It takes only 10 seconds to demonstrate to your customers that sexual lubricants enhance lovemaking:

Which caress felt more sensual? If, like the vast majority of people, you said: “The one with lips moist,” you’ll see how sexual lubricants can help you enjoy more pleasure in lovemaking. The most sensual sex is wet sex, and wet sex is what lubricants are all about.

Have you ever suffered discomfort because intercourse took place without sufficient natural lubrication? Lubricants eliminate this problem. Have you ever run out of natural lubrication during extended intercourse and suffered sore genitals as a result? Lubricants to the rescue. Have you ever wished that condoms transmitted more sensation? With a lubricant, they can. Have you ever suffered discomfort during anal play? Lubricants can make it much more comfortable.

The Overlooked Element in Good Sex
In the finger-on-the-lips experiment, the lubricant was saliva. Saliva is the world’s most popular sexual lubricant. It’s effective, available anywhere, and free. But saliva is also more watery than slippery. It dries quickly. And for pleasure enhancement, it’s just not as effective as commercial lubricants. For modest cost, lubricants can add new sensual zing to your lovemaking.

Unfortunately, despite lubricants’ easy availability, few people use them. In the landmark 1994 Sex in America survey, University of Chicago researchers asked women participants if lack of vaginal lubrication had been a problem for them during the previous year. Almost 20 percent said yes. In just a few seconds, lubricants can completely eliminate this problem. If 20 percent of American women complain about insufficient vaginal lubrication, clearly millions of prospective customers are in the dark about the value of lubricants.

Why don’t more people use lubes? Because most people believe that “normal” sex involves only the body, and nothing other than the body. As a result, many people consider lubricants “unnatural.” Nonsense. Lubricants are as natural as any other sex enhancer: candle light, soft music, lingerie, a glass of wine, a sexy video, or sex toys.

Many Normal, Healthy Women Don’t Produce Much Vaginal Lubrication
In the 1960’s, pioneering sex researchers William Masters, M.D., and Virginia Johnson described vaginal lubrication as an early sign of women’s sexual arousal. They maintained that the vagina produces lubrication fairly quickly as women become aroused. But for many perfectly normal, healthy women, vaginal lubrication takes much longer to appear, and when it does, there may not be much of it. Why not? Possible reasons include:

Individual differences
Just as women’s heights vary, so does their production of vaginal lubrication. There is nothing wrong with women who don’t produce much. Some women just don’t self-lubricate very well. Women who become “too” lubricated may also feel abnormal, and suffer embarrassment about soaking the sheets. If this is an issue for you, try placing a towel or two under yourself.

Age
Estrogen plays an important role in vaginal lubrication. Estrogen production begins to decline before menopause, and many women who had no trouble producing lubrication in their twenties and thirties notice decreased lubrication during their forties, when menopausal changes begin. After age fifty, many women experience persistent vaginal dryness.

The menstrual cycle
Because estrogen influences vaginal lubrication, women often produce different amounts of lubrication at different times of the month.

Childbirth
Again, because of hormonal fluctuations, some women have difficulty lubricating for a while after delivery.

Stress
Everything from job hassles to relationship tensions can impair sexual response in both men and women. In men, the result may be erection impairment. In women, stress can reduce lubrication.

Drugs
Many over-the-counter and prescription medications decrease vaginal lubrication. Some women report that birth control pills reduce lubrication. Antihistamines, cold formulas, and other medicines that dry the mouth also impair lubrication. Alcohol is another lubrication inhibitor. Cigarettes and marijuana can have a similar effect.

Travel
Everyone knows that flying across time zones induces jet lag, but jet lag can interfere with lubrication.

Extended sex
Even women who produce a good deal of natural lubrication sometimes need more during extended sex.

Few people understand that some women don’t produce much natural lubrication, and that those who do may not under the circumstances above. Just as a man can love a woman deeply and not be able to raise an erection because of diabetes or heart disease, a woman can love a man and feel very turned on by him, yet be unable to produce much vaginal lubrication—especially after menopause, when vaginal dryness becomes common. If you’re a woman who does not produce much natural lubrication, mention this to your lover. Tell him it’s no reflection on him, or on your feelings for him. It’s just the way you are—and it’s not a problem if you use a lubricant.

Lubrication in Men
According to Master’s and Johnson, shortly before orgasm, the Cowper’s gland produces a few drops of lubricating fluid that moisten the head of the penis to help it slide comfortably into the vagina. But that is not necessarily true. All the factors that affect women’s ability to become lubricated also apply to men. In addition, men’s natural lubrication rarely covers any more than the head of the penis. Without addition lubrication, the shaft of the penis may become irritated during sex.