Tag Archives: System Jo

Review: Jo Clitoral Gel (Light)

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          I received a sample of Jo Clitoral gel at a product knowledge class last November, and I am I just now getting around to reviewing it. Why? Because I’ve tried a couple of stimulating gels in the past and had no luck or desire to try more. Also, one of my first experiences with lube in High School left me burning, irritated, and put off of lube altogether until a few years ago when I starting working at a sex shop. To this day I’m not sure if the lube was supposed to be a warming lube, if it was just some glycerin packed irritating lube from hell, or if (oh the horror) maybe it wasn’t even a lube at all but a “warming liquid.” All I know was that it sucked, and I never wanted to feel that burning sensation again. Since I knew ahead of time that Jo Clitoral gel was supposed to have a warming feeling, I wasn’t exactly dying to try it.

          So the Clitoral gel sat in a bag in my closet, until this past weekend when I was cleaning it out and figured I should either try the stuff or get rid of it, and for research’s sake, I decided to try it. As Jake and I began playing around on Saturday I opened the box of clitoral gel in a moment of excitement to find that I couldn’t squeeze any gel out of the tube. I muttered some obscenity while running naked to the next room to grab some scissors, so I could cut the tip of the tube off. I poured out some of the gel onto my fingers and began massaging my clit and labia with it, and although I was rubbing and playing for awhile, I felt nothing other than the slick feel of silicone. We got bored with the gel very quickly and threw it onto the nightstand as we continued to play and move on to other more exciting things (like me squirting for the first time!)

          For the sake of a thorough review, I decided to try the gel one more time on my own yesterday, even after it failed the first time. I was annoyed before I even started because the tube was leaking since I had cut the tip off in haste the other night. Again, I tried rubbing the stuff on my clit, and again I felt nothing other than my skilled hand and some silicone slickness. Aggravated with the whole situation, I quickly wiped off the gel and ended up finishing with my Hitachi because all I really wanted was a cramp-relieving quickie session. Afterwards, I sat down to start reviewing and had come up with a short list of pros and cons for the gel, when I began to feel an irritating, warming but not in a fun way sensation on my labia. The “warming” sensation had kicked it, about 20 minutes too late, and as it turns out, it didn’t feel good at all. It wasn’t the scorching, traumatizing experience I had in high school, but it definitely left me with a “I better get this stuff off before I get a yeast infection” feeling, and I had to stop the review to go take a shower. Here is the pro and con list I had started, but with my edits after the late kick in irritation sensation:

Pros:
Silicone (no glycerin, parabens, l-arginine etc.)
Didn’t burn like some warming products
Can use internally No thanks

Cons:
Annoying bottle
Can’t use with silicone toys
Didn’t feel anything Delayed irritating burning feeling

          As you can see, I didn’t find any pro to this product other than that it’s silicone based, but that was actually partly a con as well because I couldn’t use it with most of my favorite vibes. At first I wondered why I didn’t feel any irritation when I used it with Jake, but then I realized it’s probably because there was a ton of moving/licking/rubbing/other lube/bodily fluids/etc. and it probably didn’t stay on me very long. On the plus side, I’m glad I tried the “Light” gel since there are also, Mild, Wild, and Atomic gels of increasing “sensation” that may have left me as scarred as the mystery lube from hell in high school.

Ingredients:
Cyclopentasiloxane (silicone)
cyclotetrasiloxane (silicone)
Dimethiconol (silicone)
Dimethicone (silicone)
Peppermint (Mentha Piperita)

Review: DONA by Jo Body Wash and Body Mist Lotion

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          DONA is a fairly new line of bath products made by the lubricant company System Jo. The DONA products come in various aphrodisiac infused scents, and I received the goji berry Body Wash and camu camu Body Mist lotion among other DONA products to try. I have already reviewed the DONA Blue Lotus Bath Salts.

          The goji berry Body Wash comes in a purple pump bottle and has a fresh fruity goji berryfragrance. It produces a good lather and leaves my skin feeling clean, although not very moisturized. Before using the DONA Body Wash I was using Aveeno, which definitely moisturized my skin more. I’ve still used the DONA Body Wash because it works well enough and smells nice, and honestly I’m not that picky when it comes to bath products.

Ingredients:

Purified Water (Aqua), Sodium C 14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Glycerin, Saccharide Isomerate, Sodium Chloride, Lycium Barbarum (Goji) berry, Coffea Arabica (Coffee) Seed, Euterpe Oleracea (Açaí) Fruit, Morinda Citrifolia (Noni) Fruit, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Fruit, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf, Garcinia Mangostana (Mangosteen) Pericarp Extracts, Propanediol, Citric Acid, Benzyl Alcohol, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazone, Disodium EDTA, Fragrance

           The camu camu Body Mist lotion comes in a yellow spray bottle and has a sweet, earthy scent that reminds me of vanilla. I like that the mist rubs easily into my skin and doesn’t leave me feeling super greasy. The light moisturizing spray is a great product for spring and summer (especially in Texas’ extreme heat and humidity) because it doesn’t feel like you’re wearing a typical lotion which often makes me feel slimy when I start sweating. I don’t think I’d use it much in the winter though because I like using thick lotions that are more moisturizing and lasting like cocoa butter when my skin is extremely dry.

Ingredients:

Purified Water, Caprylic Capric Glycerides, Polyglycerol-6 Dioleate, Glyceryl Caprylate Caprate, Propanediol, Saccharide Isomerate, Passion Fruit (Passiflora Edulis) Seed Oil, Rice Bran (Oriza Sativa) Oil, Açaí (Euterpe Oleracea) pulp Oil, Babassu (Orbignya Oleifera) Seed Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Myrciaria Dubia (Camu Camu) Fruit, Fragrance

           Overall I liked the DONA by Jo Body Mist Lotion more than the Body Wash, and would be more inclined to buy it in the future.  Although I researched the ingredients for the DONA by Jo Blue Lotus Bath Salts review, I decided not to spend the time going through all of the ingredients on these 2 products since I don’t use them internally, and I don’t typically research all of the ingredients in external use bath products. Still, it would have been nice if DONA provided short ingredient explanations for the non-familiars (I have no idea what Cocmidopropyl Hydroxysultaine is for example), especially since DONA products are marketed as natural and cruelty free.

Review: Dona by Jo Blue Lotus Bath Salts

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I received some free samples of DONA from System Jo awhile back, and one of them was Dona Blue Lotus Bath Salts. The clear bath salts came in a plastic recyclable container with pretty packaging that features a fuchsia lace print label. The package describes the bath salts as “aphrodisiac infused, natural, paraben free, petro. derive. free, and cruelty free.”

Whenever I used the DONA Blue Lotus Bath Salts, the calming fragrance relaxed my body and left my skin soft and lightly scented. I liked that the aroma was light and not too strong or overpowering. I was somewhat disappointed though that the salts didn’t fizz or bubble like some others I’ve used.

Although I enjoyed the salts, I put off reviewing the DONA products because I knew I would have to research the various ingredients, which is much more time consuming than reviewing toys since I am familiar with toy materials and their various properties. I tried contacting System Jo to get an explanation of the various ingredients used in DONA to make it easier on myself, but they said they were too busy at the time to get a list from the lab. Today I finished off the container of bath salts and finally finished looking up the ingredients as well:

Ingredients

Sodium Chloride- Salt

Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom salt)-A bulking agent; Prevents temporary skin wrinkling & reduces inflammation; found in sea water and mineral deposits

Silica (Silicone Dioxide)- A bulking and anticaking agent; naturally occurs as sand or quartz

Maltodextrin- A bulking and carrying agent and skin conditioning agent; a polysaccharide produced from starch

Sodium Hyaluronate- A skin conditioning agent; The sodium salt of hyaluronic acid; It’s listed in the PETA’s Caring Consumer guide as derived from animal sources (unless it’s synthetic or from plant oils)

Beta Glucan- A bulking agent and skin conditioning agent; Beta glucans are sugars that are found in the cell walls of bacteria, fungi, yeasts, algae, lichens, and plants, such as oats and barley

Panthenol*- a form of vitamin B5, used as a moisturizer and lubricating compound

Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein- A skin conditioner; a hydrolysate of vegetable protein

Allantoin*- a skin conditioning agent; a naturally occurring nitrogenous compound

Aloe Barbadensis- Aloe vera (plant)

Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Oil

Laminaria Digitata (Algae) Extract

Nymphaea Caerulea (Blue Lotus) Flower

Fragrance

* This ingredient is listed in the PETA’s Caring Consumer guide as a substance that can be of either animal or plant origin.

Overall I have mixed feelings about this product. The salts smell great, and I enjoyed using them during baths because they conditioned and lightly scented my skin. The problem I have is with the ingredients list. With a product marketed as “natural,” I usually expect the ingredients list to be short and to have explanations of what the ingredients are and why they are included (for example, Sliquid Lubricants.) The DONA Blue Lotus bath salts have 12 ingredients, and most of them were not familiar to me, so I had to spend time looking them up. Also, while researching some of the ingredients, I found that 3 ingredients could be derived from animal sources. While I am not a vegetarian or vegan, if they are marketing the product as cruelty free, I think it’s important to know that none of the products were derived from animals.

 If DONA wants consumers to feel comfortable that their products are truly natural and cruelty free, I think they should provide a more specific explanation of the ingredients. For example, is the Sodium Hyaluronate from animals, plant oils, or synthetic? This would make a difference as far as whether I would classify it as “cruelty free.” If you ask me, any product that is marketed as “natural” and “cruelty free” shouldn’t have an ingredients list that takes so long to research and dissect.

Sources

Cosmetics Info.org (www.cosmeticsinfo.org)

EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database (www.ewg.org/skindeep)

PETA www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/animal-ingredient-guide.aspx

Web MD (www.webmd.com)

Jo Class

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Do you leave work meetings with a bag full of bottles of lube? I do.

In my latest training class, Jennifer from System Jo told us about the company and its products, answered our questions, and had us feel and sometimes taste various lubricants.  For anyone who is curious about Jo products (and for my coworker who couldn’t make it to the meeting), I would like to share what I learned in Jo class. Please note that this post is not meant to be my personal endorsement of all of the following products, if you want to know more about what I think about them, check back on my blog for individual product reviews that I will post as I try all of the products.

Jo’s beginning
The Jo product line began when a group of doctors asked United Consortium (a nutra-ceutical company) to create a pharmaceutical grade silicone lubricant for women with extreme vaginal dryness.
Jo Premium Silicone Lubricants
-Silicone lubricant is made from sand.
-Not all silicone lubes are created equal; it is important to choose a high quality silicone lubricant.
-Jo Premium is a high quality pharmaceutical grade silicone lubricant
-Evolved Novelties did studies on silicone lube and silicone toy compatibility, and Jo silicone lubes were the only lubricants that did not damage their silicone toys. People who want to use silicone toys and lubes together can use Jo silicone lubes and Evolved (or Tantus) silicone toys (I can vouch for this as well; read my blog about it for more information). There have not been tests on the compatibility of Jo silicone lube with other brands of silicone toys (so don’t mix them unless you want to take the risk of ruining your silicone toy.)
-Other possible uses for silicone lubes: hair smoother, shave cream, skin conditioner, WD 40 replacement
Jo H20 Water Based Lubricants
-Jo H20 water based lubes are designed to be long lasting and feel like silicone
-Jo H20 does contain glycerin but only vegetable based glycerin, which is less likely to be irritating to women than animal based glycerin. If you have a glycerin sensitivity, try Jo’s Agape mentioned below.
Jo Agape Lubricant
-“Agape” means unconditional love in Greek.
-Jo Agape water based lube was created without glycerin, silicone, or oil for sensitive women.
Jo Hybrid Lubricant
-Jo Hybrid Lubricant was designed to combine the best qualities of both silicone and water based lubes so that it is smooth and long lasting like silicone but easy to wash off like water based.
-Jennifer said Hybrid is ok to use with silicone toys.  I am still a little weary of that, to be safe you could try a patch test on the silicone toy you want to use it with.
Jo Lubes’ various viscosities
-The difference between Jo regular lubes, Jo Anal lubes, and Jo Women lubes are their viscosities.
-Jo Women has the thinnest viscosity and is meant to mimic a women’s natural lubricant.
-Classic Jo Premium and H20 lubes have a thicker viscosity than Jo Women.
- Jo Anal Lubes have the thickest viscosity since the anal area doesn’t self lubricate.
Jo Warming and Cooling
-All of the Jo water based and silicone lubes come in both warming and cooling as well.
-The cooling agent in Jo cooling lubes is French Menthol.
-The warming agent in Jo warming lubes is capsaicin (from chili peppers.)
Jo Clitoral and G Spot Gels

- The Jo Clitoral gels are warming and the g spot gels are cooling, but you can use them interchangeably if desired.
-Neither contains L-Arginine, which can cause breakouts in people with Herpes.
Jo H20 Flavored Lubes
- Jo flavored lubes come in a variety of flavors and don’t contain any sugar which can cause yeast infections.
Jo All in One
-Jo All in One can be used as any or all of the following: a silicone lube, massage oil, skin conditioner.
-Comes in a variety of scents (my favorite was Cranberry.)
Jo Foaming Toy Cleanser

-A gentle, body safe foaming cleanser
Jo Pheromone Sprays and Deodorants
-Jo Pheromones are man made
-There are 3 ways to get natural pheromones: from humans (extremely expensive), from pigs (gross), or from coyote urine (grosser)
-Jo Pheromone sprays and deodorants do not have a scent because scents water down the effect of the pheromones when formulated together
-You can layer Jo Pheromones with your normal scents by putting on your normal deodorant or perfume after applying Jo Pheromone deodorant or spray
-Jo Pheromones for Men are the same as Jo Women+Women (but with different packaging)
-Jo Pheromones for Women are the same as Jo Men+Men
-If you want to attract both sexes, you can wear both Jo Women and Jo Men at the same time
Jo Natural Personal Feminine Spray
-For external use only, not a douche
-Meant to help control odor and moisture
-Formulated to help keep women’s pH balance at a normal level
Jo Body Shaving Cream
-Has alcohol to reduce hair growth
-Not a conditioner like many other shave gels (conditioners promote hair growth)
Jo 2 to Tango
-2 lubes that mix together
-The “men’s” lube is a warming, water based lube with some benzocaine for prolonging
-The “women’s” lube is a cooling, silicone based lube
Jo Prolonger Spray
-Contains benzocaine, a numbing agent for prolonging
-Since it is a spray it absorbs quickly so it doesn’t also numb your partner
-No need to rub it in like with a prolonging creamPhotos ©Penny

Quickie Review: Jo for Women Body Shaving Cream

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          Overall I was pretty disappointed with this product. I received a free bottle of the Pure (unscented) Jo Shaving Cream for Women, and it works well enough that I’ll finish the bottle, but I definitely wouldn’t buy it. The shaving cream does not have the consistency of a cream but more of a light gel, and the lather it produces is comparable to when I shave with shower gel. After I use it, my skin does not get the same soft, moisturized feeling that it does when I use Coochie Shaving Cream or my personal favorite, cheap hair conditioner (such as Suave.) The only pro’s were that the cream doesn’t have a scent and didn’t give me a rash like some shaving creams do, so I would rate this cream as mediocre.  
          *Update: I recently learned that hair conditioners promote hair growth, and Jo Shaving Cream is designed to discourage hair growth (by including alcohol and other ingredients but not conditioner.) Personally, I still prefer using hair conditioner because I love the way it feels, and I haven’t noticed a difference as far as my hair growing quicker, but I still wanted to share this info.
 

 

Meant for Each Other: For Silicone Lovers

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          Lots of people are die hard silicone fans and for good reason. Silicone is a kick ass material for toys because it is extremely hygienic because it’s nonporous (meaning germs etc. can’t build up inside the material), and it’s soft and smooth yet firm and flexible. It can also endure extreme temperatures (so you can boil it to kill germs if it doesn’t have an attached motor) and it warms quickly to your body temperature. Silicone lube has quite a following as well because it never loses its’ slick, slippery feel. It doesn’t get sticky and tacky like water based lube, you only need a small amount, and you don’t have to keep reapplying it, so it’s an awesome aid to water play and anal play among other things. So instinctively you’d think, well I’ll just use silicone lube with silicone toys then because of their super awesomeness, but if you do you’ll be sorely disappointed. Unfortunately if you use silicone lube with your favorite silicone toy, chances are the toy/lube will start to sort of melt and mesh together, creating a big mess and a ruined toy (and silicone toys are expensive!)         
          However, I recently learned an awesome tip at a product knowledge seminar: you can use certain silicone toys with certain silicone lubes. In particular, you can use Evolved brand silicone toys with Jo brand silicone lubes (it has something to do with the quality of the silicone in the materials.) I decided to test out this claim at home with some of the free sample products I received and was delighted to find it true. I used the Evolved Lucky 13 Roulette vibe with Jo Premium Cool silicone lube, and they are definitely a match made in heaven. Both products were great for shower play because the Lucky 13 is waterproof (as are all Evolved toys), the silicone lube never lost the slippery feel even under water, and the cooling effect felt great in contrast to the warm water. The only disadvantage to using these toys together was that the cleanup afterwards took a few minutes longer than normal. At first I tried just using soap and warm water like I usually do, but the silicone did not come off this way, so I squirted Jo foaming toy cleaner on a towel and wiped down the toy a few times and then used the soap and water as well, and that worked just fine.
So, for all you silicone lovers out there, I hope this little tip helps; it sure helped me!

+             = Meant for Each Other