Ingredients Matter—Especially When They Are Going IN the Body
Ingredients matter! You’re a smart lady so you know this. You care about the skincare ingredients you put on your face and body because you know that what you put on your skin gets absorbed into your body.
When you’re using a product like a lubrication or a personal moisturizer that goes IN the body, it’s even more important to know what those ingredients are, what their properties are, if they’re safe and how they’ll affect your body.
Interesting fact: lubrication is considered a Class II Medical Device and is regulated by the FDA in large part because it goes into the body. To go deeper on this subject, click here.
Because of the absorption through the skin and the product entering your vagina, you need to be mindful of ingredients both being effective AND the safety of ingredients is critically important.
Our Intimacy Serum & Personal Moisturizer was designed for the most sensitive skin on a woman’s body. Not only is this skin more sensitive down there, but it’s also subject to changes over time with fluctuations in hormones, menopause, pregnancy, breastfeeding, medications like anti-depressants or antihistamines, and conditions like PCOS which makes it even more delicate and tricky.
That’s why we are pretty much obsessive about the ingredients we use, down to the quality and origin of specific ingredients and how they interact together. It’s important, so we’ll break each one of them down for you. Keep reading.
FDA Clearance = Safety
But first, it’s important to know that our Serum has FDA 510 (k) Medical Device Clearance. Personal lubricants are considered a Class II Medical Device by the FDA, the same category of products that require rigorous testing for safety like pregnancy tests and dialysis equipment.
Unfortunately, even though the FDA requires these certifications for lubrication, some companies skirt around the regulations and others sell illegal products that could be unsafe.
Not Our Serum though. We’ve gone through all the testing and ongoing compliance to ensure it’s deemed safe by the FDA. This means scrutiny, testing and compliance on the individual ingredients themselves, the formulation, the packaging, the lab we use for manufacturing and more. It’s complicated and expensive, but 100% worth it to ensure a safe product for your use.
Formula Properties
The individual ingredients of a product matter, but so do the properties of the overall formulation and how the ingredients work together.
Beloved’s Serum is pH balanced for vaginal health. The optimal vaginal pH is slightly acidic to protect itself from unhealthy bacteria and yeast from multiplying too quickly. Products with a high pH can throw your vaginal ecosystem out of balance, making it harder for the vagina to fight harmful bacteria, which can lead to a host of other problems. Each batch of our Serum is tested for its pH level.
We also test and measure the formulation (including every single batch of it that’s made) for 25 different considerations including:
Gluten (it’s certified gluten-free)
Allergens (it’s hypoallergenic)
Viscosity
Antimicrobial effectiveness & absence of contaminates
Biocompatibility including vaginal irritation
Ingredients +
We are damn proud of our ingredients and are downright giddy to talk about every single one (we just wish we could be doing this with you over a glass of wine!).
The ingredients are listed in the highest to lowest amounts that they occur in the Serum:
Organic Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, decolorized: organic aloe is the base of our Serum, meaning that it’s the star of the show and the main ingredient. It’s considered a “water base” for the product.
Aloe has so many fantastic properties to nurture your lady parts. Aloe binds moisture to the skin without drying it out while also softening your skin. It has antioxidant properties to reduce the negative effects of oxidation and protect against free radicals (i.e. unstable particles that can damage cells and contribute to aging). Aloe is anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial and even helps heal wounds. Fantastic, right?
Bonus: because of our product’s aloe base and other ingredients, Beloved can be used for many other things outside the bedroom. Check out our list of alternative uses here.
Aloe comes in different forms. Our organic aloe goes through extensive testing to ensure that it’s the “good kind” of aloe which is called “decolorized.” You have to beware of non-decolorized whole leaf extract: this extract from the plant’s leaves is not filtered to remove cancer-causing chemicals naturally found in the aloe vera plant.
Propanediol: this ingredient doesn’t quite roll off the tongue but we’re big fans of it. A gentler, safer relative of propylene glycol, propanediol carries many of the benefits, but with fewer side effects and more uses. It’s an emollient that retains moisture and dissolves other ingredients while decreasing the viscosity of the product and helping it stay light and nonsticky on the skin. It also serves as a preservative booster, helping products last longer. Propanediol is one of the reasons our Serum has that unique silky texture.
Tremella Fuciformis (Mushroom) Extract: known as the “beauty mushroom,” this ingredient has high levels of vitamin D which is fantastic for your skin because it reduces inflammation. This mushroom extract also hydrates your skin and has antioxidant properties allowing it to break down free radicals. Tremella can also penetrate into the deeper layers of skin to improve elasticity and keep skin plump and smooth which is wonderful for vaginal skin. All hail more beautiful vaginas!
Gluconolactone: is known for improving skin tone and texture, while also hydrating and serving as an antioxidant. It’s also known for being very gentle on sensitive skin.
Sodium Hyaluronate: this ingredient has moisturizing and soothing properties for the skin while also hydrating the underlying skin layers.
Chenopodium Quinoa Seed Extract: a fantastic emollient (i.e. softens skin and hydrates) and skin conditioner.
Cannabis Sativa Seed Extract (non-psychotropic, not CBD): also known as hemp seed oil, this magic ingredient is a fabulous antioxidant and strengthens your skin’s natural moisture barrier to help your skin retain moisture better, and minimizes the appearance of redness and irritation. Hemp seed oil can contain CBD oil, but the extract in Beloved does not.
Linum Usitatissimum (Linseed) Extract: this lovely ingredient has anti-aging properties and also hydrates the skin. Thanks to its high levels of omega-3s and ALA fatty acids, linseed extract is anti-inflammatory and can calm skin. The fatty acids of linseed oil are linked to our own skin’s fat content which can get depleted of nutrients as we get older. And because your skin can absorb nutrients topically, products with linseed oil provide your skin the nutrients it needs to stay plump and healthy.
Camellia Sinensis Leaf (Green Tea) Extract: it’s no secret that green tea and its products have so many health benefits. That applies to your skin too! Green tea extract is a skin protector that increases the blood flow to your skin. More blood flow means your body can carry more nutrients to those tissues to stay healthy. More blood flow to your vagina is a win all around. It’s also known to improve skin elasticity and hydration.
Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract: a great antioxidant and anti-inflammatory ingredient, oat kernel extract is fantastic for soothing skin. Our extract is gluten-free and has been tested for those who have allergies.
Hydroxyethylcellulose: a mouthful of an ingredient, but a superhero when it comes to acting as a thickening agent, allowing water to be added to the compound without lumping. This helps our Serum to be so luscious.
Xanthan Gum: this acts as a thickening and binding agent.
Sodium Benzoate: this ingredient acts as an antifungal and antibacterial agent, keeping Beloved safe and free of anything that would be harmful in your body.
Potassium Sorbate: another antifungal and antimicrobial ingredient, this is a natural alternative to parabens that serves the same function.
Citric Acid: an antioxidant and pH adjuster that keeps Beloved at the right pH for a healthy vaginal ecosystem.
Just as Important: What’s NOT In It
In addition to our top-tier ingredient list and lovely formulation, we’ve gone to great measures to make sure certain ingredients are not in our product too.
This is really important: our Serum contains no hormones and is free of parabens, man-made chemicals that act as preservatives in many cosmetic products. Parabens can act like estrogen in the body and disrupt normal hormone functioning, reproductive health, and fertility. Not good.
Beloved contains absolutely nothing that can disrupt the natural vaginal environment and cause irritation or infection. It was designed with the help of medical professionals and is used by many doctors to treat their patients because of our ingredients and formula being so clean and effective.
Our Serum has absolutely no:
Estrogen
Hormones
Harsh Chemicals
Parabens
Petrochemicals
Phthalates
Sulfates
Silicone
Glycerine
Formaldehyde
Mineral Oils
Chlorhexidine Gluconate
Benzocaine
Benzene
Benzoic Acid
Propylene Glycol
Cyclomethicone
Cyclopentasiloxane
Cyclotetrasiloxan
Soy
Gluten
Heating Agents
Simulating Agents
Fragrances
Artificial Flavors or Any Flavor
Artificial Colors or Any Dye
Other lubes can contain these ingredients - as does brake fluid, antifreeze, and oven cleaner. Some of these ingredients are downright harmful to the body, causing irritation, yeast infections, urinary tract infections, allergic reactions, rashes, reproductive organ harm, and cancer.
Beloved was created with the help of doctors and with women’s health and enjoyment in mind. That’s why we chose the best-of-the-best ingredients that speak for themselves.