Astroglide review
Published: March 28, 2008
extremely useful review
Astroglide is a decent water-based lube. Not the best and not the worst. Better than most of the KY products, but it does tend to get sticky and has unfavorable ingredients.
Pros:
Water based. Easy to find at most drug stores.
Cons:
Not the best water based lube around. Tends to get sticky.
Astroglide is an extremely popular personal lubricant. The immense popularity of this product makes me hesitant to write this review. It is so popular that a lot of the people reading this review have probably already used the product at some point. If I say that Astroglide is lame, then I will make a lot of lube users upset. If I give it a glowing review, then I can’t be true to my personal feelings on the subject.
Before I go any further, I should say I consider myself to be somewhat of a lubricant purist, I don’t really get into any of the flavored, warming, or desensitizing lubes. I generally want my lube to do one thing – lubricate, so I will not be addressing any of those other items here.
I think a lot of Astroglide’s popularity comes from its availability. I think that one can get Astroglide more easily than just about any other personal lubricant outside of KY products. In my opinion, KY Jelly is one of the worst personal lubricants available, so Astroglide is definitely a step up from there. My main problems with Astroglide are some of its ingredients and that it does have a tendency to get sticky.
First I’ll address the stickiness. It has a thin consistency, so it is feels pretty good going on, but I don’t generally like it as an anal lube because it is so thin. I guess Astroglide gel would be better for anal, but distribution seems limited. I find that as Astroglide liquid dries it tends to get sticky which is not a favorable attribute in lube. Also, more is not always better when it comes to Astroglide because if I apply too much it seems like it starts gumming up. As far as taste is concerned, it doesn’t have a bad taste like some lubes which is a plus.
Now I’ll look at ingredients. Astroglide contains both glycerin (which has a tendency to cause yeast infections for some women) and parabens (which tend to irritate some vaginas). There is a glycerin and paraben free version available, and I just sent in a request for a free sample, but again, it seems that distribution is pretty limited. Most water based lubricants tend to have either glycerin or parabens or both. Wet Naturals are a notable exception. If you are prone to yeast infections, I might suggest Liquid Silk, or Maximus as these do not contain glycerin but they do tend to have a bitter taste. If you think that the parabens might be bothering you or your partner, then you might consider O’my natural lubricant, or Probe Silky Light.
All in all, I consider Astroglide to be a decent lube, but I feel that there are better options out there, so if you really want a good lube, you should look a little further than Astroglide. Let the hating begin – I can take it.
Before I go any further, I should say I consider myself to be somewhat of a lubricant purist, I don’t really get into any of the flavored, warming, or desensitizing lubes. I generally want my lube to do one thing – lubricate, so I will not be addressing any of those other items here.
I think a lot of Astroglide’s popularity comes from its availability. I think that one can get Astroglide more easily than just about any other personal lubricant outside of KY products. In my opinion, KY Jelly is one of the worst personal lubricants available, so Astroglide is definitely a step up from there. My main problems with Astroglide are some of its ingredients and that it does have a tendency to get sticky.
First I’ll address the stickiness. It has a thin consistency, so it is feels pretty good going on, but I don’t generally like it as an anal lube because it is so thin. I guess Astroglide gel would be better for anal, but distribution seems limited. I find that as Astroglide liquid dries it tends to get sticky which is not a favorable attribute in lube. Also, more is not always better when it comes to Astroglide because if I apply too much it seems like it starts gumming up. As far as taste is concerned, it doesn’t have a bad taste like some lubes which is a plus.
Now I’ll look at ingredients. Astroglide contains both glycerin (which has a tendency to cause yeast infections for some women) and parabens (which tend to irritate some vaginas). There is a glycerin and paraben free version available, and I just sent in a request for a free sample, but again, it seems that distribution is pretty limited. Most water based lubricants tend to have either glycerin or parabens or both. Wet Naturals are a notable exception. If you are prone to yeast infections, I might suggest Liquid Silk, or Maximus as these do not contain glycerin but they do tend to have a bitter taste. If you think that the parabens might be bothering you or your partner, then you might consider O’my natural lubricant, or Probe Silky Light.
All in all, I consider Astroglide to be a decent lube, but I feel that there are better options out there, so if you really want a good lube, you should look a little further than Astroglide. Let the hating begin – I can take it.
Follow-up commentary
20 months after original review
My opinion on Astroglide really has not changed over the years. I'm glad that a lot of stores are willing to make it available, because it is better than some other solutions, but it is nowhere near the best thing available. It's not a bad stepping stone in one's lubricant maturation, but it really should not be considered a good final destination. There are much better water based lubricants available on the market, and the field just keeps growing. Others do require more work to acquire than Astroglide, but they are definitely worth it. To sum up, don't stop here, keep looking.
This content is the opinion of the submitting contributor and is not endorsed by EdenFantasys.com
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Good review! I've purchased Astroglide for the first time and...well...i think it's overrated as far as personal lubricants go. It's a notch better than KY Lubes (which i use for anal because it has the perfect "gloppy-ness" that makes anal sex very pleasurable for me personally, though naturally there are better options and it does suck as a vagina lubricant), but as you said, i particularly find it too thin, watery, and sticky, and it dries up pretty quickly. The only good thing about Astroglide is that it's conveniently available and better than KY lubes, but THE best lubricant? I doubt it, but to each his/her own.
Foxxy, thanks for the comments. Glad to know there are others out there that feel Astroglide is over-rated. For anal sex, I really like Probe Silky Light which coincidentally is also made by BioFilm but is a thicker product.
YW! And also thanks for mentioning that there are some iffy ingredients in Astroglide that could cause yeast infections, i didn't know that, yikes!
I just noticed Roxxie's review. She rated it even lower than I did. I guess glycerin is a problem for some women, but a lot of water based lubes use it as a thickener, so if you want to avoid it, pay close attention to the ingredient list.
Good point about the availability! And it *is* better than KY! And thanks for the recommendation of Probe Sillky Light!
Demi, you are welcome for the recommendation. I think Probe is much better than Astroglide. I guess I just wish a better selection of lubes was more readily available so that if you can only get to a drug store or supermarket you can still get something worthwhile.
I prefer the Astroglide Gel that comes in a tube. Your right it is wonderful for anal. For me it is a real bedroom staple. For anyone that hasn't tried it, it is thicker and stays put longer than the original. I actually like my lubes like my lip gloss, a little sticky. I am not a big fan of silky lubes, maybe I just haven't found the right one.
I haven't really had the opportunity to experience Astroglide Gel first hand. Maybe I'll have to get my hands on some eventually. Thanks for the comments and information.
Ugh! Stickiness... I do not know if I can try this
As always, awesome review, I am just a year late on commenting, but it still is grade A review!
Thanks for another compliment, Viktor, I appreciate the comments no matter how late they are.
Astroglide has a pretty good following in some circles, but I think there are much better lubes out there.
We've had lousy experiences with Astroglide but were still tempted to try this. Thanks for the review.
If you have had lousy experiences in the past, why would you want to go back? You won't see me using it any time soon.