The New York Times - Our guide to lube

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The Recommendation

You can do better than drugstore lube

Four personal lubricants pictured with fruit.
Photo: Michael Murtaugh

Personal lubricant can enhance both solo and partnered sex, making the experience more comfortable and pleasurable overall. But finding the right one can be tricky.

To find the best ones, we tried 29 options: We assessed the feel, smell, and taste of each, and we considered factors like packaging (Is the bottle travel friendly? Is it discreet enough to display?), price, and consistency. And we interviewed experts, including sex educators, doctors, sex-toy store owners, and even the chief science officer of a major lube company.

After all that, we’re sure that there is no single best lube for every body and every sexual activity. But we did find six great standout options for different needs to help kick-start your search.

The lubes we recommend→

We independently review everything we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more ›


What’s hot at Wirecutter

Nine pairs of sunglasses of varies colors and styles, neatly arranged in three rows.

Our favorite cheap sunglasses

We found seven high-quality pairs that won’t break the bank→

Two images with a border, one of a pizza on a wooden cutting board and one of a pizza coming out of the Ooni Koda 16 Gas Powered Pizza Oven.

“This outdoor pizza oven transports me back to Italy”

How one Wirecutter journalist uses a portable pizza oven to whip up divine crusts and melty cheese pulls in her backyard→

A selection of our favorite gifts that'll last forever, including a butter warmer, scissors, a trivet, and a leather tote.

23 gifts that’ll last forever (or extremely close)

Including beautiful wooden bowls and a luxurious leather tote→

Plus: The best vibrators

Five of the vibrators we tested for this guide, including all of our picks for best vibrator, shown side by side.
Photo: Sarah Kobos

Shopping for sex toys can be intimidating for first-time buyers and experienced users alike. After 10 years of research and testing, we still think our (widely beloved) top pick is the best vibrator. No other toy offers the same level of power and intensity. And as an added bonus …

It’s an effective body massager, too→

Yep. We really do test everything.

You can reach the Wirecutter Newsletters team at newsletters@wirecutter.com. We can’t always respond, but we do love to hear from you.

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