Review - Carlson Key E Natural Vitamin E Suppositories

Are you suffering from vaginal dryness due to perimenopause, menopause, hysterectomy, other surgery, post-pregnancy, cancer treatment, excessive douching, heavy daily workouts, prolonged dehydration, or any other reason?

I will be reviewing a number of common and easy to find over-the-counter vaginal moisturizers as part of a series on post-Hysterectomy care.  Whether you want to supplement with, cannot use, or do not want to use hormone replacement therapy, there are many options a woman can try to deal with post-surgery sexual difficulties.

Carlson 'Key E' Vitamin E Suppositories can be used to ameliorate vaginal dryness.  It's a effective vaginal moisturizer that is natural and safe to use.  Never use something like a typical hand lotion for your vulva or vagina, the perfumes and other chemicals can actually make your dryness worse, give you acne on your vulva, or even give you a UTI, BV, or yeast infection.  It's important to only use soaps and lotions and lubes that are appropriate for your lady bits, especially if you already know you have sensitive skin and/or are highly prone to infections.

These are small tapered suppositories in convenient, solid form that is easy to place inside the vagina to provide long-lasting moisture.  They are 24 to a box.  Since they are individually wrapped, they remain sterile, and are easy to carry with you or travel with.  Even if they are exposed to heat and melt inside the package, they can be made solid again by placing in a fridge for a little while.

To use, detach one suppository from the box, carefully peel apart the foil from the top, and take the translucent white suppository out.  Use your finger(s) to push it into your vagina as far up as you can, at least past the entrance (the tight grippy part).  You should wash your hands before and after.  If your dryness is particularly severe, to the point where you cannot get one finger inside, you may need to pre-lube the entrance to your vagina by rubbing the suppository around, or with another lube (like astroglide or wet, or even unflavored olive oil).

I recommend using Vitamin E suppositories right before you go to sleep.  As soon as you place one into your vagina it's going to start melting with the heat of your body.  If your vagina isn't level or elevated, it's going to run right out of your vagina and onto your underwear and down your legs.  Of course, you can wear a pantyliner to help absorb spills if you like.  But you want to try to keep as much as you can inside your vagina for as long as you can, so that it will be more effective and naturally absorb into your skin.  And to be blunt, some will also come out when you fart or queef.  No matter what, some is going to come back out, and your underwear may get stained.  These suppositories are safe to use daily, or even multiple times a day, unlike some other vaginal moisturizers which can only be used a couple times a week.

Carlson's Vitamin E suppositories ingredients are hydrogenated coconut and palm oils and natural Vitamin E in the form of d-alpha tocopheryl acetate and mixed tocopherols.  Vitamin E is a antioxidant.  'D-alpha' form of Vitamin E is better utilized in the human body and very common in beauty and health products as well as actual vitamin capsules for human consumption, and the 'acetate' part means it has been processed to withstand temperature extremes. 'Alpha' Vitamin E could have come from a number of different natural sources but most likely from soybeans (I don't know for sure though).  Although the coconut and palm oils are hydrogenated, meaning they are trans fats, you are not eating them, just using it topically, so I do not believe you should be in danger of raising your 'bad fat' levels.  Correct me if I'm wrong, more experienced and knowledgeable scientists or doctors out there.  I would be happier if it were not in a hydrogenated form, but that is why the suppositories are shelf stable and "hard", it's one of the more common bases for suppositories.

Some people can be allergic to Vitamin E or Coconut Oil or Palm Oil, so if you have never used or consumed a product with Vitamin E or Coconut Oil or Palm Oil in it, you may want to test with a small amount first.  I have not found the product irritating at all.  If you think you are allergic, stop using this product.

These suppositories can be used rectally for rectal dryness or irritation as well.  I have no experience with this usage.  They are not marketed as a laxative, and I am not sure if they would have a laxative effect if used in the rectum.

You could use these Vitamin E suppositories as a sex lube, in fact Vitamin E is popular with sex workers for protecting themselves from irritation and damage.  However, it may degrade a latex condom, so it would be better to try this as a lube only if you don't use condoms or if you are using non-latex condoms.  In fact, if you are using this product daily and you use condoms, don't use the latex kind.  Use a polyurethane condom like Trojan Supra and Okamoto Polyurethane (do not confuse with polyisoprene, like Lifestyles Skyn and Durex Avanti Bare which is also not safe with oil).  Olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, any oil will cause condoms to break.

I don't believe this product is going to "fix" vaginal atrophy for women who are suffering from it, honestly I'm not sure there is a easy fix for most women, because it's a symptom of more complex hormonal issues, but I do think it is an effective daily or near-daily treatment for dryness.  It's a great choice for women who don't wish to use any kind of hormone treatment at all since it's inexpensive and easy to source and more-or-less natural.

I tested this product for three weeks, every day at first and then every second or third day, which I think would reflect how someone would most likely actually use it.  I always used it before going to sleep.  I'm diabetic, and always have to get up to use the toilet 1-2 times during the night, but I would say that I was able to stay on my back 4-6 hours on average before, uh, losing a good chunk of the product.  Longer would of course be better, but realistically I think that will be about average experience for most people.  Basically what happens, is the suppository quickly turns into a thin liquid oil, with body temperature, and it takes hours to really absorb into the skin, and some is not going to, since it's a lot of oil.  If you were really concerned about staining, you could experiment with only using half the suppository?

Before I used the Vitamin E suppositories, I was experiencing severe vaginal dryness - sorry to be blunt, but the inside of my vagina was downright "sandpaper-y" in places, seemed like a lot of dead skin was not being sloughed off properly, and even penetrating myself with one finger was difficult.  When I tried to use a toy, it would get covered in dry, sticky, dead skin cells and not be able to move in smoothly.  Lube was not really helping, no matter how much I applied.  I was feeling kind of pinched and sore just sitting or walking.  Sex would be impossible or excruciating.  Even my vulva was oversensitized and delicate, and at times felt like it might crack from dryness, in places.

But even just three weeks of using the suppositories has helped a lot.  Although I still feel more delicate and sensitive, and having some dryness issues, it is much better.  My vagina is producing moisture more normally now, and it is comfortable to touch.  I am still overly tight, but penetration is a lot easier.  Lube is still necessary, but I feel like with longer vaginal moisturizer use, as well as gentle stretching to get used to it again, I would only need a little to be able to have comfortable penetration.  It's a relief to know it is possible to get my vagina feeling pretty normal again.  But I can tell, I would just have to keep using this forever.

Final Verdict - 3.5/5 - I don't think this has solved the underlying problems, but it's a decent vaginal moisturizer.  It is inexpensive and pretty easy to purchase.  I am a bit nervous about long-term use of a hydrogenated oils product.  It just targets the inside of my vagina, so it doesn't totally help dryness on my labia and vulva.  I would like to find a product I can safely use on those parts that won't stain my underwear or feel greasy.

Carlson Key E Suppositories can easily be purchased all over the internet and in pharmacies, from around $6-10 (making it around 25 cents per use at the cheapest end, which is frankly a great price for a commercial vaginal moisturizer).  I particularly recommend iherb.com, which currently offers free shipping at only $20, generous VIP volume discounts as a returning customer, and great customer service.  They also have very competitive prices to begin with, even not counting any extra discounts - compare your current vitamin and other health product prices with theirs.  If you're a new iherb customer, use coupon code SAD413 for $10 off a $40 order or $5 off any order.

Even though I do think these are great for ease and convenience, you can also consider alternate forms of Vitamin E, like just using a sterile pin to poke a Vitamin E pill and then placing inside the vagina to melt, or getting a non-sharp medicine syringe (like the kind you use to give liquid medicine to a child) to use with a bottle of Vitamin E oil.  You can visit your local compounding pharmacy and ask them if they can make you a similar product to your specifications.  They may be able to put Vitamin E into a different base, like aloe.  Additionally, taking Vitamin E pills orally will improve your skin hydration for your entire body.

I will be reviewing Luvena Vaginal Moisturizer next!  Watch out for my review mid-October.  We'll see if that product is any better.  But if you're suffering from severe vaginal dryness, don't suffer any longer, give this product a try.

------------------------------------------

Disclaimer:  I have purchased this product myself.  My opinions are my own.  I have no affiliation with, and do not speak for Carlson Labs.  If you use my iherb affiliate link, I will receive a small amount of iherb credit in return, so if you find that offensive, you probably shouldn't use it.

Review - Privacy Pop Bed Tent

Privacy Pop Bed Tents are portable, easy to assemble tents that turn your bed into a privacy zone.  It is available in many sizes - Twin, Twin XL, Twin Bunk, Full, Full Bunk, and Queen, and several colors that would appeal to both adults and children, with more colors coming out as sales improve.  And I'm sure if enough people requested it, they would expand out to King size tents.

I purchased the Queen Size in black.  I know, boring, but hey I like the color black.

This is one of those products that when you see it, you're like "Why didn't I think of that?" and "Where have you been all my life?".  It's perfect for so many situations.

Number one would have to be college dorms.  I would have absolutely killed to have one of these when I went off to college.  Like many colleges, mine had mandatory on-campus living for the first two years and I hated it so much.  I was not used to sharing such a small room with a stranger, have always been very reclusive and anti-social, and dorms were like living in hell.  My freshman year, I'm sure my first roommate caught me in a awkward post-masturbatory situation at least once, since she would live with a guy for weeks at a time and then suddenly just show up without notice.  With other roommates it would have been nice to have a way to block them off and be able to sleep or study or relax in peace.

If you like to use hostels when you travel (I used to, but not as much now that I'm older and prefer more comfort), a Privacy Pop Bed Tent would probably greatly enhance your hostel experience if you struggle to be able to sleep well, fear insect problems, or worry about being robbed or molested while staying there.  While not a solution by itself, it can help.  Even if you're bunking with 5 or 11 other people, you can have your own little privacy bubble.  Because the tent is easy to take up and down and comes with a nice carrying case with shoulder straps, you can travel with it.

this is a Queen size, so if you're just carrying Twin size, it's a smaller, lighter bag (8lbs for Twin)

Every parent, I'm sure, would love to give their children separate bedrooms, but it's not always possible.  If your kids hate sharing, they might feel better about it if they can have their own privacy tent to make them feel like they have their own space.  Even if they have their own bedroom, they might like having a more enclosed space that's just for them, or to feel like they have a "play tent" to have adventures in, pretend they are camping, or turn into an imaginary house or castle.  Or maybe you're sharing a room with them and you want one.

Got a young child that's afraid of monsters?  Tell them the tent is monster-proof, maybe spritz it with a little "monster-repellent" in the form of lavender water or something, regularly, and maybe that will help calm their fears.

Is your child going to summer camp?  Maybe they are introverted or autistic and need a little private space to de-stress at times?

Need to double up bedroom space because you have family or guests staying with you for awhile?  You can still have your private space with a Privacy Pop Bed Tent.

Sharing a Room With Someone? Get Privacy on Demand! The Innovative Privacy Tent - CLICK HERE

Do you have a kid who barges in on you without knocking in the middle of the night or early in the morning and you're afraid he or she will see something you don't want them to?  Zip up your bed tent and you'll have another barrier to protect them (and you) with.

You do not even need to have a traditional mattress to use Privacy Pop - you can use it with sleeping bags or air beds or cots.

The reason I just picked one of these up is not one that Privacy Pop is advertising, but maybe they should.  Despite regular pest control spraying and other measures, I have not been able to totally keep large spiders and scorpions out of my house.  I live in the Southwest, so it's very difficult to avoid them entirely.  We only moved in a few months ago and the house was previously a rental property for the owners, and I highly doubt there was much of a pest control regimen for years, given how poorly the house was maintained in general.  I am, I admit, totally terrified of them, and when I see another one, I am too stressed out to sleep well and feel like I have to be on guard 24/7.  So I feel like with this tent, I can zip it up and feel secure to sleep unmolested by these horrid creatures.  Getting a good night's sleep is very important to one's wellbeing.  If you sleep badly night after night, it will take its toll on your physical and mental health.

Of course, I'm hoping stepping up to stronger (and more) poisons and spraying a little more indoors (which I've been reluctant to do to a great extent because I have a cat that pokes her little nose into every nook and cranny constantly) will greatly reduce my sightings.  With your tent zipped up at night, you are safe from surprise visits from crickets, spiders, mosquitoes, scorpions, or any other pests you may be temporarily plagued by.  Sometimes these things just happen.  I had another house in Texas where I lived for many years where one year we suddenly had a serious plague of crickets and they were getting in the house every day.  After several weeks, they were gone.  Never had that problem before, or since, it was just one of those freak natural occurrences.  Definitely could have used a tent then, since they could jump into our beds.

As you can see from the pictures above, the Privacy Pop bed tent has 4 zipper openings - 2 huge doors on either side, and 2 smaller windows front and back which are actually 3 different modes: solid or mesh or both.  With the smaller openings, you can use them for ventilation, windows to see out of the tent, or to pass smaller objects in or out.  The mesh cloth is so dense that no insect could crawl through, but it breathes very effectively.  The side openings are for getting in and out of the tent yourself or to have a open side with full access.  There is a small square (which you can close off) for cord access (say, for a cell phone or laptop) even with a zipped-up tent.  There is a hook-and-loop system for when you want the zippered flaps to stay up and out of the way.  The fabric is water-repellent.

Assembling the tent was pretty easy overall.  The most difficult part was wrestling my very heavy extra thick queen mattress into the tent.  For the Queen size, it will be a lot easier with two people to assemble.  At Queen size it is quite a big tent and it helps to have one person handle most of the mattress weight and one person steadying the tent.  For smaller sizes, especially the Twin or Twin XL, probably one person can manage it just fine.  I also recommend not assembling with the "help" of a pest of a bengal cat jumping in and out of the tent and attacking your hands while you assemble it.

My husband and I assembled the tent by sliding the mattress off to the side, placing the tent onto my platform frame, and then sliding in the poles which go horizontally along the top and bottom of the tent (the instructions were not totally clear about that, so it took us a minute to figure out that's where they went - there are small zippers where they go in).  Just 4 straight poles, very easy and no struggle.  We got the mattress in by turning it about 45 degrees, then slowly maneuvering it straight again, then making small adjustments until everything was straight.  The tent has a good amount of slack, so it's easy to rock it a little to get it straightened up, and to put your sheets on the bed.  It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be.

Sorry about the abysmal quality of the photos  :( - my phone camera doesn't cope well with low light situations and I still have a lot of crap piled up in my room from trying to minimize scorpion hiding spots.  I will try to retake with some added light and a DSLR soon.

Our ceilings are average height and I have a ceiling fan with lights in the room and still had space for the tent even though the tent is genuinely tall and roomy.  You'll want to be sure to carefully measure your available height clearance before you buy though - the distance from where the base of your mattress sits to as tall as the tent you're interested in is.  Unfortunately, I am now blocked from my ceiling fan, but I could always rearrange my room layout to improve the situation.  I haven't noticed much of a difference so far - the tent breathes pretty well even when totally zipped up for hours, so I still felt cool and comfortable all night long.  I did not feel deprived of oxygen or fresh air.

Getting in and out of the tent is easy.  Admittedly, I am only 5'3", but I had tons of space for access, and when I'm in the tent, I can sit straight up and read or whatever, and still have many inches above my head.  My 5'9" husband had plenty of room to spare too.  I think you would be have to be well over 6" tall to start having trouble with sitting straight up, and if you don't have a extra-deep mattress like I do, or actually have a thinner than average mattress like you may have with memory foam or latex mattresses, then you will have more clearance.  The zippers are not too difficult to zip and unzip and so far, seem heavy duty and like they will stand up to heavy use.

Since this is an adult blog, let's get back to talking sex.  I don't anticipate the tent being too limiting as far as activities and sex positions, at least for me.  I guess it might be slightly limiting for very tall people or a group.  My mattress was already too high up to really work for a lot of standing positions, except for oral sex, so the tent doesn't change that or make that problem worse.  The tent is great for having a private space to masturbate in peace, if you're quiet.  It will help block out distractions.

I would like to note that with the black tent having black zippers, in a dark environment, you might like to plan for putting on neon tape or a bright cord or something along those lines to help you find the zippers a little easier.  I plan on using some neon paracord on the zippers.

Sleeping inside the tent has a nice feel - very cosy and private.  It's like having an adult pillow fort!  I feel really secure and relaxed.  Because of the roomy design, it is not confining or claustrophobic at all.  It will definitely help me sleep more soundly.  The tent blocks light very effectively, so even if you were not getting enough coverage from curtains or blinds, you could sleep in the middle of the day as if it were night.

I'm very happy with the tent for the most part, but there are a couple of things I would like to change.  I would really love if the side flaps were also dual-layered, so I could have it closed against bugs but open for better air circulation.  The "electric cord" portal is not realistically accessible for me at all, certainly not to have cords going in and out of it all the time, it's well under the mattress.  I would like to see it on the side of the tent maybe about 8 inches up from the bottom.  More colors would be great.  The black color creates a very dark atmosphere in a already dark room.  I did not like the pink or tan colors at all, so that's why I got black.  I would like a light purple or a light turquoise color, personally.  The black is good for the sleep itself, but not as ideal for just hanging out inside the tent, unless you have a really bright and lit-up bedroom.  Most of my sheets are also dark colors, so it just adds to the dark cave feel.

Final Verdict - 4/5.  Does what I need it to do, pretty easy to use, overall quite nice and cozy.  Just a few small things that keep it from being perfect.  I have no problem recommending these bed tents.  Click the link below to head on over to Privacy Pop's website and check these out for yourself.

Sharing a Room With Someone? Get Privacy on Demand! The Innovative Privacy Tent - CLICK HERE



Disclaimer - I purchased this item with my own money, have genuinely tested it, and my review is honest and not for compensation.  I do not endorse products that I do not personally believe in.

Signal Boost - Have You Done Your Kegels Lately?

Did you know that both women and men can do kegel exercises?

If you're suffering from event or age related sexual dysfunctions and frustrations, whether you're recovering from childbirth, surgery, going through menopause, or experiencing weaker erections - you should be doing kegels.  Eventually we will all suffer from age related sexual woes, and kegels can help turn back the clock.

If you're young - kegels are still for you!  You can make sex better for you and your partner.  Not only will you have a tight vagina or a firm erection, you can prevent issues like incontinence from ever happening.

Note -  Open the infographic below in a new tab or window (and view at 100% or better), if my site layout is making viewing difficult for you.  Or you can click on the image to view it at edenfantasys.com.  Sorry for the trouble.