. An engine without oil locks up in minutes, awkward silence and uncomfortable gazing down into the lap is immediately recognizable.

Lacking lubrication in intimacy can take on multiple forms and occur for a myriad of reasons. Age, childbearing and nursing and some medications are often the cause of vaginal dryness and its associated pain in sex. Often this physiological issue is accompanied by a lack of sexual drive because our natural lubrication also acts as a sign that we are aroused. I remember in my teens and twenties when vaginal wetness was a fact of life and arousal happened sometimes without even noticing it. Those body memories are stored deep in our psyche, and the good news is that triggering them can be as easy as finding the right lubrication.

There are many brands of lubricants available on the market.  Largely they break down into three main categories- water- based lubricants, silicone-based lubricants and oil-based lubricants. Each category has its strengths and weaknesses and it is increasingly important to be informed about the choices and consequences associated with different product ingredients. I started my own love product company because so many products that I used after the birth of my third and fourth child only served to further irritate the situation.  Soaking myself in late night baths, I often wondered what was wrong with me and why none of these products were helping me enjoy sex. Being exhausted with burning genitals, instead of feeling satisfied, made it easy to believe that the problem was with me, not the products.

Water-based lubricants are by far the most popular variation because they are most often recommended by physicians and are latex compatible. However, because of their chosen ingredient base, which are largely petrochemical, many women experience continuous irritation, burning and infection. These include propylene glycol, which is a primary derivative used in anti-freeze and brake fluid, polyethylene glycol, an ingredient of oven cleaner and the use of preservatives methyl and propyl-parabens. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a research advocate arm of the Breast Cancer Fund, has recently identified parabens as potentially carcinogenic and is working to stop their usage in all personal care products. Another popular ingredient of water-based lubricants is vegetable glycerin. There is some debate about glycerin; on the plus side, it is a great anti-bacterial agent and does provide a certain glide, but in large proportions has a tendency to inflame yeast problems and usually ends up very sticky and overly sweet.

Silicone-based lubricants are enjoyed by many, with great response. Silicone is apparently provides excellent smooth and long lasting glide. However,  silicone carries its own health risks and does not wash off sensitive tissue with soap and water. Natural oil-based lubricants offer a sensuous and aromatic choice for individuals who are either allergic to latex or have other birth control methods. Love oils and butters gave me my first really positive and healing sex experience and helped me launch my business in natural love products.   The use of olive oil and coconut oil as lubricants is ages old, and for good reason.

I have researched  product chemistry and really believe that many intimacy products suffer from a serious lack of imagination. We applied ourselves to finding an alternative and thanks to healthy collective questioning and a great lab, we came up with our new and improved 95% organic ingredient lubricant. Made with aloe vera, xanthan gum, agar-agar, and the cleanest preservative formula we could find made of potassium sorbate and benzoic acid. We eliminated vegetable glycerin in our new formulations, since the ingredient is associated with yeast and other sensitivities for customers. The new formulations also remove the coloration of the lubricants thanks to a new distilled form of the all-natural scents the products are known for. All in all, I really don’t think you can get a cleaner, fresher lube. I guarantee it will take twenty years off your sex drive…

Whether you use our lubricant or another variety of your choice, realize that the body can teach the mind, and arousal and sexual enhancement may be as close as the bottle on your night stand.

“Chemistry can be a good and bad thing. Chemistry is good when you make love with it. Chemistry is bad when you make crack with it.” -Adam Sandler

Welcome to our newest writing adventure, “Chemistry without Chemicals,” the official Good Clean Love product blog. Look here to find great tips on how to make your love life more passionate and exciting. Learn new and different ways to use the wide range of Good Clean Love products. Get up-to-date information about why a healthy sexual life can benefit your overall health. Hear about the exciting new products and services that Good Clean Love will be offering in the future.

Product reviews and testimonials will be shared here so feel free to send your opinions about what you love about our product line and company philosophy. If you have suggestions for how to improve our product line, let us know. Real relationships work best when they are transparent. This is what we are hoping to offer in this blog, our personal stories about why the world needs more love products.

We will also be giving tips: product tips and love tips. So here is a golden one to start with:

Give up the idea of being in the mood or feeling emotionally satisfied as the impetus for intimate contact. Think of it, instead, as a health resource. There is no other physical act at our disposal that carries the physical, emotional and spiritual benefits of making love, especially with someone you love.

So stay tuned and tell your friends about the best little love company in the world that keeps getting better…