There’s one product that I talk about constantly, but almost never review: Lube.  Although lubricant is an important tool for great sex, I find it challenging to review.  There’s only so many things that you can say about lube, and by the time you’ve talked about how slippery it is, whether it lasts long enough and what toys it’s compatible with, you’re pretty much done.

I also don’t talk much about sexual enhancement products, such as stimulating gels and serums. I have a lot of mixed feelings about this type of product, and am usually quite hesitant to use them.  But a while back, My Little Secret sent me a bottle of Discover from Intimate Earth to try.  Discover is a G-spot serum that’s vegan and organic. It claims to “Enhance the size and sensitivity of the G-spot”.  I decided to lift my moratorium on reviewing sex serums and give this one a go.

One of the reasons that I don’t usually review products of this kind is that I’m not prepared to put my vagina on the line.  A lot of lubricants and serums contain really dodgy ingredients that can cause a host of problems below the belt, from irritation and dryness to full-blown yeast infections. After many  dreadful experiences with awful lubes, I’ve got a few that I love and tend not to venture beyond those.

See, the vagina has it’s own little ecosystem.  If left alone, will happily maintain a balance all by itself.  But that balance is easily disrupted when we put things in the vagina that have no business being there.  Some of the worst offenders are sugars, soaps, glycerin and parabens.  When choosing a lube, a good rule of thumb is to find something with as few ingredients as possible.  The best lubes are simple, fragrance-free and don’t disrupt that delicate pH.

So you can imagine my wariness when I looked at the long list of ingredients on the back of the Discover bottle.  The Intimate Earth branding is all about being “organic” and “vegan”, but that doesn’t mean that these products are necessarily good for you.  There are a lot of fruit extracts in this product which may disrupt the PH of the vagina.  It doesn’t contain glycerin or parabens, which is a plus. The label states that it’s “Menthol Free” but it does contain Menthyl Lactate, which is made from menthol.  The combination of menthyl lactate and peppermint leaf extract is what gives the cooling, stimulating sensation.

I did a quick patch test on the inside of my arm before I would risk putting this anywhere near my gentials.  The serum comes in a convenient pump bottle and has a light gel consistency.  It smells strongly of peppermint, which I really like. While it does feel cool when it first hits the skin, I didn’t feel any significant cooling sensation after the serum was applied.  In fact, the patch that I’d applied to didn’t feel any more sensitive than the rest of my skin.  I gave it an experimental lick which confirmed that it tastes awful, despite the minty taste. So if you were using this on your genitals, oral sex would be off the table until you’d showered.

I then ventured south to try this on my actual G-Spot.  The directions on the bottle instruct you to apply a pea sized amount and stimulate manually until the G-Spot increases in size.  The serum is supposed to enhance the size and sensitivity of the G-Spot.  I did just as the bottle said, and found that my G-Spot did in fact increase in size and sensitivity.

Here’s the thing though.  The G-Spot contains erectile tissue, just like the penis and the clitoris.  Generally speaking, stimulation of these areas causes an increase in blood flow, which in turn causes them to swell and become more sensitive.  So the reason that the G-Spot is becoming larger and more sensitive isn’t due to the serum, it’s because you’re rubbing it.  I used the serum several times during some G-Spot-centric play sessions. I had a number of G-Spot orgasms, which were not any different to other G-Spot orgasms I’ve had.  Although the serum didn’t hinder the experience, I’m also not convinced that it enhanced it either.

My general feeling on this product is that it produces a result that would occur if you were doing the exact same action with a regular, water-based lubricant.  It claims to give you a more satisfying and intense experience, but I’m not convinced it does anything at all.  When I took a look at Intimate Earth’s other stimulating serums and gels, I saw a few other products that fall into the same bucket. For example, they have a “vaginal tightening” serum which is aimed at people who have given birth and which plays on the fear many people have that their vagina will be “ruined” after childbirth.  Intimate Earth also have two “anal relaxing” serums, one for men and one for women. However the two products contain the exact same ingredients and the only discernible difference is the packaging.

Overall, I feel like a lot of the products in the Intimate Earth range seem to be marketed to “solve” a non-existent problem.  There are a lot of questionable ingredients (for example, the vaginal tightening serum contains capsicum) and the claims are centered on sexual insecurities rather than empowering people to explore their sexuality with confidence.  The only products that didn’t raise concerns for me were their Hydra lubricant and their range of massage oils.

Overall, I didn’t experience any adverse effects from this product, but I also didn’t feel that it enhanced my sexual experience in any way.  I wouldn’t purchase this product, nor would I recommend it.  If you want to explore G-Spot play, I’d recommend investing in a good-quality lubricant with simple ingredients, maybe a book on the subject and perhaps a great G-Spot toy.