The Best (Instant?) Female Arousal Pills

If you’re a woman struggling with low libido or other sexual dysfunction concerns, you’re not alone. Research estimates that 10% of adult women live with Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD), and other studies report that approximately 40-50% experience at least one distressing sexual symptom in their lives due to the hormone changes of menopause.1 2 These symptoms vary widely from person to person and can manifest both physically and mentally.

Since these symptoms can be highly distressing and result in lowered self-esteem or relationship difficulties, you may be looking for the quickest fix possible. But with so many options on the market — a lot of which are from shady companies making impossible promises — how do you know which ones are effective and, most importantly, safe?

In this guide to the best female arousal pills and topicals, we give you all the details of our top picks, including safety, effectiveness, cost, discounts, and much more.

If you’re in a hurry, here’s a quick summary of our findings.

Our 2025 recommendations

• Best over-the-counter pill: Promescent VitaFLUX
• Best (and fastest) prescription pill: Cake Meds Libido Lift Rx for Her
• Runner-up OTC pill: Hello Cake Drive For Her
• Best prescription topical: Wisp OMG! Cream
• Best over-the-counter topical: Unbound Jolt Gel

Over the past two decades, Innerbody Research has helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions about staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles.

For this review of the best female arousal products, we pored over dozens of scientific studies and articles on safe and effective ingredients, and our team thoroughly investigated the companies behind the products. Our testers also purchased these items so that we could compare them and provide detailed explanations (such as differences in pill size). As more information on new products and ingredients becomes available, we’ll update this review accordingly.

Additionally, like all health-related content on this website, this guide was thoroughly vetted for accuracy by one or more members of our Medical Review Board.

There is a wide variety of female arousal pills, gels, creams, and other products on the market. With some containing less-than-safe ingredients, it’s important to know which libido-support products for women are safe and effective. We also evaluated these products based on how burdensome (or not) the cost may be and how convenient they are to acquire and use.

Safety

Winner: VitaFLUX

Unlike the sketchy “instant female arousal pill” products on the market, our top picks overwhelmingly rely on safe ingredients.

Our choice for the best over-the-counter (OTC) pill, VitaFLUX, only uses five active ingredients: L-arginine, L-citrulline, L-carnitine tartrate, magnesium, and zinc. These amino acids and minerals should be safe for most people to take. However, there are some instances where an alternative might be better for you. For example, taking L-arginine could trigger a herpes flare-up (both HSV-1 and HSV-2), and L-carnitine may interact with certain thyroid medications.3 4 So, as always, we recommend consulting your doctor before starting a supplement to ensure it’s safe for you.

Overall, though, the ingredients in VitaFLUX don’t pose much of a risk for most people. HerSolution pills, on the other hand, have one ingredient that we’re not thrilled by the inclusion of — dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Even though HerSolution’s 25mg dose of DHEA technically puts it in the “possibly safe” category, it still has the potential to interact with a multitude of mental health prescriptions, and it may worsen psychiatric disorders (among other adverse effects).5 6 This doesn’t mean that HerSolution is unsafe when used as directed, but it does make it a riskier choice than alternatives without DHEA, like VitaFLUX.

And all pill options mentioned in this guide, including Cake’s Libido Lift Rx and Drive For Her, may not be ideal for those on blood pressure medications, as nitric oxide has vasodilating effects.63

Switching focus to topicals, both OMG! Cream and Jolt Gel pose fairly low risks for adverse effects. As with VitaFLUX, Jolt Gel has the potential to cause a herpes flare-up due to its L-arginine content (which is the case with HerSolution Gel, too).3 And OMG! Cream may cause some minor side effects, like skin itching or irritation.

Efficacy

Winner: Wisp OMG! Cream

Judging the effectiveness of products intended to support female libido poses a bit of a challenge — everyone reacts differently to different treatments. For example, someone may experience fantastic results from HerSolution, while others may say it did absolutely nothing for them. And the same can be said for the topical options or even the prescriptions approved by the FDA for the sole purpose of treating hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD).7 8

Wisp, however, does something for its OMG! Cream that the other companies don’t — customization. As noted on the product’s treatment information guide, OMG! Cream is not a mass-produced product; it’s customized and compounded according to the information you provide to your Wisp doctor. (This is why no dosages are listed on the product page.) Even though this doesn’t guarantee that OMG! Cream will work for everyone, it does mean that the quantity of the active ingredients is tailored to each patient’s specific case.

And sildenafil, one of the active ingredients in OMG! Cream (and Cake’s O-Cream Rx), has shown promising results in recent studies as a topical treatment for female sexual dysfunction.9 However, the other products in this guide have ingredients with the potential for positive outcomes, too. For instance, a systematic review of research studies suggests that supplemental oral products containing L-arginine and L-citrulline (such as VitaFLUX) may be beneficial for the treatment of HSDD.10

Cost

Winner: Unbound Jolt Gel

On average, safe and effective female arousal products will cost you somewhere between $35-$70 per month (or per bottle). But, some products, like VitaFLUX, offer subscription deals that shave a percentage off your cost and automatically send more to you at a specified interval.

If you have health insurance coverage, then Vyleesi autoinjectors could be your least expensive choice. The manufacturer of the drug notes that some insurance plans can bring the cost down to $0. But, for those who are uninsured, you could pay up to $956 for four doses.11

Because of this very wide range of potential prices, we chose the next least-expensive option, Jolt Gel, as our winner for cost. Since it’s an OTC product, each 1oz bottle costs $24 for everyone, and it should get you around 100 or so uses if you adhere to the recommended pea-sized treatment amount. This makes the cost of each treatment only about $0.24. (We appreciate the Unbound customer service team explaining that the company’s estimate of “pea-sized” is .25g worth of gel.)

Convenience

Winner: Cake Meds Libido Lift Rx

Often, the more convenient a treatment is, the easier it tends to be to integrate into your routine — and the more likely you are to stick with it and potentially see results. Convenience can be a very subjective thing, however, and what might be considered the most convenient treatment to you could be the most bothersome one to someone else.

We think Cake Meds Libido Lift Rx stands out as a convenient option for a few reasons:

• It’s a one-pill dose per use
• Effects should kick in within 30 minutes
• The pills are actually tablets that dissolve under your tongue (no need to have water on-hand)
• Hello Cake will send you a new prescription every one, three, or six months until you cancel your subscription

When it comes to topicals — gels and creams — the idea of being able to apply a product and have it work within the hour (similar to Libido Lift Rx) could perfectly fit your idea of convenience, but others may not like the potentially “messy” aspect of topicals. Jolt Gel can be convenient in its own way as a fast-acting gel, but HerSolution Gel and OMG! Cream both have specific standout qualities that make them runners up here.

HerSolution Gel isn’t just an arousal gel, but it also acts as a personal lubricant, which the other two don’t; this could be particularly helpful for people struggling with vaginal dryness as a symptom. And OMG! Cream, provided through telehealth company Wisp, can be prescribed entirely online with free delivery and the option for recurring deliveries every quarter in packs of one or two bottles.

In the chart below, we compare our top picks in several key ways to help you decide which product best suits your needs. If you’re interested in learning more details, you can find our complete evaluation of these products in their dedicated sections.

Additionally, as you can see below, we compared the sizes of VitaFLUX and HerSolution pills.

Both pills are a bit on the larger side, which might make topicals a more appealing option for some people. This becomes especially pertinent when you consider that Promescent instructs VitaFLUX users to take three capsules in the morning and three at night, while a serving of HerSolution is only one tablet per day.

The dose for Hello Cake’s Drive For Her supplement falls somewhere between the other supplements, requiring users to take two capsules. And, while they’re not included in the above image, Cake’s capsules are roughly the same size or slightly smaller than the VitaFLUX ones.

Female libido support products are generally intended to aid women or assigned female at birth (AFAB) individuals who:

• Are experiencing a dip in their libido or sex drive
• Have difficulty achieving orgasm
• Are struggling with vaginal dryness
• May be feeling less pleasure from sex due to various reasons, such as menopause symptoms
• Are diagnosed with hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) or another form of female sexual dysfunction (FSD)

Some of the products, like over-the-counter (OTC) arousal topicals or gels, can also be used simply because you want to enhance your sexual experience. Prescription topicals, like Wisp’s OMG! Cream, though, are typically intended for those struggling with distressing sexual symptoms. (The Wisp online consultation quiz specifically asks if you’ve been experiencing a lower interest in sex than usual or difficulty reaching orgasm.)

Who should look elsewhere?

Besides having male anatomy or a safety restriction (more on that in the following section), there aren’t too many reasons why the female libido-supporting products in this guide couldn’t be used by someone interested in trying them. However, certain products may be more ideal than others depending on your unique needs.

• Individuals with HSDD may do better with one of the two available FDA-approved prescriptions — Addyi (pill) or Vyleesi (injection).
• Those looking for an “instant” fix could find that topicals, Cake Meds’ Libido Lift Rx, or Vyleesi are what they need (these work within the hour).
• People seeking a more long-term solution might prefer supplements or Addyi (these options take weeks or months to work, but the potential benefits last longer).

While many of the sketchy “instant female arousal” pills on the market are not safe, the products we mention in this guide should be safe for most healthy adults. However, we’d be remiss not to mention a few safety considerations that should be kept in mind, including:

• Pregnant or nursing individuals would be safest sticking with OTC topicals only, as some ingredients in supplements and prescriptions may harm your baby.
• The herbal ingredients in various supplements may interact with certain medications or health conditions, so it’s important to get the all-clear from your doctor before taking them.
• Many of these products increase nitric oxide (NO) production, which can lower blood pressure. Those with cardiovascular concerns or who are on blood pressure medications should consult a doctor to make sure these products are safe to try.63
• Products containing L-arginine — such as Jolt Gel, HerSolution Gel, and VitaFLUX — could trigger a herpes flare-up (oral, genital, or both).3
• Some libido-support products for women, like HerSolution pills (not the gel), may contain a synthetic form of DHEA, a hormone that acts as a precursor to androgens and estrogens. This ingredient has the potential to interact with a host of medications, increase the risk of certain cancers, lower “good” HDL cholesterol, trigger manic episodes, and more.6 12

At varying times and for many reasons, including the hormonal changes of menopause, women and AFAB individuals may notice that their libido has dropped and their desire for sex is much lower than it used to be.13 Fortunately, there are a few generally safe and effective female arousal products on the market.

These products take on a few different forms — supplements, gels or topicals, and prescription medications — each with its own way of working to try and rectify your concerns. But how exactly do they work?

Supplements

Female libido support supplements often tout being an “all-natural” approach to treating sexual concerns. These supplements generally contain herbal and botanical ingredients, vitamins and minerals, or organic compounds, like amino acids. Some, including HerSolution, may use synthetic forms of hormones, like DHEA and melatonin.

The main goals for these products typically include the following potential benefits:

• Increasing blood flow to the genitals and relaxing smooth muscle tissue by influencing nitric oxide (NO) production.14
• Regulating sex hormones — estrogen and testosterone — which may improve sex drive and other related symptoms.15 16
• Balancing neurotransmitters, some of which play a major role in libido and sexual excitement.17

Prescription pills and injections

Currently, there are only two FDA-approved treatments for hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD): Addyi, a pill, and Vyleesi, an injection. HSDD is believed to be caused by an imbalance of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters in the brain. But other factors, like satisfaction in a relationship or self-esteem, may also play a role.18

Due to the believed involvement of neurotransmitters, both Addyi and Vyleesi regulate or modify the release of these chemical messengers in different ways — the former on serotonin (and indirectly dopamine and norepinephrine) and the latter on dopamine and norepinephrine alone.18

Another prescription pill option, Cake Meds’ Libido Lift Rx, contains the drug tadalafil (generic Cialis). Tadalafil was FDA-approved in 2003 for erectile dysfunction, benign prostatic hyperplasia, and pulmonary arterial hypertension.64 65 However, healthcare providers can prescribe drugs for unapproved uses based on their judgment that they’re medically appropriate; this is known as “off-label” use.42 The tadalafil in Libido Lift Rx is off-label, but research suggests that phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors — like tadalafil, sildenafil, and vardenafil — could be an effective treatment for female sexual dysfunction (FSD).66

Topicals

Female arousal gels or creams can also help with sexual satisfaction. While these products can’t affect things like hormone or neurotransmitter balance, some of the ingredients can increase genital blood flow and sensitivity, and others can add additional vaginal lubrication.

Like supplements, OTC female arousal topicals often rely on botanical ingredients and amino acids. But prescription topicals, like Cake Meds’ O-Cream Rx and Wisp’s OMG! Cream, add drugs, such as sildenafil, to the mix. Like the tadalafil in the Libido Lift Rx pill mentioned above, the sildenafil in these two prescription topicals is off-label, but a small study from 2020 found that women who used sildenafil cream reported “clinically significant increases” in arousal versus the results from no cream and placebo cream.9

At the time of this writing, the closest thing to an “instant” female arousal pill is Cake Meds’ Libido Lift Rx, which is a dissolvable prescription tablet containing tadalafil that should work in about 30 minutes and may be effective for up to 36 hours.67

Otherwise, pills tend to take the longest to start working (anywhere from a couple of weeks to a month or so). The FDA-approved pill, Addyi, and OTC supplements have the potential to promote the longest-lasting benefits, however, as they build up and continue to be in your system.

If pills don’t interest you, then topicals, such as OMG! Cream and Jolt Gel, or the prescription injection, Vyleesi, could be good alternatives. These also all work within the hour, but the effects only last a short amount of time. Topicals can be effective for around 20-60 minutes, and Vyleesi content in the body peaks at around one hour before falling again.57

Even with combining Addyi and Vyleesi, there don’t appear to be any known risks of mixing these two approaches together at the time of this writing. If this changes, we’ll update this guide with an appropriate warning. But, for now, it appears safe to use a pill or supplement to promote potential long-term benefits while also using female arousal topicals for an extra, more timely boost.

Best over-the-counter pill

Promescent made its name by pioneering delay sprays to help men overcome premature ejaculation, but the company has since greatly expanded its catalog of sexual health products. Its VitaFLUX supplement is available for men and women (both are the exact same except for label color), but in this guide, we'll focus on what this supplement might do for those with female anatomy. Promescent claims VitaFLUX for Women may help:

• Raise libido and sex drive
• Promote increased vaginal moisture
• Lead to better orgasms
• Improve cardiovascular health
• Aid in faster recovery from injury or exhaustion

We’ll investigate the validity of these claims next, but it seems like Promescent intends for VitaFLUX to boost both sexual and overall wellness. This is similar to how Leading Edge Health — the company behind HerSolution — markets its female libido supplements.

Ingredients and efficacy

Before delving into the supplement’s potential efficacy, let’s first take a quick look at the active ingredients in VitaFLUX, which include:

• L-Arginine: 2,000mg
• L-Citrulline: 1,000mg
• L-Carnitine tartrate: 1,000mg
• Magnesium: 64mg
• Zinc: 10.5mg

Though it has more of them, VitaFLUX isn’t the only product in this guide to use amino acids to support sexual health. For example, both Jolt Gel (a topical) and Hello Cake’s Drive For Her (a supplement) also contain L-arginine.

Now, let’s break down how (or if) these ingredients can potentially provide the benefits suggested by Promescent.

As with all treatments, VitaFLUX may not work for everyone or provide the same potential benefits to everyone. If this supplement is right for you and your body, you’ll likely start to see some improvements after around a month or so. If there are no noticeable changes whatsoever after your first bottle is gone (30 days of use), then it may be time to try something else.

Safety

The ingredients in VitaFLUX fall well below established tolerable upper limits, so the product should generally be safe for most healthy adults. Side effects of amino acids at the doses present in this supplement are more likely to be mild and may include gastrointestinal upset (like nausea and diarrhea).61

However, we always recommend speaking with your doctor before trying a new supplement to make sure it’s a safe choice for you.

The list below details some particular instances where VitaFLUX may not be ideal:

• Taking L-arginine could trigger a herpes flare-up (both HSV-1 and HSV-2).3
• L-carnitine can possibly interact with some medications: doxorubicin, thyroid hormones, and blood thinners.4
• Due to nitric oxide's vasodilating effects, this product might not be safe for people taking certain medications, such as those for blood pressure.63
• Zinc may interact with antibiotics, penicillamine, and thiazide diuretics.29
• Although the zinc content is far below the tolerable upper limit for adults (40mg daily), be careful not to over-supplement if you take another supplement containing zinc. Exceeding the upper limit of zinc for an extended period of time is unsafe and could lead to a deficit of copper in your body, among other things.30

Also, individuals who are pregnant or breastfeeding should avoid taking VitaFLUX.

Purchasing and pricing

Promescent used to sell VitaFLUX for Women in both capsule and powder form, but the latter seems to have been discontinued since we last checked in with the company. Unfortunately, this means that those who dislike the idea of taking six capsules daily — or those who simply can’t swallow pills — may need to look elsewhere. This could mean trying topicals, like Wisp’s OMG! Cream, or something like Cake’s Libido Lift Rx, which is a sublingual tablet that dissolves under your tongue.

Pivoting back to VitaFLUX, you can purchase this supplement as either a single bottle or a bulk pack of three. Both options are available as single purchases or subscriptions. The chart below breaks down the details. (The single purchase pricing includes our $5 off discount.)

If you prefer shopping on Amazon, you can find VitaFLUX there as well, but it appears to mainly be sold by third-party sellers (not Promescent or Amazon) so the quality — and authenticity — of the product can’t always be guaranteed. You also won’t be able to use our $5 discount or subscribe for 15% off of recurring deliveries. Additionally, shipping from Promescent is free for orders over $20, meaning that any VitaFLUX purchase qualifies.

Finally, if you’re unsatisfied with your purchase from Promescent, VitaFLUX qualifies for the company’s 60-day money-back guarantee. However, this offer is only valid for new customers or existing customers trying the product for the first time. This guarantee is fairly generous, and it’s about the same length as the one for HerSolution (67 days).

Best prescription topical

OMG! Cream, from the sexual-health-focused telehealth platform Wisp, is a prescription topical arousal gel that’s compounded according to the information you provide during your virtual visit. Its star ingredient is sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra. Unlike the prescriptions Addyi and Vyleesi, sildenafil isn’t FDA-approved for the treatment of any female sexual dysfunction (FSD) concerns, so the use of the drug in OMG! Cream is considered off-label.42

In comparison to the wait it takes for supplements to work (weeks to months), topicals like OMG! Cream should take effect within an hour of application.

If you decide to purchase OMG! Cream, after checkout you’ll be prompted to verify your identity and complete a quick telehealth visit. Depending on the state you live in, this visit may be just a quiz where you describe your symptoms and current health, or you may also need to speak with your assigned Wisp physician via phone or video chat. Once that’s completed, you should hear back on the approval or denial of your prescription within 24 hours (our tester received a response within an hour). If you’re denied, Wisp will refund your purchase.

Ingredients and effectiveness

Wisp’s OMG! Cream contains four active ingredients (but only the three medications are listed on the bottle):

• Sildenafil
• Pentoxifylline
• Ergoloid mesylates (this is misspelled as “Eroloid” on the label)
• Peppermint

We haven’t listed the concentrations of the ingredients because each bottle of OMG! Cream is compounded according to your needs based on the information you provide to your Wisp doctor. So, the doses in your OMG! Cream prescription could be similar or very different from the ones our tester received, as pictured above. (However, based on customer feedback and our tester’s own prescription, the sildenafil is seemingly prescribed in at least a 1% concentration.)

As with many other female arousal products, Wisp’s topical is intended to promote better blood flow to improve vaginal lubrication and increase physical arousal.19 43 Here’s how the OMG! Cream ingredients may be able to help:

Ultimately, while the existing data behind these ingredients appears promising, more research is needed to fully understand their potential roles in treatments for female sexual dysfunction (FSD).

Pricing and subscription details

The chart below breaks down the cost of Wisp’s OMG! Cream as both a one-time purchase and a subscription (charged and shipped every three months). Similar to competitors like Promescent, opting for recurring deliveries from Wisp will reduce your cost per bottle.

Competitor Hello Cake offers a similar topical, O-Cream Rx For Her, that’s available in either regular (1% sildenafil) or extra strength (3% sildenafil). However, Wisp’s OMG! Cream is far more affordable. For example, a 12-dose order of regular strength O-Cream Rx is $108 — that’s nearly $70 more than a one-time purchase of a 15-dose bottle of OMG! Cream. And since the products from both companies contain at least 1% sildenafil, there doesn’t appear to be a dose-dependent reason for this significant price difference.

While Wisp’s subscriptions do net you a nice 10-15% discount, we wish the shipping intervals could be modified. Everyone’s situation is unique, and it’s not difficult to imagine someone needing refills of this cream more or less often than every quarter. And though you do have the option to request an early refill or pause your subscription as needed, it would be nice to see the company add some subscription customization options in the future to make the process more convenient from the outset for customers with different needs.

When purchasing from Wisp, your telehealth visit for prescriptions — like OMG! Cream — is included with the medication cost. And if you have an HSA/FSA account, you can either use a card at checkout or download the necessary documents for reimbursement. (Wisp doesn’t accept insurance at this time, but that’s not all that unusual in the telehealth space.) Additionally, shipping is discreet and always free.

However, due to the nature of Wisp’s products, the company does not accept returns or offer refunds. Only if you receive a product in error and contact Wisp within 15 days of receipt will the company investigate the situation and issue a replacement product if deemed appropriate.

To learn more about Wisp and the platform’s telehealth visit process, check out our full Wisp review.

Best prescription pill and runner-up OTC pill

Hello Cake (often stylized as just “Cake”) is a telehealth company focused on sexual health. While the brand offers a wide range of products intended to improve your sexual well-being, we chose its Cake Meds Libido Lift Rx and Hello Cake Drive For Her as our picks for the best prescription pill and runner-up OTC pill.

Libido Lift Rx is unique in that it’s the first fast-acting libido-support prescription pill for women that we’ve come across, as of this writing. Most other options on the market are supplements or either prescription or non-prescription topicals. So, as mentioned previously, this dissolvable tablet may be the closest thing to an “instant” female arousal pill, since it should start working in around 30 minutes.

If you’re suffering from a form of female sexual dysfunction, like hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), Libido Lift Rx will not get to the root of the problem. According to experts, HSDD appears to be caused by an imbalance of certain neurotransmitters and hormones in the brain, which the ingredients in Libido Lift Rx won’t affect.18

Pivoting to the supplement, Hello Cake Drive For Her (previously called “Sex Drive For Her”) is a blend of various herbal ingredients and L-arginine intended to increase sexual desire. While there is some supportive research behind most of this supplement’s ingredients, the evidence isn’t quite as strong as it is for VitaFLUX’s nitric-oxide-boosting amino acids. But, if you can’t take a supplement with such a heavy focus on increasing nitric oxide — or if you simply prefer the idea of an herbal supplement and its potential benefits — then Drive For Her is an option worth considering. (As a side note, Drive For Her only requires you to take two capsules daily instead of VitaFLUX’s six.)

In addition to Libido Lift Rx and the Drive For Her supplement, it’s worth mentioning that Cake also offers a topical arousal product similar to Wisp’s OMG Cream called “O-Cream Rx for Her.” Both creams include the same 1% concentration of sildenafil (the generic form of Viagra). However, Cake’s prescription is more expensive than Wisp’s for fewer applications. But, unlike Wisp, Cake does offer an extra strength option containing 3% sildenafil, though that’s even pricier. At this time, we’d only recommend opting for Cake’s O-Cream Rx for Her if you’ve tried a 1% sildenafil topical, found it wasn’t strong enough for your needs, and would like to try the 3% sildenafil extra strength variety.

That said, let’s examine the ingredients in Libido Lift Rx and Drive For Her.

Ingredients and effectiveness

Libido Lift Rx has a fairly small list of ingredients, containing only L-citrulline, oxytocin, and tadalafil. Let’s cover how this prescription’s inclusions work.

In contrast to the short ingredient list of Libido Lift Rx, Drive For Her contains seven herbal ingredients and one amino acid. Here’s how their potential benefits for female sexual health break down.

Safety

As with most supplements and medications, there are some safety risks to keep in mind. For Libido Lift Rx and Drive For Her, they include:

• Both products (and O-Cream Rx) are unsafe for individuals who are pregnant or nursing.
• Tadalafil can lead to headaches, indigestion, back pain, nasal congestion, hypotension, skin flushing, limb pain, nausea, dizziness, vision changes, hearing loss, and rashes.64
• Tadalafil may interact with alcohol, alpha-blockers, antihypertensives, and other medications.64
• Fenugreek (Libifem) may be unsafe for those with thyroid or hormone-sensitive concerns.88 89
• Reishi may interact with medications for diabetes, blood pressure, and blood clotting.90
• Saffron shouldn’t be taken by those with diabetes, hypoglycemia, low blood pressure, or bipolar disorder. It may also interact with sedatives, antidepressants, and more.91

Of course, the list above isn’t comprehensive, so you should always speak with your doctor before adding a new supplement or prescription to your routine.

Pricing and availability

It’s worth mentioning that Cake Meds For Her can’t be shipped to Alabama, California, South Carolina, Guam, or Puerto Rico due to restrictions. This means that those territories can’t get Libido Lift Rx or O-Cream Rx, but they can still get the Drive For Her supplement. In contrast, Wisp is able to prescribe medications in all 50 U.S. states, so you can get OMG! Cream no matter where you are in the country.

The chart below breaks down the pricing details for Libido Lift Rx, Drive For Her, and O-Cream Rx (regular and extra strength).

As you can see, Cake’s prescription products can’t be purchased on a one-time basis. This means that you’ll have to sign up for a recurring subscription if you’re interested in either of those. Drive For Her, on the other hand, can be purchased either way, and it’s covered under the company’s 30-day satisfaction guarantee.

Best over-the-counter topical

Unbound (also known as “Unbound Babes”) is a sexual wellness company that is, in its own words, “dedicated to demystifying an often overwhelming and intimidating shopping experience by providing educational content and well-designed, affordable, body-safe products.” While the brand offers quite a large selection of items, our focus for this guide is on Unbound’s water-based arousal gel, Jolt Gel.

Ingredients

Unlike Wisp’s OMG! Cream and Cake Meds’ O-Cream Rx, Jolt Gel doesn’t contain any medications. Instead, this over-the-counter gel’s star ingredients are:

• Amino acids, particularly L-arginine
• Peppermint oil
• Damiana

L-Arginine and peppermint oil (due to its menthol content) can both promote increased blood flow through vasodilation.49 51 And damiana, or Turnera diffusa, is considered an aphrodisiac in traditional medicine.52 Studies are limited, but damiana appeared to help “sexually exhausted male rats” recover sexual behavior in a 2009 study.53 Of course, more research — especially on humans — is needed before we can definitively say damiana is effective.

The other amino acid in the gel, L-ornithine, doesn’t have much research on it as a topical treatment, but it does appear to have some potential as a stress hormone reducer (for cortisol, specifically) when supplemented orally.50 But, as mentioned with damiana, more research is needed.

Additionally, it’s important to note that Jolt Gel is not recommended for those with genital herpes, as the L-arginine content can trigger a flare-up.

Pricing

Jolt Gel can be purchased for $24 per bottle ($0.24 per pea-sized dose) either directly from Unbound or from its official Amazon storefront. At this time, we recommend purchasing through Amazon, as Unbound’s website doesn’t currently offer subscriptions.

Even though Amazon’s subscription option, unfortunately, doesn’t come with a discount, it does let you receive regular shipments of Jolt Gel without having to remember to reorder. Additionally, throughout our time keeping an eye on these products, we found that the Jolt Gel on Amazon goes on sale rather frequently. For example, at one point in early 2025, it was only $16.80 per bottle — that’s 30% off the regular price.

Neither purchase avenue accepts returns or refunds of opened products, but Unbound will accept returns of unopened, unused Jolt Gel within 30 days of purchase. Amazon, in contrast, won’t accept returns at all for safety reasons. This no-return policy isn’t that out of the ordinary; it’s similar to the policies of Wisp and Cake Meds for their topical arousal products.

HerSolution is a female libido support supplement from the wellness company Leading Edge Health. Like VitaFLUX, it’s intended to help women and AFAB individuals with sexual dysfunction symptoms, like vaginal dryness, difficulty achieving orgasm, and low sex drive.

This one-pill, once-a-day supplement may be more appealing to some who don’t wish to take six VitaFLUX capsules. However, as with all of the supplements mentioned in this guide, the potential effects will take time to appear — anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months.

Ingredients, safety, and efficacy

Unlike the other options in our top picks, there’s a strange lack of transparency with some of the ingredients in the HerSolution supplement. On the Leading Edge Health website, the company lists the “HerSolution formula” as:

• Niacin: 20mg
• Hops extract: 200mg
• Mucuna pruriens: 125mg
• Tribulus terrestris: 150mg
• Ginkgo biloba: 125mg
• Epimedium sagittatum: 100mg
• Cayenne pepper: 30mg

This formula is further described as “a blend of herbals, amino acids, aphrodisiacs, and sexual nutrients.” We’re not entirely sure what a “sexual nutrient” is, but we do know that while the formula is, indeed, herbals and some other botanical ingredients used as aphrodisiacs, there aren’t any amino acids in HerSolution. Niacin (or nicotinic acid) can come from an amino acid, tryptophan, but it isn’t one itself — and that’s the closest thing we could find.31

But that’s not where the transparency issue lies; the main problem we have with HerSolution is Leading Edge Health’s confusing decision not to mention that this supplement contains two synthetic hormones: melatonin (5mg) and DHEA (25mg). The former isn’t the worst addition in the world (it may cause daytime sleepiness and headaches), but the latter can have serious health consequences; DHEA is not studied nearly enough to be worth an inclusion without mention.32

The amount of DHEA in HerSolution falls under the “possibly safe” category if you use the supplement as directed, and the other ingredients are all generally safe (with some decent scientific backing for helping sexual dysfunction), but an ingredient that the Mayo Clinic suggests avoiding seems worth a section on the product page.5 6

To be clear, we’re not saying that you shouldn’t try HerSolution if it sounds like something you’re interested in — it very well may be the most helpful option for you, and you should discuss it with your doctor. We just want to properly inform you of the potential risks associated with the supplement since Leading Edge Health doesn’t try to. To that end, DHEA may:6

• Interact with prescription medications (particularly those for mental health, including SSRIs, antipsychotics, carbamazepine, lithium, and valproic acid)
• Worsen psychiatric disorders and increase the risk of mania in people with mood disorders
• Reduce HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels
• Increase the risk of hormone-sensitive cancers (prostate, breast, and ovarian)
• Lead to oily skin, acne, or hirsutism in women (male-pattern hair growth)

For more information on the potential drug interactions, you can find extensive lists from the Mayo Clinic and Mount Sinai.

In terms of potential benefits of DHEA, the synthetic hormone may improve sex drive in older, postmenopausal women, specifically (not younger, premenopausal women). The results have been mixed, however.12

Looking at the rest of the ingredients, the outlook for trying HerSolution is a bit more positive. While we delve further into the nitty gritty details of these ingredients in our full HerSolution review, the following list breaks down some of the research.

• Niacin: Can improve blood flow via the promotion of nitric oxide production.33
• Hops extract: May help relieve hot flashes and increase libido via its potential to bind to estrogen receptors.34 35
• Mucuna pruriens: Contains a precursor to dopamine, one of the neurotransmitters heavily involved in sexual arousal.17 36
• Tribulus terrestris: “Significantly improved” postmenopausal patients' levels of desire and arousal, along with promoting orgasms and reducing pain from intercourse in one 2016 study. However, more research is needed. (And the dose in this study was 750mg per day compared to the 150mg in HerSolution.)37
• Ginkgo biloba: Can influence nitric oxide production.38
• Epimedium sagittatum: Might increase sexual desire in postmenopausal women by promoting estrogen biosynthesis.39
• Cayenne pepper: Acts as a vasodilator and can promote the release of nitric oxide.40
• Melatonin: May improve sexual function in postmenopausal women.41

Purchasing and pricing

You can purchase HerSolution directly from Leading Edge Health, on either the company’s website or the product’s dedicated site (both are legitimate). Buying more than a one-month supply also gets you a free tube of HerSolution Gel, which retails for $59 (we discuss the gel in more detail later on).

Here’s how the cost of HerSolution breaks down:

Depending on whether you purchase from Leading Edge Health or from the HerSolution website, the shipping costs will differ. You always need to pay for shipping from the former, but the latter only charges shipping if you purchase a 1-month supply; bulk orders ship free. The different prices are noted in the lists below.

Leading Edge Health website (all orders):

• FedEx 7-10 day: $10.99
• FedEx 2-3 day: $16.99
• FedEx overnight: $38.99

HerSolution website (1-month supply only):

• USPS standard 7-14 day: $5.99
• FedEx 7-10 day: $14.99
• FedEx 2-3 day: $18.99
• FedEx overnight: $38.99

And because it can take a few weeks to see results, Leading Edge Health suggests trying the product for at least 60 days. If you’re not satisfied, you can take advantage of the company’s 67-day money-back guarantee. Promescent and Wisp, in comparison, also have set lengths for their guarantees but they don’t require you to wait any specific amount of time.

A separate product from the pill for low libido that bears the same name, HerSolution Gel may help with some of the physical issues associated with arousal. This water-based gel can be used to increase vaginal lubrication and promote physical arousal through the inclusion of L-arginine.

The active ingredients in HerSolution Gel include:

• L-arginine, a precursor of nitric oxide, may help dilate blood vessels and stimulate blood flow.10
• Aloe, shea, and cocoa butter can provide additional vaginal lubrication.

Each tube, supposedly, contains a 30-day supply. It’s unclear how much gel is estimated as one use, though. This is in contrast to Wisp and Unbound clearly stating that their products use a pea-sized treatment.

Leading Edge Health offers a bulk purchase discount, so the more tubes you buy, the more you save. If you buy a 3-month or 6-month supply, you’ll also receive a free box of HerSolution pills. Here’s how the costs work out:

Addyi (flibanserin) — also known as “the little pink pill” — is an FDA-approved prescription pill to treat Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD).62 HSDD affects premenopausal women, and it’s believed to be caused by a neurotransmitter imbalance in the brain. However, researchers acknowledge that other reasons, like self-image or happiness in a relationship, can also play a role.18

Some HSDD symptoms include:54

• Decrease in sexual thoughts
• Lack of response to sexual stimuli
• Loss of interest in sex
• No desire to initiate sex
• Avoiding sexual situations

Additionally, a major part of these symptoms is that they need to be causing you some form of distress. If you don’t care about not having sexual thoughts or desires, then it isn’t HSDD.

Cost and ordering

To receive a prescription, you’ll need to consult with a physician. If you’d rather not wait to see a doctor in person, you can visit the Addyi website and consult with a doctor online using the telehealth service beyondMD for $29. You’ll fill out a questionnaire about your current health status and lifestyle, and a licensed provider will review it and decide if Addyi sounds like a fit for you.

Otherwise, if you prefer to order the prescription through a face-to-face appointment, you can contact Addyi for a list of prescribers. If the doctor you see prescribes the medication, you can pick it up at a local pharmacy or have it shipped to your home for free through Addyi’s partner pharmacy, PhilRx.

The cost of the medication varies depending on insurance coverage. Some insurance plans offer Addyi for only $20 each month. If you don’t have insurance, the average cost is around $350 for a 30-day supply. In the past, there was a manufacturer savings program that guaranteed qualifying patients would pay “never more than $149” per month, but that appears to have been discontinued.

Ingredients and safety

The active ingredient in Addyi is the drug flibanserin, which is FDA-approved to treat HSDD. You take Addyi once daily at bedtime. This prescription shouldn’t be taken with alcohol (the other FDA-approved prescription mentioned in this guide, Vyleesi, doesn’t have this restriction). Those who have any liver problems should also avoid the medication.

You may experience some side effects on Addyi, including:

• Dizziness
• Sleep difficulties
• Nausea
• Dry mouth
• Fatigue
• Low blood pressure
• Loss of consciousness

The prescription’s website includes a comprehensive overview of drug interactions, side effects, and potential risks. We recommend bringing up any conditions or medications that might be relevant to your use of Addyi during your doctor consultation.

Overall, research points to Addyi being well-tolerated and effective at improving sexual desire in premenopausal individuals with HSDD.55 This medication does take some time to potentially work, however. Like the supplement options, Addyi can take around four weeks to a couple of months before the effects kick in. But, according to the manufacturer, if you haven’t seen any improvement after taking Addyi for eight weeks, then the medication should be discontinued.

Vyleesi (bremelanotide) is an FDA-approved injectable prescription medication that can be used as needed to treat Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD) in premenopausal women. HSDD is defined as a “persistent or recurrent absence of sexual fantasies and desire for sexual activity” that leads to distress or relationship difficulties. It’s not caused by a medical or mental health issue, relationship problem, or drug use. Essentially, you know you have HSDD if your libido used to be acceptable to you, but it’s recently taken a dip, and this lower libido is causing you distress.18 54

Clinical trials investigating the effectiveness of Vyleesi for the treatment of HSDD have shown promising results. Versus a placebo, researchers reported that Vyleesi “significantly increased sexual desire.”56

To take Vyleesi, you use the autoinjector pen to give yourself an injection under the skin on your thighs or stomach about 45 minutes before sexual activity. The manufacturer notes that it shouldn’t be used more than once per day or more than eight times per month.

Ingredients and safety

The active ingredient in Vyleesi is bremelanotide, an FDA-approved drug to treat HSDD. It’s important to note that this medication does bring about the possibility of side effects, including (but not limited to):7

Because Vyleesi can alter your heart rate and blood pressure, it isn’t recommended for people with hypertension or cardiovascular issues. Even if you don’t have those concerns, it’s important to speak with your primary care provider to ensure Vyleesi is safe for you.

Cost and ordering

You can obtain a Vyleesi prescription either through your doctor or the manufacturer’s third-party telehealth partner, Prescribery, for a $29 consultation fee (just click the “Get Vyleesi Online” button on the top of the Vyleesi website). No matter where you receive your prescription from, it will be shipped to you for free from BlinkRx, a specialty pharmacy.

If you have insurance, the cost of Vyleesi may be covered. It’s a good idea to check with your plan beforehand to verify. If you don’t have insurance, Vyleesi offers financial assistance through an application on the prescription information website. You need to be at least 18 years old and not insured by a government agency (such as Medicaid) to be eligible for financial aid.