Coconut oil is itself a sexy product. The pressed essence of Earth’s most creamy and delicious edible that exists at once as both the fruit and the seed that bears it? I’m practically describing sex as I speak of it. And yet, coconut oil and sex shouldn’t necessarily be combined. Don’t let that recent Jay Alvarrez porno fool you — coconut oil can actually ruin a good romp. Rather than turning each other’s bodies into glistening, slick wonderlands, it might just leave you defeated, with a broken condom and a yeast infection.
In a “leaked” sex tape featuring influencer Alvarrez and model Sveta Bilyalova that’s since been removed from Pornhub, Alvarrez warms up coconut oil in an electric kettle before dripping it onto Bilyalova’s body and bits while Missy Elliott’s “Pass the Dutch” plays. After being discussed on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast earlier this month, the video quickly went viral among the youths, who in turn made coconut oil references a meme of their own.
While lube is essential and I’m glad to see its use become normalized among people who might otherwise believe that lube is only for old women (as described in Superbad), coconut oil isn’t the best choice. Most significantly, coconut oil is capable of deteriorating latex condoms. It can cause them to break entirely, or, worse, cause them to tear without being noticed.
Even without condoms, coconut oil still comes with risks when used for vaginal intercourse due to its antimicrobial properties. Vaginas contain their own set of flora needed to stay happy and healthy, and coconut oil is capable of killing off some of that flora. In turn, the pH can be disrupted, potentially causing yeast or bacterial infections.
This isn’t true for everyone, though. Some people with chronic yeast infections find that coconut oil helps prevent further infections, at least when compared to other lubricants. Gynecologists are generally mixed on its safety and effects on vaginal health, which is at least a sign that coconut oil isn’t some universal salve in this context.
Want to use it without vaginas or condoms? You’re probably safe, unless you or your partner has an allergy. Given that coconut oil melts at 78 degrees Fahrenheit, Alvarrez’s kettle technique is totally unnecessary — it would easily melt on contact with skin, anyway. Plenty of people use coconut oil as moisturizer or regular massage oil, too. In the event you’re going to have mixed uses for your coconut oil, though, it’s a good idea to keep your sex coconut oil separate from the rest — you probably don’t want your sex germs mixed in with your general use coconut oil, and you probably don’t want your general germs contaminating a product that might be entering some orifices.
Your experiences using coconut oil may vary, and you’re free to experiment as you wish. But just know there are plenty of other clean, safe lubricants out there that are far less likely to cause an infection or break your condoms.
Magdalene Taylor
Magdalene Taylor is a staff writer at MEL. She covers internet culture, sex and the online adult industry. She lives in Brooklyn but is from God's Country, Western Massachusetts.
