Review: Southern Butter Body Butter

I’ve been on the lookout for a new oil based lube for a while. While it hasn’t been super urgent—the ways in which I use and want to use oil-based lubes, which I’ll talk about in a moment, don’t really suit the pandemic—finding one has been on my backlog of things to do. I was originally going to buy a few samples and do a fisting lube showdown (I might still do that actually), but then I noticed that SheVibe had added a bunch of lubes from a company I’d never heard of before—Southern Butter—and I had to give them a try.

What I Want From Oil Based Lubes

Oil based lubes aren’t hugely popular for a number of reasons, the chief of them being that they run the risk of weakening latex barriers like condoms or gloves, potentially leading to breakage and the risk of STI transmission (and in some situations, unwanted pregnancy). That said, there’s a couple of features they have which can be an advantage in some cases. Oil based lubes tend to be longer lasting than water based lubes, while also being compatible with silicone toys in a way that silicone lubes aren’t.

That leads me to the two main things I want an oil based lube for: fisting (especially vaginal fisting), and anal toys.

While I’m aware there are specific fisting lubes available on the market—think your Fist Its and Boy Butters— a lot of them are primarily made and marketed with anal fisting in mind. Boy Butter, for example, contains glycerin, which is linked to a higher risk vaginal yeast infections and UTIs. This sucks, because I would absolutely buy a 9 oz bottle of the stuff if it were vaginal safe. While I do also enjoy anal fisting, I also enjoy vaginal fisting (a bit more if I’m being honest) and want to have the flexibility with use. The latex weakening isn’t an issue when it comes to fisting for me, as I wear nitrile gloves by default in case of latex allergies in a partner.

I didn’t actually test the Southern Butter Body Butter for fisting, due to not yet feeling comfortable with having casual sex at the moment (I only just got double jabbed a week or so before this review) and the fact my nesting partner is also a top. However, I have tested it on myself with large toys and fingering, and while there’s still a bit of difference between that and fisting, I’m confident using the data from that to inform whether I think it’d be a good fisting lube or not.

When it comes to anal toys—especially metal anal toys—I love having an oil based lube because it means I have to worry about ‘topping up’ my lube less. Where a water based lube needs ‘reactivating’ after a while, an oil based lube doesn’t need babysitting as much. This isn’t a huge issue during short term wear, and when I’m using toys to stretch up for anal sex I want to use a water-based lube so I can use condoms, so I still tend to use Sliquid Sassy. But you know, sometimes I’m a lazy guy, and if I pop a little bit of oil based lube on my Pure Plug I don’t even have to stretch up with my fingers.

Southern Butter

Now that I’ve established the criteria by which I’m judging the Southern Butter Body Butter, let’s talk about the company and lube itself. Southern Butter was a totally new brand to me—while the family-run company that owns them has been operating in some capacity since 2008, Southern Butter is their first foray into lubes. While they also sell massage oils, the bulk of their products are oil based lubes.

Something I found a little odd was how the Southern Butter oil based lubes are labelled as ‘body butters’. While SheVibe does call them lubes, I had to go digging on the Southern Butter website to find a confirmation that they actually are lubes and not just massage products. While I get that different people have different levels of comfort with sex and sexuality products it did seem that the website felt almost squeamish about the fact it’s selling products for sex? At least to me.

Southern Butter do make an anal specific lube—the Backdoor Balm—and I was tempted to try this instead of the Body Butter, especially given one of my big two reasons to want an oil-based lube is butt stuff, but wanted to choose something that could also work for vaginal fisting. There are a couple of scented options for the Body Butter—Sandalwood & Cinnamon, and Rose & Lavender— both of which I think would be really lovely for massage, but I decided to try the unscented version. There’s also a stimulating butter if that’s more your thing. Every Southern Butter product that SheVibe currently stocks is the same size and price, at $23 for a 1.82oz jar.

Using The Body Butter As Lube

So one of my fears going into this was that the Body Butter would be a bit gritty. While I love an organic lube as much as the next queer with multiple tarot decks, I have found that oil based lubes—especially those that contain shea butter—can sometimes form grainy crystals that feel a little scratchy in use. This absolutely wasn’t the case at all—it genuinely does feel buttery soft. The lube can separate a bit in the jar, but melts easily and consistently on a finger.

Southern Butter mentions that their products are safe to ingest, so I did a little taste test of the Body Butter. I don’t have a huge amount to say, in all honesty. It’s sort of nutty, with an aftertaste a bit like soap? Very neutral, in a way that wouldn’t mind tasting it but would prefer not to. I’m not going to reach for it when it comes to oral sex, but I’m also not going to avoid going down on somebody because I’ve used the Body Butter on their bits.

When I first opened the Body Butter I was a little surprised at how small the jar was. That said, a little goes a long way and it spreads really well and smoothly on both hands and toys. I think I’d still prefer the option to have larger tubs, but it doesn’t feel like an unreasonably small amount of lube. I’m not super into using it externally on my vulva, but I do really like using it anally. Hell, I actually prefer it to Palm Grease, which is the previous lube I used primarily with metal plugs.

As an aside, while I think the jar shape is the right container for this lube, I do want to mention that jars that require you dip fingers in risk cross-contamination if you’re using the lube with multiple partners. An easy fix for this is putting gloves on before dipping fingers in and always changing to a clean glove before dipping again, but that depends on how reliable you think you’ll be and how many gloves you have access to.

Using The Body Butter As Massage Product

A massage product isn’t what I was expecting when I asked for the Body Butter, but I thought it was worth giving a try! I do want to highlight the fact I used the unscented version of the Body Butter, and I think either the Sandalwood & Cinnamon or Rose & Lavender Body Butters would be more interesting as massage products. But I also figure the consistency and texture of the unscented body butter is the same as the scented ones.

As a massage product, the Body Butter is actually really nice! While I love massage oils and candles, they also get quite messy very quickly. My partner and I have invested in a waterproof blanket for that reason recently, but there’s still times when the blanket is in the wash and we’ve run out of towels, so a lack of mess will always be a plus. And the Body Butter is the least messy massage product I’ve ever used— it’s just the right sweet spot of melting into skin while also leaving enough slipperyness for massage, and for the first time I managed to get a massage with absolute no product ending up in the wrong place! The ‘a little goes a long way’ factor isn’t as strong for the Body Butter as a massage product though—while it was really smooth and easy to use, I found myself having to reapply it to my hands quite a lot.

Overall

I really like the Southern Butter Body Butter. It has all the benefits that I want from an oil-based lube without any of the missteps I was worried it might have. However, I am a little on the fence about recommending because of the price. At $23 for a 1.82oz jar, it’s more expensive than some other oil based lubes that SheVibe offers— like Sliquid Soul ($15 for 2 fluid oz) or Coconu Coconut Oil ($‌29 for 3 oz)—and more expensive than the lube I previously used for vaginal fisting and with metal plugs, which is $14 for 4 oz. It’s definitely not going to be the lube I choose to take to post-pandemic sex parties (maybe I’ll give Sliquid Soul a try), but for occasional use solo and/or with my nesting partner? Hell yeah! With the caveat that my tolerance for expensive lube is higher than most people and YMMV, I would happily spend $23 for this amount of the Body Butter lube.

Buy the Southern Butter Body Butter From SheVibe for $23