I feel about my breasts the way I think most people feel about their elbows: It hurts when I knock them into things, and I certainly don’t need them touched or sucked to enjoy sex. Still, as a sex educator and pleasure-product reviewer, I am both privy to how to play with boobs and the reality of breast orgasms and am constantly testing new sex serums, lubes, and vibrators that can be used to stimulate them. So I was intrigued when I received sexual-wellness-brand Foria’s new Intimacy Breast Oil with Organic Botanicals ($38). It claims to “inspire a daily ritual of loving your breasts,” so I decided to explore the erogenous zone that I typically keep under sports bras.

Foria Intimacy Breast Oil with Organic Botanicals — $38.00

Conceptually—to me, at least—breast oil seemed a little out there as a tool for stimulation. After all, a fluid can’t pinch or pulsate the way a set of nipple clamps or nipple vibrators can. But if you consider the popularity of liquid vibrators and arousal serums over the last half decade, this addition will seem more like a logical next step.

In 2017, Foria released the Awaken Arousal Oil, a CBD-infused oil designed to be applied to your vulva ahead of sex play as a means to heighten pleasure. In the years that have followed, a number of sexual wellness brands—like Cake, Dame, Bloomi, and Unbound—have followed suit, adding aphrodisiac arousal serums to their respective product lines. The takeaway? Pleasure-in-a-bottle can be effective—and a number of folks are keen to buy it.

Now, Foria’s Breast Oil, which is essentially a coconut-oil infused with a blend of aphrodisiac botanicals, is designed to do for your breasts what the other arousal oils were designed to do to your genitals: make ‘em tingle. Those botanicals include calendula, violet leaf, and dandelion leaf, each of which may contribute to helping reduce inflammation and hydrate skin. The oil also contains an essential oil blend with pine, orange, lavender, and frankincense, which are thought to be calming.

What happened when I tried the Foria Breast Oil

The first time I used the Foria Breast Oil, I followed the same ritual I’d adopted for other arousal oils: Use the dropper to apply some to the area in question (in this case, my areolas), rub it in, then wait 15 minutes before taking action. This time, that ended up being the wrong course of action to take.

Unlike the vulva, which is covered in mucous membranes that allow the body to absorb the oil, the breast region is not super pourous. So, even after my timer let me know it was time to get down and dirty, I was ultimately just wet, and not in a turned-on way. Oily and lightly fragranced, I felt exactly as I do when I’m too zealous with tanning oil.

The second time I used it, I read the instructions and followed them step-by-step. Rather than applying the oil before solo sex, I applied half a dropper after a solo shower. I dribbled the droplets over my chest, then used my palms to rub the oil into my skin in a circular motion. Transparently, it didn’t feel arousing but it did feel self-loving to polish a part of my body usually squashed under a sports bra. So, the next day, I did the same. And the next, and so on.

These days, Foria Breast Oil is still part of my daily routine, but rather than becoming part of my sex routine as I’d originally anticipated would be the case, it’s become a post-shower self-care ritual of sorts. Sure, the oil hasn’t led me to have a breast orgasm the way I dreamed, but it has given me an excuse to pamper myself.

And who knows? Maybe next time I’m engaging in partnered sex play, I’ll be more comfortable yanking off my sports bra and presenting that erogenous zone to their eager tongue or touch. At the very least, thanks to this oil, I’ll stop thinking about my boobs as my third and fourth elbows.

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