Heartbreak Nymphomania » sex toys

Review: Tantus Tease

Wilhelmina Wang — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 13:41:54 +0000

I have a little confession to make: the Tantus Tease – which is essentially a bullet vibe and a ~3″ silicone sleeve – has joined luxury toys like the Lelo Siri and Nobessence Romp on my “favorite toys” list. Why? Because of one simple reason: the Tease is the pin-pointiest vibrator I own. And pin-point clitoral stimulation is basically guaranteed to get me off.

The Tease doesn’t have any of the amenities of high-end vibes: no locking device, not rechargeable, only one setting/speed. This toy is practically rustic. And yet it knocks my other pin-point vibrators, like the Lelo Mia and the bswish bcurious, out of the water, easily. I think this has something to do with how the tip of the toy isn’t a solid point; it’s more like a miniature feeler. And because the tip is so light, it doesn’t just vibrate – it shivers back and forth very quickly; a sensation I’m finding that I like quite a bit better than straight-up vibrations. This shape works wonderfully well for me, as well: my clit is very sensitive, and there is one tiny spot that’s even more sensitive than the rest of it, so I can set the feeler against that spot and orgasm in, like, ten seconds.

The Tease is also as cute as hell. I mean, it’s lime green, for heaven’s sake. This color was one of Tantus’ original neon offerings, which they brought back as a promo, stating that if sales went well, they would start offering those colors again. I suppose the lime green must have been popular. Its shape makes it look like a little alien thingy, and makes for easy grip due to the dip around the middle.

Cute and powerful as it may be, however, it is still a bullet vibe in a silicone sleeve, and comes with all the usual caveats of bullet vibes: a low, yet clearly discernible buzzing noise, high-intensity¹, difficult-to-find N-batteries. Although this bullet is (supposedly) longer lasting than regular bullets, you’ll still have to deal with changing the batteries or the bullet itself eventually. The toy came with the bullet already inserted into the sleeve. It must be a pretty long bullet, since the entire toy is stiff and immovable except for the tip. I tried pulling the bullet out, but try as I might, it stayed put. And I didn’t want to get violent with the thing for fear of wrecking my new beloved.

Size comparison. From left: Fun Factory Gigolo, Tantus Tease, and Lelo Mia.

The Tease is part of Tantus’ new-ish Little Secrets line (perhaps the company’s answer to Toyfriends?), which includes four other equally adorable and colorful silicone sleeves + bullet vibes. What I’d really like is the option to purchase the Little Secrets as sleeves alone. I’m very curious as to how the Tease would work in conjunction with my new Lelo Mia 2.0. IMHO, Tantus’ thing is definitely producing well-made, pretty, silicone toys, so maybe making sleeves for bullet-styled toys would make sense? Like how Vixen makes attachments for the Hitachi? I guess the problem with that idea would be that the Tease is quite a bit longer than a regular bullet, there is no “go-to”, well done bullet that I know of, and bullet toys are available in subtly different shapes², so a one-size-fits-all deal would probably be out of the question. …But I still want to try pairing the Tease with the Mia, dammit!

On top of all this? All the Little Secrets only cost ~$30. So if you can’t afford to splurge on a luxury vibe that may cost $50+, purchase a Little Secret and get a good bang for your buck.

To sterilize the Tease, you can wipe it with 10% bleach solution. If you put it in the top shelf of the dishwasher with no soap, or boil it for 5 minutes, you’ll have to take the bullet out, so I don’t recommend these modes of cleaning. Silicone toys are not compatible with silicone lubes.

Edited 12/7/11: Corrected after a representative at Tantus confirmed to me that Tantus does not make any electronic components, including bullets, but sources them from elsewhere.

Thanks, Tantus!

Well, for me, anyway; but then I’m the vibrations-wimp who uses Lelo toys on only the third or forth intensity level.
Compare the Lelo Mia with the Ohmibod with the X-treme Pack G-spot Bullet, for instance.

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Review: Laid D.1

Wilhelmina Wang — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 08:20:08 +0000

When Babeland offered the Laid D.1 for review, I was intrigued because I’d never heard of the company “Laid” before. It’s a relatively new company¹ based in Norway, and its sleek designs looked promising. I have to admit, I was mostly drawn in because it’s based in Europe, and I really like the two European sex toy companies that I know of².

The D.1 is a mid-sized, silicone dildo that’s marketed as a G-spotter; its pièce de résistance is its asymmetrical head that’s provides both a rounded surface and a pointed surface to stimulate your G-spot. You can supposedly switch between them with a gentle twist. Also, it’s bright blue! Seriously, more manufacturers need to move away from purple and pink, and incorporate bright, candy-colors into their product lines.

Unfortunately, its revolutionary design doesn’t work all that well in practice. It was quite unintuitive for me to use, and it took me a while to find my G-spot with it, although I did manage after a while. I couldn’t feel much of a difference between the two surfaces; except I could tell when the pointy side wasn’t on my G-spot because I could feel it poking my vaginal walls. I tried the “handle” end, as well, but it was too pointy for me to find pleasurable. Since the surface is so smooth, also, if I get lube on the handle or on my hand, things get slippery very quickly, which makes maneuvering the dildo difficult.

During my lengthy toy reviewing stint, I’ve found designs that really work for me; and maybe I’m just being inflexible, but now that I know what works, I’m loath to deviate much from it. For G-spotting, I like the wide, flattened head of the Lelo Gigi or Lelo Ella, and the large, ball-like head of the Pure Wand or Ophoria No. 3. The blunt-head style took a bit of maneuvering at first, but felt amazing once I got the hang of it, and the ball-head style honed in on my G-spot almost instantly. Both of these styles were more effective than the D.1. And when I’m not using a dildo to stimulate my G-spot, I prefer toys that are heavily textured (e.g. the Tantus Echo), while the D.1 is perfectly smooth.

However? I am terribly enamored with the Laid D.1 Stone, which is made of – get this – Black Norwegian Moonstone, or Blue Pearl Larvikite. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Damn, I should have tried to review this one instead. Okay, it’s exactly the same shape as the silicone one, but maybe the material would improve upon it somehow?

Anyway, to sterilize the Laid D.1, you can wash it with 10% bleach solution, put it in the top shelf of the dishwasher with no soap, or boil it for at least 5 minutes. Also, silicone toys are not compatible with silicone lubes.

I guess I just know what I like, and the Laid D.1 isn’t it. It is a well-made dildo, though, and perhaps it will suit your needs better than mine.

It introduced its first products in 2010.
Lelo is Swedish, and Fun Factory is German.

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Contest: Green sex toys for everyone!

Wilhelmina Wang — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 16:03:45 +0000

The lovely Epiphora is doing yet another fab giveaway! This one is in honor of St. Patrick’s Day and, appropriately, all the toys she’s giving away are green. I’m entering to win the Fun Factory Yooo (the thing in the middle with two bubbles on each side), but there are plenty of options to choose from: the Lelo Ina! A Crystal Delights plug! A little monster thingy that I would totally want if I had a cock to put in it because it’s so hilarious looking! Mosey over to Epiphora’s blog to read the rules and enter the contest.

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The World Needs More Porn!

Wilhelmina Wang — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 13:56:57 +0000

Porn and sex work will always exist; why not stake a claim in it and work to create more liberties and spaces for our own representations? As Annie Sprinkle has said, “The Answer to bad porn isn’t no porn… it’s to try and make better porn!” (And for me, this means more porn.)

- Jiz Lee, in this interview with Rabbit White

Last spring, I caught a ride with a co-worker for some work-related thing and (of course!) we started talking about porn. I’m not sure how we got into the topic, but she had a young son at home and worried about his one day being exposed to porn via the internet. She was quite a progressive lady and wasn’t worried about him watching porn in general, she just worried about how he might start thinking that everything that happened in porn also happened in reality, and that he’d internalize unhealthy views about sex as a result. I could see her point. While I watch and enjoy porn, there is definitely a lot of “bad” porn out there.

And with regards to that, I agree with Annie Sprinkle and Jiz Lee. The answer to bad porn isn’t to try to eliminate or censor it all completely, but to make more porn! Better porn, more diverse porn, porn that we want to see. And in that spirit, here’s what I want to see more of in porn:

I want to see more beautiful men. Not just hot or handsome – beautiful. I want to see men who are coy, men who are pretty, men who are delicate, and men who are vulnerable.

I want to see more porn actresses who look like me: short, chubby, brown women.

I want to see more female tops who look like me.

I want to see more female tops (performing with male bottoms) period.

I want to see more female tops whose topping styles I actually like. Read: less high-pitched yelling; more understated, low-voiced commands, with all the power, instead, in her glance.

I want to see more female tops who aren’t decked out in uber-feminine, domme gear like corsets and high heels. Don’t get me wrong, I like corsets and high heels, and sometimes I want to see corsets and high heels. But sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I want to see female tops who aren’t uber-feminine. Or who, again, are understated and don’t need to perform their dominance through their clothing, they just do it.

I want to see more cunnilingus. I love being eaten out; I love it when my partner obviously enjoys eating me out, and I want to see more of that sort of thing in porn. There is so much head-giving in porn. As in cis-women giving cis-men head. So many blowjobs. I do not like watching blowjobs. I like giving blowjobs, but watching blowjobs is boring. Yawn. I’m fed up of seeing blowjobs¹. I want to see women getting eaten out, I want to see close-ups of her partner’s tongue against her clit, and I want to see both her and her partner enjoying the hell out of it.

I want to see more porn performers who look like ordinary people.

I want to see more porn featuring gay men, but geared towards women.

I want to see more lesbian sex that looks real, not just like eye-candy for the men.

I want to see more safe sex. Safe sex is sexy too.

I want to see more behind-the-scenes commentary.

I want to see more genders being represented besides cis-men and cis-women.

I want to see porn that isn’t all about the money shot.

What kind of porn do you want to see?

This post is part of a blogosphere-wide carnival called Lady Porn Day! Read more Lady Porn Day posts or keep up with the discussion on Twitter under the hashtag #ladypornday.

I do, however, love seeing people receiving head if they’re wearing a strap-on.

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The Wonderful World of Slashfic and Yaoi, and How it Informed my Awakening Sexuality

Wilhelmina Wang — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 16:22:34 +0000

Or: The “Porn” I consumed as a 14-year-old.

Disclaimer: I don’t profess to be an expert on this topic. As with practically everything else on this blog, it’s all drawn from my personal experience, and the examples I’m giving are in no way representative of the fandoms as a whole, since there are millions of works out there and I’ve probably read a tiny handful of them, cumulatively. Yaoi and slashfic culture are also, really, two separate things, but I’m addressing them at the same time here because I had pretty much the same relationship to both. I was/am primarily a consumer of these works and never really participated by commenting or posting on forums or anything like that. In short: if you want a Yaoi 101 or Slashfic 101 or heavily researched analysis of either, you should probably look elsewhere.

I can’t remember the exact event that marked when I first started to become a sexual being. I do know that it started when I was 14. Sure, I had had sexual thoughts before then, but they were quick and fleeting and I had no idea that they were sexual at the time. No: 14 was the year that I became aware of my sexuality and started thinking about it in a coherent way. It was when I fell in love for the first time, got over my homophobia, realized that I was bisexual, and started consuming pornography or erotica.

Except I didn’t look at porn videos and pictures online, or at smut mags. No, my porn came in forms that some may consider unexpected: manga and fan fiction.

Yes. I used to be (and still sort of am)… a yaoi fangirl.

For those who don’t know: yaoi, shounen-ai, slash and Boy’s Love are all terms for pretty much the same thing¹ – media created and consumed primarily by women that features gorgeous boys who make out with each other a lot. They range from fluffy and innocently romantic to raunchy and plotless, but most of them incorporate the characters’ dynamic and build up emotional tension so that the sex scene is 100x more delicious when it finally happens.

How it all Began

I found my first slashfic by accident on Fanfiction.net. I was skimming through the Harry Potter section and didn’t know any of the slash jargon used in the story descriptions,² so I ended up reading a steamy twincest scene between Fred and George Weasley.

At first, I was shocked by what I had read. I felt like I had done something bad and forbidden, and I didn’t understand how anyone could write things that were so awful and wrong. Of course, soon enough the guilt turned into fascination, then thrilled, then not being able to get enough. This was around when I started getting into anime, as well, so I started reading slashfic based on anime series I liked – sometimes even before I had finished watching the series themselves. I discovered Adult Fanfiction and Media Miner and fan archives and started downloading original yaoi manga from scanslation directories like Aarinfantasy. Sometimes, during the weekend, I stayed up really late – often somewhere between 3 – 7am – consuming slashfic for hours after everyone else had gone to bed, so I didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing what I was doing.

Discovering yaoi and slashfic was like discovering a buffet of impossibly beautiful boys who I could mix and match together to create an infinite amount of new and exciting flavor combinations.

Doujinshi of Heero Yuy & Duo Maxwell from Gundam Wing. Possibly one of my most favorite yaoi pairings of all time³. Pictures via 1x2x1.org.

I never masturbated when I looked at yaoi. At that point I didn’t know how to. I attempted “masturbating” only once: while laying in bed, without fantasizing about anything, I put one hand inside my underwear and pressed it against myself. Nothing happened. Exasperated, I decided that masturbating must be overrated. I didn’t try masturbating again until three years later, when I started dating and had a better idea of what to do.

I didn’t masturbate, but I of course got pleasure from what I read. These warm, fuzzy, exciting feelings built up towards a fever pitch and I’d go to bed thrumming and content. There was this one time where I’m pretty sure I read myself to orgasm – I reached a climactic point in one story after at least a couple of hours of reading, and I shuddered as my eyes widened and liquid fire spread all the way through me.

The Context: a Catholic, All-Girl’s Secondary School

The backdrop to all this was a primarily Catholic, all-girl’s secondary school, i.e. middle and high school. We never interacted with boys. We didn’t have any male friends. Going on dates was completely out of the question, let alone experimenting with sex.⁴

I never spoke about my fascination with my friends. I didn’t want them to think I was strange. It wasn’t that we never talked about sex – we did. But we never talked about doing it, wanting it, fantasizing about it, or of the actual mechanics of it. Our conversations about sex consisted of nervous giggling and making random nonsensical jokes about boobs and balls. I’d giggle along with the rest of my friends during these silly, perverted discussions; all the while thinking about my “secret.” Looking back, the frequency of these conversations probably meant that all of my friends had “secrets,” too, that they didn’t feel that they could talk about in the open.

Fanart of a young, naked Daniel Dreiberg (Nite Owl) coming onto a young Walter Kovacs (Rorschach) from the Watchmen graphic novel. Found via the Watchmen Kink Meme on LJ. I have no credit for this picture, so if you know who drew it, let me know.

Women as Observers in a Perfect Fantasy World

Most mainstream porn videos and magazines are geared towards straight men. Consequently, most of that porn consists of unrealistic ideals like drop-dead gorgeous babes with slim builds, big boobs, and a love of being jizzed on. Or whatever. Likewise, yaoi manga is full of idealized romantic relationships that are for the most part completely unrealistic and unrepresentative of actual Japanese gay men. Just like women in porn all look mostly the same (white, thin, busty, feminine, made-up, etc), men in yaoi manga are all thin and beautiful, fall into several typical character types, go through some sort of convoluted relationship drama before they actually get together (and have sex), and think about their passionate loving feelings amid falling roses and shoujo bubbles. For the most part.

The interesting thing about yaoi manga is that women are rarely present in the stories, and hardly ever appear as main characters. Sometimes women take on “best friend” or sisterly roles, but more often than not if a woman plays a large role in a yaoi story, it’s as a villain – an ex-girlfriend or a love-rival who is preventing the main couple from getting together. I read one story – Zankoku Yuugi – where Man A was romantically pursuing Man B, but Man B already had a girlfriend. So Man B indirectly causes the girlfriend to get into an accident, and she ends up in the hospital. And Man A and Man B end up dating at the end of it. Even though Man B knows that Man A put his girlfriend in the hospital⁵

A page from Zankoku Yuugi Ch.1 , scanslated by dokidoki. Remember to look at the panels from right to left!

Within the Gundam Wing yaoi fandom, the main female “threat” to the Heero x Duo pairing was female lead Relena Peacecraft. While she and Heero weren’t a canon couple, it was heavily implied that they were interested in each other, or that one was interested in the other. Among the Heero x Duo fanfics I read, I encountered countless stories where Relena was demonized beyond belief, ridiculed, traumatized and, in some cases, killed off.

And remember: the vast majority of these works are created and consumed by women.

I can’t really begin to address the sinister negativity with which women are sometimes treated in yaoi. But I can address the absence a little bit. I’ve come across articles arguing that one reason why women like consuming gay male porn is because the absence of women in that porn is actually a relief. For me, it definitely was a relief. It took me quite a while before I was comfortable including myself in my sexual fantasy fodder; imagining someone else doing things to me or with me, and not just being a detached observer in my own fantasy. Imagining myself would just make me think of all the aspects of myself I felt insecure about. I did not think of myself as hot or charming or sexy and therefore I could not possibly think of myself as sexual.

Consuming yaoi was a form of escapism. I knew it was a fantasy world; that it wasn’t real. And because it wasn’t real, it was a safe space where my curiosities and potential turn-ons could come out to play, without any consequence or responsibility. I could be sexual without… actually being sexual.

In the world of yaoi, women are the ultimate voyeurs of a perfect fantasy.

10 Years Later

So yaoi played quite a big part in shaping my sexuality. This post doesn’t really have a conclusive point; except that after writing this I find several things worth noting. As a teenage girl:

the Internet was probably the most important tool I used to develop my sexuality – not magazines or talking with my peers
I didn’t feel like consuming porn or talking about sex were things that were appropriate for me to do
I didn’t really involve myself very much in my own sexuality – I didn’t touch myself or even picture myself in my own sexual fantasies

I wrote this post both to include yaoi and slashfic in “lady porn” and to prompt a discussion about it; but also, I guess, to prompt a discussion about teenage girls and porn. When most people think “teenage boys,” they think “sex-crazed horndogs” and assume that of course they’re looking at porn. Or they’re trying to. Which isn’t exactly a positive picture and probably isn’t completely true, either. But what about the girls?

This post is part of a blogosphere-wide carnival called Lady Porn Day! Read more Lady Porn Day posts or keep up with the discussion on Twitter under the hashtag #ladypornday.

Except yaoi and slash are usually more explicit, and slash refers to fan fiction, not anything canon
e.g. lemon = explicit sex scene; using an / or x between two names denotes a pairing
I somehow found out about the pairing before the series they were from, probably because they’re such a popular pairing. I didn’t really like Gundam Wing, the series, all that much. Too much mecha and war and politics for my taste
Although my school ended up having a lot of lesbian, bicurious and queer women in it. Go figure.
In order to persuade Man B to date him, Man A also basically took Man B hostage, blackmailed him, and once or twice forcefully coerced him into doing sexual acts against his will. So it was a fucked up story, in many ways. But oftentimes in yaoi manga, destructive and extreme acts performed by a character are just taken as evidence of how strong and passionate that character’s love really is.

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Happy Lady Porn Day!

Wilhelmina Wang — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 16:17:56 +0000

Today – 02/22 – is Lady Porn Day! The wonderful Rabbit White has put together a blogosphere-wide carnival to get some discussions going about women and their relationships with porn. Taken from Rabbit’s blog:

February 22nd is officially Lady Porn Day, a day about exploring porn and masturbation. Because it’s tough trying to explore porn as a girl. There just isn’t much lady-friendly stag. Girls aren’t encouraged to talk to each other about porn– the same way we aren’t encouraged to talk to each other about masturbation.

At it’s heart, this is about celebrating pornography and masturbation. It is an opportunity for ladies of all genders (or however you identify) to open up a dialog: What is feminist porn? What is your history with porn? What do you find hot?

And ultimately it’s a dare to share your hot links. Because the more we can openly talk about porn and what we like, the more likely it is that porn for women will continue being made. And really guys have been sharing and recommending porn for ages! So help a sister out.

I dare you to start the conversation, ask your friends: “hey what do you think about porn–and what sites can you recommend?” The point is to get women across the globe talking and thinking about porn and masturbation in a healthy and fruitful way.

Though 02/22 is the kickoff-date, conversations have been going on since the 21st, and the event is set to run until the 26th. Read more Lady Porn Day blog posts, keep up with the discussion on Twitter under the hashtag #ladypornday, and get involved in the conversation yourself!

My Lady Porn Day posts:

My Lady Porn Day picks:

If you don’t have the time to read all the blog posts out there, at least read these.

Get On Board [Rabbit White]
Mini Porn Interview: Jiz Lee [Rabbit White]
Jilling Off [Sex, Love & Liberation]
Pre-game Commentary [Miss Maggie Mayhem]
Conceiving of the Unconceived – Hetero Women’s Porn [Remittance Girl]
On Banging and Body Image [Medicinal Marzipan]
BDSM Can Be “Love Sex” Too [Clarisse Thorn]

And finally, I’ll leave you with some of my favorite porn and erotica websites.

My Favorite Porn Directors/Companies:

My Favorite Erotica Blogs:

My Favorite Porn Tumblrs:

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Review: bswish bcurious

Wilhelmina Wang — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 13:13:19 +0000

Throughout my sex toy reviewing career, I have only ever reviewed two clitoral vibrators – both of them Lelo toys. This is somewhat surprising, considering that I get off from clitoral stimulation more often than anything else. I suppose my dildo obsession simply overpowers my love of clitoral stimulation. Anyway, when I saw that the bswish bcurious was being offered for review, my interest was piqued. It was a perfect chance to try out a clitoral vibe from a new company.

I was drawn to the bcurious’s design – the black and pink color scheme and curved shape – and that it’s rechargeable. Besides the Lelo toys and Fun Factory’s click-n-charge line (which is relatively new), I’m hard pressed to name other rechargeable clitoral vibes, and I definitely prefer recharging over using batteries.

My feelings about the bcurious are lukewarm. In many ways, it’s an excellent toy, but there are a couple of things that bug me about it and prevent me from giving it a stellar rating. Firstly, the positive: its shape doesn’t just look snazzy, it feels completely intuitive in my hand. It fits in my palm, my index finger curls over the top and my thumb rests on the controls. It’s not evident from the picture, but a dip runs along the back of the toy that my finger rests in very comfortably. Plus, can we get a cheer for pinpoint stimulation? This is the only clit toy I currently own that is both pinpoint and ergonomic. The Lelo Siri and Layaspot are round and blunt. The Lelo Mia is pointed, but rod-shaped. The Lelo Lily is just a little too small to fit well in my hand. I can see myself reaching frequently for the bcurious for its shape alone.

The bcurious is made of black matte plastic and has pink silicone accents. The charging port is at the side of the toy and is sealed with a tab-like thing similar to what you find in cell phones and digital cameras. The toy is marketed as waterproof and, while I haven’t tried it underwater, the seal and lack of perceivable gaps in the toy make me feel fairly confident about it.

As for the vibrations, there are seven different options: low, medium, high, escalation, pulse, fast pulse, and short-short-short-long pulse. The low is great for warm-up, but I usually switch to medium before long. And here’s the first problem: apparently 3 vibration levels is just not enough for me. I can usually make do with the low and medium settings alone, but sometimes the low is just a little too low and the medium is just a little too high. If there was a mid-point between the two, that would be perfect. As for the patterns, I generally don’t use them much, but I do like the pulse settings alright. Noise-wise, the bcurious emits a buzzing sound that you could probably hear across a room, but not through a wall.

The controls consist of two buttons at the toy’s base: one button turns the toy on, and the other starts the vibrations and cycles through the different settings. The buttons are at the perfect place for my thumb, and depress in a very satisfying pressy-button way. There’s no way to “lock” the controls, but I wouldn’t be worried about traveling with this toy since you need to press both buttons to turn it on. I actually put the bcurious in my checked luggage on a number of flights and long bus rides with no problems. My second issue with the toy, though, concerns the controls: you can press the button to progress to the next setting, but to get to the one before, you have to cycle through them all. Or you can turn the toy off, then on again, to start at the beginning. I find this irritating because I sometimes want to go from the medium to the low setting, and can’t.

The bcurious comes with a manual, a storage pouch, and a charging cord. The pouch is made of what feels like the same material that sweatpants are made of, has a drawstring top, and a tiny tab on the side with the name of the company, but it’s barely noticeable. The charging cord can be plugged into a USB port (!), or into an adapter and then into a regular outlet. Charge it for 2 hours to get 2 hours of play. The control buttons in the base blink blue when the toy is charging, and glow continuously once it’s done.

So there you go. I can’t call this toy a favorite, but I definitely like it and wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to recommend it to anyone else.

sex toys | palm-sized massagers

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Review: Sliquid Swirl (Green Apple Tart)

Wilhelmina Wang — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 07:13:54 +0000

If you haven’t heard of Sliquid, they specialize in producing hypoallergenic, vegan, and completely body safe lubes. (No glycerine, parabens, or even gluten, in this case.) I’ve tried three other Sliquid lubes up until now and I haven’t been disappointed once. I simply couldn’t say no at a chance to try out another one. Sliquid Swirl is their flavored lube line; I got Sliquid Swirl (Green Apple Tart). Swirl also comes in cherry vanilla, blue raspberry and pink lemonade.

Now, I don’t actually find much point in flavored lubes. I typically like the taste of my partners and don’t feel compelled to mask or sweeten the taste at all. The few flavored lubes I’ve sampled before have all, well, unfortunately tasted like ass, also.

I’m happy to say that this lube does not, in fact, taste like ass. Actually it tastes pretty good. It smells and tastes like sour green apple candy, which I quite enjoy in its non-lube form. It doesn’t have any aftertaste whatsoever, and isn’t overpowering. It actually tastes like a combination of sour green apple and nothing. This lube’s flavor comes from aspartame and green apple flavoring, so no worries about yeast infections or anything like that (some people’s bodies react negatively when they ingest aspartame, though, in which case you might want to skip out on this product).

In terms of consistency, it’s quite than and feels slightly oily (but not sticky or unpleasant). Sliquid Swirl is based on Sliquid H20, their water-based lube, which is marketed as feeling very much like the body’s natural fluids. I daresay I agree.

Used during penis-in-vagina sex, I had to reapply a couple times since, like Sliquid Organics, it’s not particularly long-lasting. I also don’t see this lube being at all thick enough for anal sex. It is water-based, though, so you can use it with all your favorite silicone toys.

L had this to say about it: “Well, I guess for people who don’t like the taste [of oral sex], it’s good… but for me it just wouldn’t be worth it.”

I pretty much concur. This lube is flavorful enough, but I still prefer the body’s natural taste. Well, I’m still in possession of a good lube I can use for everything except oral.

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Review: Vixen Creations Champlette

Wilhelmina Wang — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 06:45:03 +0000

I have to be honest: I requested the Vixen Creations Champlette purely because of the glittery silver. I’ve been trying to get my hands on a glittery dildo ever since I realized Vixen made them in that color. (I already had the Leo; the company I requested the Mistress from only had it in turquoise…) I mean, can you blame me? The Champlette turned out to be a satisfying choice, and not just because of the color, as I will soon explain.

The Champlette is actually a smaller version of the Champ, which for some reason has been discontinued. It is a short and stumpy dildo, with a small-ish head that tapers out to a wonderfully thick 1 ⁵/₈“. This dildo didn’t strike me as particularly unique in any way, but turned out to feel much more interesting than I would have expected.

Due to the taper, the toy slides in very easily, and its relative girthiness isn’t overwhelming at all. I wouldn’t have pegged this toy as a G-spotting toy, since it doesn’t have a very pronounced head or curve, but the bump on the head ended up stimulating my G-spot beautifully. I also very much enjoyed clenching around the toy’s girth. I found that the toy felt good when I thrusted with it, but also when I left it stationary.

I feel like this toy would be a bit much anally, but it would be simple enough to warm up with the first inch or two, and save the rest for when your butt has become more experienced.

The Champlette has a harness-compatible base, and I can already tell I would love having this dildo strapped on. This picture really doesn’t do the toy justice, because it looks much more distractingly shimmery and sparkly in person. (I can see it going so well with my Aslan Jaguar harness.) Since I’m going to be floating around between locations for a while, I stored a bunch of my stuff with a friend, and unfortunately the Champlette is one of those items. I really regret doing that, because I would love to fuck L with this dildo. Or at least get him to give me a blowjob while I wear it.

Like all Vixen Creations dildos, the Champlette comes in a plastic tube that works well as storage and apparently helps preserve the shape of the toy. It’s made of silicone, so it can be shared and sterilized. To sterilize the toy, you can wash it with 10% bleach solution, put it in the top shelf of the dishwasher with no soap, or boil it for at least 5 minutes. Silicone toys are not compatible with silicone lubes.

Thanks, Fascinations!

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Review: Crystal Delights Plug

Wilhelmina Wang — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:15:25 +0000

The Crystal Delights plugs aren’t just anal plugs… they are, in all respects, jewelry for your butt. No, it’s not like vajazzling where you superglue crystals to yourself, or whatever. The Crystal Delights plug is a glass, bulb-shaped plug with a Swarovski crystal in the base. It’s absolutely beautiful, and was also my first glass toy, so I’m really excited to talk about it.

The plugs come with several different colored crystals to choose from, and in two sizes – short and long, referring to the length of the neck. The company that stocks and produces the plug actually created the short version after Britni reviewed & criticized the length of the original plug. If that’s not great service, I don’t know what is!

Since I’m a small person, I picked out the small version. I couldn’t decide between any one color, so I ended up getting the Aurora Borealis, which has hues of topaz and turquoise among its multiple colors.

The plug is on the small side, but the hardness of the glass makes it more substantial than the size might suggest. However, I found it comfortable enough to wear. The short neck fit perfectly, and was very snug.

I cannot get over how gorgeous and glittery it is. The first time I put it in, I snapped a picture and sent it to L immediately. (No, I’m not going to post it.) He really liked how it looked.

The toy also comes with a nice velvet and leather padded case that closes securely with two elastic straps.

The only complaint I have about the plug is that it isn’t suitable to wear under your clothes, or if you’re going to be sitting down for a long period of time. The base is fairly thick and bulky, so felt a little awkward under my jeans. I also couldn’t sit comfortably. It was better when I sat on something soft, like a padded chair or a sofa, but hard surfaces were completely out of the question. When I wore it underneath panties and a miniskirt, then sat down on a wooden chair, I could hear the glass clunking against the surface.

However, I don’t think that should deter anyone from getting the plug. This plug is meant to be flaunted, not hidden away under clothing! Let your partner(s) appreciate it, or use it during sex. Wearing this plug made me want to walk around the apartment naked (unfortunately I still had roommates at the time, so I didn’t indulge). If you want a plug for long-term wear, there are plenty of other, more affordable options on the market.

A lot of care seems to have been put into this product. Each piece is hand-made, and since it’s made of glass, it’s completely non-porous and body-safe. You can sterilize it by wiping it down with 10% bleach solution or rubbing alcohol. (I hesitate to suggest boiling for 5 minutes since I don’t know how the crystal is secured in the base, and I don’t know what effect boiling might have on that. I’d be reluctant to put it on the top shelf of the dishwasher due to potential damage of the crystal, also.)

Next time you have to buy a significant other a gift, you won’t have to pick between a fancy sex toy or jewelry… you can get the best of both worlds.

You can buy your own short AB plug here.

Thanks, Crystal Delights!

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