Supernova-inducing, spine-shivering, dizzy-making sex requires a few key ingredients: mutual consent, a sense of connection between the parties involved, and a personal commitment to your own pleasure. We know that last one is a bit of a sticky-wicket for many women out there – we don’t feel like we have time, or deserve to put ourselves and our pleasure first (but we do!!). Which is why when we read about the history of Foria, aka cannabis lube (yes, aka medical grade marijuana for your vulva) and its effects, we couldn’t help but think, wow.
Politics of medical marijuana aside, Foria sounds like the exact sort of thing the female pleasure market has been missing. And even more impressive to us, Foria was created specifically for women’s pleasure. Orgasms aside, that is pretty mind-blowing!
When Foria creator, Mathew Gerson, decided to develop the product, he did so with the intent to help women. As reported by Vice’s Mish Way:
Gerson was fixated on the idea that there were no products out there to help women who can’t orgasm—women who feel like pleasure is an issue and can’t even relax during sex to get there…Gerson had this whole theory about how we need to all just slow down and relax, to think about the overall health and wellness in our day-to-day lives, and how healthy sex and pleasure can really play a part in that.
“I don’t understand why the sexual response and the pleasure experience that we derive from our sexuality have been sort of banished into one aspect of our human experience, either with a partner or through masturbation in a very limited function,” he said. “Then we have this huge part of living a well-adjusted happy life, and yeah, our sexuality creeps into that, but allowing the pleasure of sex to inform our approaches to health and wellness seems to make a lot of sense. They are the power centers of our body.”
Oh holy night. YES YES YES!
Vice’s Mish Way goes on to muse on the topic of pleasure, too:
For a sex-obsessed culture, we are juvenile when it comes to actually conversing about pleasure, our bodies, and how to get off. Viagra and Cialis exist because men can keep impregnating until they are old as fuck. Women hit menopause, and their sexual pleasure becomes irrelevant to their health. It makes me want to scream when I think about some women who have never had an orgasm.
Pleasure is such an innate feeling, yet it’s one women hide from so often. And we are so glad Mathew Gerson is producing a product to enhance the awesomeness that is sex!
If you read the accounts online (and there are many – on The Frisky, Bold Italic, and Alternet to name a few), women of all ages are saying things like, “This is what orgasms should be. They should release you. A lot of women don’t let their whole body naturally get into sex because there’s all sorts of insecurities holding them back, and it stops them from having that sort of release that men have. It’s important for women to have that too. This is a game-changer,” (and in response her boyfriend said, “She’s not kidding. She laughed, she cried, and she made me jealous that the best sexual enhancement drug men have just gives you a boner for four hours.”
Curious about Foria now? After scoping the website and digging into some internet research, here’s what we’ve learned:
Yes, Foria is made with cannabis (and other ingredients).
Without going too far down the “Cannabis 101” rabbit-hole, we’ll say this: THC is the active ingredient in Foria and THC is one of the many active ingredients in marijuana. THC is known for heightening sensations. Hence why, when applied to your vulva, it makes sex feel even better.
Foria gets your vulva “high,” not your head.
If you haven’t been high before, or don’t much like smoking marijuana, this might sound strange. Forget what you know -or think you know – about using pot. Foria heightens your vagina’s ability to feel, and also helps you relax. As Frisky writer Amelia MacDonnell-Parry put it, “I’m going to get to explaining how, exactly, a stoned vagina feels, but the thing that stood out to me the most during the first time I used Foria is that I just felt really relaxed down there. Like, tension free. Like my vagina was kicking back on the beach in Mexico, without a care in the world.” Over on Alternet, Ashley Hamm said, “It was an all-over buzzy tingly feeling that spreads the pleasure much further than wherever you’re being directly stimulated. It pulsated like there was a delicate vibrator inside of me, but better. Cloudier. I hadn’t felt anything like it before…”
Foria is for internal and external vulva use.
Spritz on your clit, your labia, and inside your vagina. Make sure you start slow and wait, as it can take up to an hour for the full effects to be noticeable. And though it looks like lube (and might make you extra wet), Foria is not actually lube as you know it. You can still use lube afterward if needed.
Foria will probably not get your partner high – probably.
It is possible, if your sexy someone goes down on you, for them to get “head” high if you’ve applied Foria to your vulva. But it’s not for sure going to happen.
Foria and latex don’t mix!
This is a biggie. If you’re going to use Foria, make sure you’re protecting yourself in another way with a non-latex condom; and it can damage latex sex toys, so be wary of that, too. (Might we recommend nJoy instead?)
Foria is manufactured exclusively for women.
It’s seriously not about a man’s pleasure here – it’s all about women’s pleasure. We just can’t keep grinning about this!
Okay, so we’re even more curious to try this after reading about it. Are you? Have you already used it and have a story to share with us?! What do you think about using cannabis for sexual pleasure? (Needless to say there has been lots of teasing of our founder for her recent move to Denver, CO… Completely coincidentally the majority of our team resides in CA, CO, and OR, so we’ll get some O’a team testimonials and shared experiences out to you soon!) But in the meantime, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!