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Jun 20, 2023

The Best Flavored Lube of 2023 Comes in a Lick Above the Rest

By Kate Sloan All products featured on GQ are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Sex is a playground

By Kate Sloan

All products featured on GQ are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Sex is a playground for the senses. The sights and smells all evoke excitement and lust—and tastes! That explains your search for the best flavored lube.

Giving oral sex through a safer-sex barrier. If you’re using a condom or a dental dam while going down on someone, you could just deal with the taste of latex (or polyisoprene or polyurethane, as the case may be). Let’s be real: It’s probably not your favorite flavor. Might as well jazz it up with lube that tastes like strawberries, coconuts, or birthday cake.

Giving oral sex when your mouth is dry. Trying to suck dick or eat pussy when you’ve got a dry mouth–whether due to medication, recreational drugs, dehydration, or any other factor—can be uncomfortable for everyone involved. “My personal primary use for flavored lubes is to reduce friction,” says Kelvin Sparks, author of Trans Sex: A Guide for Adults. “For people who find it hard to produce enough saliva to make oral sex comfortable, [it] can be really helpful.” Bodies don’t always respond the way we want them to during sex, he says, so whether we’re talking about genital dryness or mouth dryness, lube can help a lot.

Giving a blowjob to someone who is wearing a strap-on. We're sure there are some people out there who enjoy the taste of silicone (or glass, or whatever else your fave strap-on dildo is made of), but there are certainly more pleasant flavors out there, so why not use ‘em?

Changing the flavor of someone’s junk. “I’m pretty wary of products that pitch [themselves] as ‘improving’ oral sex through masking the taste of genitals,” says sex writer and sex toy reviewer Betty Butch. “Genitals taste like genitals! I optimistically believe most people prefer it that way, and that some marketing preys on internalized shame to sell flavored products.”

That being said, some people just don’t like the taste of genitals, sometimes for reasons such as taste sensitivity due to being on the autism spectrum, and flavored lubes can help with that. Just do your best not to make your partner feel bad about the way they taste. (And if their flavor has suddenly changed for the worse, that could be a sign of a medical issue.)

Just for fun! “Flavored lubes are a low-pressure way to add playfulness to sex,” Sparks says. “Even just taste-testing lubes [together] can be great as a cute, slightly silly, but fun date activity.” Many sex shops put out tester bottles of their flavored lubes, so you can sample them together and pick your fave.

The reason flavored lubes exist in the first place is that you can’t just put stuff like chocolate sauce or maple syrup on your genitals as the sugar can cause infections, particularly for vaginas.

That being said, it’s not unheard of for flavored lubes themselves to contain sugars and other irritants. Instead, look for lubes that use artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, or saccharin; these are known not to promote the growth of pathogens that cause yeast infections. If you or your partner are especially prone to vaginal infections, you may want to avoid flavored lubes altogether just to be on the safe side, or only use them externally on the vulva and not inside the vagina. When switching to penetrative sex mid-session after using flavored lube, you should reach for a non-flavored lube instead if you need any additional lubrication.

The same goes for butts: if you want to avoid getting an anal yeast infection (yikes!), avoid lubes containing glucose (a.k.a. sugar).

Most flavored lubes are water-based. This makes them safe to use with all kinds of sex toys, condoms, and dental dams. Occasionally you might see a flavored oil-based lube, but these are not safe to use with latex barriers and are also likelier to cause vaginal irritation.

Beyond that, what matters most is just that you and your partner like the flavor(s) you choose. Here are some great flavored lubes for you to consider.

Sliquid Swirl in strawberry pomegranate

Babeland

Base: WaterFlavor: Strawberry pomegranateWeight: 2 ounces

You'll see a few different iterations of Sliquid Swirl on this list, because it's widely beloved due to its non-irritating formula. It's flavored with aspartame instead of sugars or sugar derivatives, and is also made without common vaginal irritants like glycerine and propylene glycol. Butch is a fan of the strawberry pomegranate flavor: "Its ingredients don’t irritate my sensitive vagina, it’s very slick but unobtrusive because it feels indistinguishable from natural vaginal lubrication, and it doesn’t feel tacky even when it dries," they say. "It has a sort of watery strawberry flavor with a flat tart aftertaste."

Walmart

Base: WaterFlavor: Creamy vanilla and sprinklesWeight: 8 ounces

If you want sex to feel like a celebration, why not make your junk taste like a birthday cake? This lube is sweetened with sucralose (i.e. Splenda), so it's unlikely to cause vaginal issues. We found this product surprisingly delicious for a lube, and many Amazon reviewers felt the same: "Straight-up tastes like melted vanilla ice cream," one person wrote. “Like, I'd put it in my coffee if you didn't tell me what it was.”

Swiss Navy Flavors in cooling peppermint

Walmart

Base: WaterFlavor: PeppermintWeight: 4 ounces

Peppermint flavored lubes are somewhat unique, in that they don't just taste good—they also have a practical purpose. The tingly feeling induced by the peppermint can encourage blood flow to the area, boosting arousal and sensitivity. This one is flavored with saccharin, the same stuff that Sweet'n Low is made of. "If you like minty things in your mouth then this is definitely the lube for you. Gives you that extra tingle in the right places," one Amazon reviewer wrote. However, peppermint can be a little irritating for some people, so test out a small amount on your genitals first to see how you react to it before deciding whether to add more.

Sliquid Swirl in Blue Raspberry

Babeland

Base: WaterFlavor: Blue raspberryWeight: 2 ounces

"Blue Raspberry is definitely my favorite [flavored lube]," Butch says. "It has this sweet, fruity smell that reminds me of candy without being overwhelming or cloying. It tastes like a mild version of blue raspberry hard candy." Since it's sweetened with aspartame and free of irritants, this lube would be a great pick for any candy lover.

Aloe Cadabra Tahitian Vanilla

Walmart

Base: WaterFlavor: Vanilla with floral and fruity notesWeight: 2.5 ounces

Made from 95% organic aloe vera and enriched with vitamin E, this might be the most skin-nourishing flavored lube out there. It's sweetened with stevia, an anti-microbial ingredient, so the risk of vaginal infection is low-to-nonexistent. Who knew something delicious could be so good for you, too?

Walmart

Base: WaterFlavor: Mint chocolateWeight: 8 ounces

#LubeLife's products frequently top Amazon's bestselling lubricants list, and its flavored lubes have over 30,000 five-star reviews. "This lube is literally delicious," one Amazon reviewer wrote about the mint chocolate chip flavor. "It’s very smooth and slippery and tastes great with no weird aftertaste." However, some reviewers noted that this lube gets sticky when it dries down, and although it's sweetened with vagina-safe sucralose, it does contain glycerine which could cause vaginal irritation for some people.

Sliquid Swirl in Piña Colada

Babeland

Base: WaterFlavor: Pineapple and coconutWeight: 4.2 ounces

Few flavors evoke a relaxing vacation more readily than the mix of pineapple and coconut found in a classic piña colada, and this lube seeks to capture that feeling in a bottle. It's Sparks's personal favorite, too: "It’s quite sweet but not as overpowering in its sweetness as some of the other flavors," he says. "It’s also a great consistency—not too liquidy, [not] too sticky, generally quite gel-like."

La Nua Strawberry Coconut lube

SheVibe

Base: WaterFlavor: Strawberry and coconutWeight: 6.8 ounces

For an option that's a bit more luxurious, try this. It comes in a gorgeous frosted glass bottle with bamboo trim, and contains natural ingredients that are great for your skin, like kelp extract and red algae extract. A few other flavors are available, like honey vanilla, watermelon mint, and cucumber aloe.

Swiss Navy Chocolate Bliss

Walmart

Base: WaterFlavor: ChocolateWeight: 4 ounces

Chocolate is one of the most popular flavors in the world, so what could be more decadent than combining chocolate and sex? This lube uses a combo of saccharin and natural flavors to achieve a satisfying chocolatey taste. One Amazon reviewer compared it to Cocoa Puffs; another said it tasted like an ice cream sundae. Conveniently, this lube also comes in a leak-proof, spill-proof bottle, so you don't have to worry about making a sticky mess.

Sliquid Swirl in Pink Lemonade

Babeland

Base: WaterFlavor: Lemon with hints of strawberry and cherryWeight: 4.2 ounces

This is my personal favorite flavored lube, the one I return to again and again. The sweet-yet-tart taste of pink lemonade pairs amazingly well with genital flavors; it's bright enough to be immediately noticeable but not overpowering or sickly-sweet. And since Sliquid sweetens their flavored lubes with aspartame and doesn't use any irritants in their formulas, I can rest easy knowing I won't get an infection from this lube.

JO Nipple Titillator arousal gel in Winter Blitz Mint

SheVibe

Base: WaterFlavor: Wintergreen mintWeight: 1 ounce

This gel is specifically designed to be used on nipples. Its combo of peppermint extract and menthol creates an exciting tingly sensation that can boost blood flow and sensitivity—and it'll taste refreshingly minty if you want to lick it off of someone, too! It's sweetened with sucralose, so you could use it on genitals too, but the minty sensation might be a bit too intense in those regions.