Zestra. Actually, it's been around for a few yearse, at a small company run by its inventor, Martin Crosby, called QaliLife. For years while Pfizer was scrambling to find female Viagra, QualiLife was flying below the radar, conducting Zestra trial studies and then marketing Zestra on the web. Eventually it started getting mentions as a hopeful alternative to female Viagra in places like the Wall Street Journal and Cosmopolitan Magazine.

Finally, this week, the product became official, when the U.S patent office stamped the patent application with "Notice of Allowance."

The whole concept of Zestra is actually a far cry from Viagra. In the first place, it's topical, not oral -- which means you don't sit there, after taking a pill, and worry: am I going to get nauseous, get manic, grow hair on my chin? Zestra comes in oil form and can be part of the fun of a good round of sex. Since it's meant to be rubbed softly, lovingly all over the labial lips, the clitoris, the vaginal opening, it can be applied as a toy during foreplay. And test results suggest that the sensations from Zestra are twofold: a little tingly sensation and a warm sensation in the genital area. Reportedly, most women like these sensations, though a few have reported not liking the tingle. Nevertheless, studies that looked at the sex diaries of women who used Zestra (versus those using a placebo), found that it was true -- ladies using Zestra were definitely having more fun. Even women considered dysfunctional saw an increase in pleasurable sexual activity.

Crosby and others are quick to point out that a woman's process from arousal to orgasm is complex and does not necessarily follow a straight line from blood flow to orgasm. So when Crosby began hunting for something to rival Viagra for women, he went after something that would take a woman's complete sexual experience into consideration. His goal was heightening all aspects of her sexual experiences, not just making the equipment functional for orgasm.

In press statements on Tuesday, March 9, Crosby couldn't contain the urge to gloat gloating: "It is surprising that it took Pfizer eight years and 3,000 women to finally announce their decision last week [to abandon the Viagra approach to female orgasm -- see our previous article "No Viagra for Women"]. "Our research team knew in 1997 that the pharmaceutical companies were headed in the wrong direction." Like the Viagra approach, Zestra does deliver blood flow into the sensitive genital area, but it also gives pleasure sensations. Still, even FDA guidelines suggest looking for "number of orgasms" when measuring a drug's success.

Another interesting thing about Zestra is that it is made from herbal ingredients (or "botanicals" as Crosby calls them): borage seed oil, evening primrose oil, angelica, vitamin E, coleus extract, and antioxidants. Many of the ingredients have ancient pasts in the realm of herbal medicine. For example, angelica, or Chinese Dong Quai, is a very old remedy that has long been associated with balancing women's reproductive hormones. Its oil has the properties of a muscle relaxant when taken internally, and it was often traditionally used for menstrual cramps. So has evening primrose oil.

Zestra is also decidedly different from most of the love-play creams out there that rely on mentholated bases or include L-arginine. Both of these ingredients are little more than irritants, say most sex health specialists. It's just that while they are irritating, they're also causing blood to flow into the genitals. But these products are not the most healthy for the skin. And the popular L-arginine, included in many formulas due to public demand, comes with issues. It has not proven to do much of anything when applied topically. Taken orally, it can hook up with a man's erection and help it make a stand. But unfortunately, L-arginine also has the dubious reputation of reviving any dormant herpes viruses asleep in the hosts blood stream. So think L-arginine: sore outbreak alert.

Other topical solution are coming up behind Zestra, a cream called Femprox from NexMed, Inc. out of New Jersey, works in a similar way. It differs from Zestra in that it's hormonal rather than herbal. And unlike Livitra for men, Zestra is affordable. You can get a small bottle of the oil, about twenty go-rounds' worth, for under $50. For the experimental type, it's a good way to start simple, and avoid the nightmare of hormonal therapies.