Below you’ll find all of the sex toy reviews I’ve written at Of Sex and Love. Find my opinions on vibrators, dildos, media (sex education books, porn, DVDs and erotica), bondage and BDSM gear, lingerie, anal toys, lube, massage products, and more!
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Wildberry Incense Peace Of Mind
11.98
from Amazon
It has taken me far too long to write this review, perhaps because I simply did not enjoy the “Peace of Mind” variant of the Wildberry incense.In fact, I would say it does the exact opposite of give me peace of mind and, if I had the option, I’d probably have named this “ache of head.”
The description states this incense is a “fruity, floral blend with peach and vanilla” and, while that sounds quite pleasant, I only experienced an overly strong floral scent without any fruit or vanilla at all. I’m not really a fan of heavy floral scents and, when I burn this, the overpowering scent gives me a headache without fail. It’s not enjoyable in the least.
Because I know that Wildberry does produce at least one enjoyable incense variety, so it’s not simply a “cheap” line of products, simply one scent that isn’t as enjoyable as it seems. Of course, it’s impossible to smell things through my monitor so the odds are that I might not enjoy every scent.
Interestingly, I found the Peace of Mind Incense to burn a little messier and to smell more generic-woodlike. However, I did not note any significant difference in burn time from the other incense I’d tried.
If you actually want a scent similar to the one in the description, I think you may be disappointed with the Peace of Mind incense by Wildberry, unfortunately.
God and Sex
$16.49
from Amazon
So, this is a bit of a different turn for of Sex and Love. I pretty much screamed “yes” when I was contacted to review God and Sex, a book that details What the Bible Really Says About Sex. It’s right up my alley.
Michael Coogan, the director of publications for the Harvard Semitic Museum and a professor of religious studies at Stonehill college, has taken the time to decipher and discuss what the Bible has to say about sex in regards to women’s rights, virginity, marriage, rape, homosexuality and more. In this book, Coogan translates Biblical text and analyzes what it meant to world at the time and how it applies–if it applies–today. Coogan does not have a religious or secular slant. After reading God and Sex, I could see him as an educated Christian or an educated atheist. It’s a toss up, really. I say this to inform those who view the Bible as a religious text that they may still enjoy this.
Unless they pick and choose scriptures and passages to further their agenda without taking time to familiarize themselves with the Bible. Coogan does, however. It becomes clear, by the end of this book, that the Bible says a lot of things, directly and indirectly, and the contradictions are rampant enough that it’s pretty ridiculous for anyone to base an argument on the Bible. Period.
The chapters in God and Sex discuss women, marriage and divorce, forbidden relationships, rape and prostitution and God’s wives. Intellectually, I enjoyed the last chapter immensely. Coogan gives some examples that show God may, indeed, be a sexual being and one who had a wife or wives.
Of particular importance in today’s society, is the chapter on forbidden relationships. Coogan delves into the Bible and relates what it says about homosexuality. Coogan’s conclusion is that, yes, the Bible generally opposed homosexuality but also that some of the Bible’s writers mention it in passing, as though it is a normal and acceptable thing. He argues that, no matter what the Bible says, it needs to be recognized as a book that was not created in our time.
Feminists and even some misogynists will bristle while reading the first chapter. The (mis)treatment of women as property and the concept of virginity as a relic of this institution is nothing short of horrifying. Later in the book, Coogan discusses how men were expected to be good hosts, even going so far as to provide their wives for guests to rape, rather than being impolite. It is horrific, to say the least. Even though Coogan discusses how patriarchal Biblical society was, he also makes a comment that indicates he doesn’t realize how far we’ve to come.
It’s interesting, too. In the chapter on marriage and divorce, the reader becomes familiar with Christ’s view of divorce (unfavourable) may be in direct opposition to the word of God, himself (who divorced Israel).
Michael Coogan wraps up his book with a reminder that we need to keep perspective when in the Bible. It may be a good rule of thumb for some things but there are certainly fine details that are nonsensical, unethical or even dangerous to follow in these modern times–and that’s even if the Bible can be accurately translated.
For example, some folks will be surprised to hear that the Bible has very little to say on the fact of abortion. This fact is not lost on Coogan who muses about how the passages people (sometimes incorrectly) quote usually mention abortion in passing on the way to a greater lesson.
Readers be warned that the content is only 200 pages long. There are 26 pages of notes, along with a bibliography and credits. Coogan translated the Bible himself and references the passages and translations in every chapter. The notes make it easy to follow his train of thought and double check his work, if you’re so inclined. This makes God and Sex incredibly well researched but possibly controversial because Coogan relies on a specific version of the Bible and does not rely on popular or “friendly” translations of the book. Basically, it’s not the book for you if you prefer your religious lessons spoon-fed.
So, if you haven’t guessed it, God and Sex is a real eye-opener in its honesty and unique take on sex in the Bible and what that means to people as modern Christians. It’s an interesting read but one that took me a little longer than usual simply because some of the chapters are a bit long. I would have enjoyed it more were I less concerned with finishing in time to review but that’s pretty much a given for books with me.
Midnight Confidential Chemise and Thong Set
The second piece of lingerie I receive from Seven Til Midnight is the Midnight Confidential Chemise and Thong Set. It’s much more daring than any other piece I own or have reviewed. In fact, it’s the first underbust anything I’ve owned but I deserve to feel sexy, right? Right!
I noticed differences from the Sheer Pleasure set immediately. First, this set has different packaging. The Sheer Pleasure set comes in a cardboard box while this set comes in a plastic bag and has a tag attached. The old setup of the manufacturer’s site used to separate the packaged and unpackaged items. I’m not sure what the difference is, if any.
Fit-wise, this set is also different. It’s form fitting and shorter than the Sheer Pleasure chemise. The attached tag does not describe the type of fabric but it’s a nylon/spandex mix that has a slight shine to it. Because of the texture, the black actually appears a bit lighter than in the images. In addition to this, I found that the pinstripes were also more noticeable in person. But that is also due to the fact that pinstripes, like fishnet, do not always photograph well. The couple inches of lace at the bottom are looser than the rest of the piece.
Of course, the cupless design is very interesting. It’s not entirely cupless, actually. The underwires are sewn into the fabric to frame the bottom of the breasts and there is a slightly bit of material (cups) above this. Depending on your cup size, you can pull these up for more coverage but not total coverage. Larger breasts will have the tendency to push these down, anyway. The underwires extend up, between the breasts. It seems to me that they extend further up than an actual bra.
I found this slightly more difficult to get into because of the design and snugness. I wound up pulling it up, over my hips. Doing this, I immediately discovered that it’s just not sewn that well. A seam ripped slightly toward the top. Not the type of rip that ruins it, thankfully, but a rip nonetheless. I was more careful after this, of course, but because this has a gap in the back (toward the lower back) and the function bra band style, I had difficulty. You see, I’m the put-my-bra-on-backward-and-spin-it-around type. It’s so much harder with this piece but not impossible.
So once I got it around and situated my breasts above the wires and the wires between them and pulled it smoother over my hips, I kinda liked the look. The stretchy material pulls me in a bit and the lace falls right around my hips/below my extra tummy weight in a way that actually camouflages it. Because I’m not so thin, this falls a little higher than on the model. The fabric is cool and smooth against the skin. The lace wasn’t super scratchy.
Your breasts will not look at awesome as the model. She’s pushing hers up and in to achieve that perfectly round look. I mean, if you do that, yours will look just that awesome but the cupless design just does not offer as much support as a full or even half cup. The pink bow is cute, too.
The thong on this one is on the same quality as the thong with the Sheer Pleasure chemise. The front panel is the nylon/spandex fabric with stripes. It’s a really amazing fit and comfortable enough for every day use. The place where it sits on my hips is comfortable and the front panel is actually wide enough for my fleshy self. The straps stayed in place without cutting into my hips. Totally a great piece. I’d buy just thongs from Seven Til Midnight if they were all this quality.
I have yet to clean this but I know I won’t be going the washer method (unless I toss it in a pillow case or something) because of how fragile it is. However, I have washed the thong with the rest of my clothes and is survived just fine. As the elastic straps are so thin, they will wear over time. Just how that goes.
So the bottom line? This is cute. It fits nicely. The quality could see some improvements but, overall, I recommend the Midnight Confidential Chemise and Thong Set.
Crystal Whip
This product is no longer available from Liberator, but Babeland now sells a nearly-identical version from Icicles for less than $50.
Babeland carries a flogger with crystal details and a glass handle that I thought was ridiculously gorgeous. I pooled my resources and soon this whip was in my hands. It’s a piece by Liberator, who you all know for their sex position pillows and furniture but whom I also know for a glass piece I have.
The Crystal Whip comes in a suede pouch that ties with ribbons. It’s much bigger than the actual toy and you could steal it for another toy if you wanted. The whip itself really isn’t a whip–but a flogger (it’s not the only one I’ve tried, either). The handle is a glass cylinder that is etched witch smooth wavy lines down the length. There’s a bulbous shape on the end which is good for grasping but may also be used for penetration–maybe. I thought the handle would be larger than it is. It’s a bit over 6″ long and has a diameter of .79″. As it’s glass and rigid, it can certainly feel larger than it is but it’s quite narrow and requires some maneuvering to reach the right places without a curve.
If you do use it internally, you’ll want to be careful when washing to keep the tails out of the stream of water. You’ll also want to carefully wash and lubes from the shaft so that it won’t be slippery during use as a flogger. It would absolutely suck to have it fly out of your hand and hurt someone unintentionally, or break something (can we say Wiimote?) or simply break itself.
Of course, this isn’t really the type of flogger that you aim and swing with all your might. I think it’s best suited to light play. If you aim at extremely sensitive areas and the tails fall so just the tips hit, there’s a tingly sting but it’s really quite light. If you’re not aiming quite so precisely or flogging an area that’s not exceptionally sensitive, it’s really not painful. The lambskin tails are ridiculously soft and I personally just felt them sliding silkily over my skin. It’s like a massage.
And the tails are super sensual–shiny leather on one side and unfinished on the inside. Both feel delicious when they touch the skin and if you hold it under your nose, you can detect the scent of real leather. Sorry vegans. In all, there are 32 tails that are flat strips of lambskin. They’re wrapped in circles around the end of the handle and, I assume, glued. The upper edge of the leather is then wrapped in a silver material that could be metal or painted plastic in four flowery, filigree type designs. In the center of each of these flowers is a crystal. Sadly to say, it took less than five minutes for one of these crystals to fall off after opening the Crystal Whip. I guess it just wasn’t glued on very well. The crystals catch the light and glisten with colour but I don’t think they really add that much to the appearance of this piece. Just my opinion.
The tails are about 2″ longer than the handle itself and are cut to angled points. When swinging, the tails stay together nicely and you don’t have to re-gather them to perform moves such as a figure eight. Because of the petite size of this, it’s super easy to wield and make quick movements that larger floggers would hinder. The handle is the heavier party of this flogger but, as it’s so small, it won’t tired your arm as quickly as heavier floggers or whips.
The tails of this feel so luxurious. I need more leather and suede in my life. I don’t want some bachelor pad but, my God, this is an awesome piece. If you have any interest at all in glass, lambskin, flogging or simply attractive sex/BDSM gear, then the Crystal Whip should go into your cart the next time you visit Babeland.
Pure Silicone B.O.B.
$32.95
from AdultSexToys
I am at a point in my sex life where I generally prefer silicone toys. They’re safer. They’re versatile. They come in awesome colours. When a sex toy store wants me to do a review but they don’t carry any silicone, I doubt whether I want to work with them but let me say this: silicone alone does not a great toy make. Really, a mediocre design will not be saved by the material.
California Exotic’s Pure Silicone B.O.B. falls squarely into this category. It’s a realistically designed, phallic vibrator in silicone. Mine came in a bright pink. I mean bright. It has a vein-like texture, a contoured head and expands in a ball-inspired toward the design. This expansion is complete with a few dozen, soft poky things.
They are, as you can imagine, useless. They don’t really stimulate the entrance to my vagina and the toy isn’t flexible enough that I can bend it toward my clit. The testicle design doesn’t offer anything physically, either. You might use it to grasp the toy, however. The shaft is slightly flexible. I say this because around the halfway mark, you can tell that the Pure Silicone B.O.B. is covering some hard structure inside. When I would clench or tried to bend the toy as mentioned, this hard structure was uncomfortable against my G-spot but I simply prefer toys that are a little softer in that area. You can probably achieve about 30 degrees of bending.
In use, I found the toy to just be a little small. It only has a diameter of 1.14″. It may be good for beginners but not me, personally. The small shaft is straight and the difference between the shaft and head size is smaller than I am used to. I had a hard time stimulating my G-spot with this vibrator and that’s pretty unusual.
However, its easy to use. There’s a single power button that turns it on of off and another button to cycle through the settings. If you press the second button when the Pure Silicone B.O.B. is off, it will turn on. It’s an interesting toy because it remembers the setting you left it on. I find this interesting but not necessarily practical because it confuses me as to which setting it will be on. Maybe it’s just me but starting on a low, steady vibe makes sense and helps to orient me.
Anyway, I’d be more oriented if I could tell the settings apart and.. it’s super hard. The Pure Silicone B.O.B. uses 2AA batteries but I was not expecting the vibrations to as buzzy as they are. I mean, if you didn’t know better, you’d almost expect this to use a single AAA battery or even watch batteries. It’s ridiculous. I have no idea why you’d create a vibrator that uses 2 AAs but not make it use them to their full potential.
I’m not lying when I say that I can only tell the settings apart by sound. They all feel exactly the same. There’s supposedly “10 extreme functions of vibration, pulsation, and escalation” but all I feel is one: not strong or deep enough. So while this is waterproof, I cannot imagine using it in the shower and actually being able to feel the vibrations.
The waterproof aspect makes it easy to clean, however. You can rinse away and lubes (water-based only) and give it a good scrub.
Ultimately, the Pure Silicone B.O.B. is certainly not my battery operated best friend. I’m not sure that calling it “buddy” is even all that applicable. It’s more like the guy at the party who likes you but doesn’t get the hint that the feelings aren’t shared. Sorry, BOB.
Pvc Lace Up Gloves
Ah, these gloves looked so interesting and vampy. The shiny PVC, the corset-styled lacing, the single finger hole that made a “V” shape down the top of the hand. All so nice and much more appropriately entitled an “arm warmer.” I didn’t really have any purpose for them but my inner-Goth cried out. And then I cried when I got them.
They look very nice on the model but they just didn’t fit me. Period. I have rather short arms so the 19″ gloves reached far up my arm–to a point where my arm was far too wide for the gloves to fit. Granted, I don’t have tiny arms but, as I tried to adjust, it was clear that the included string–shoestring style–didn’t offer a lot of give. In fact, if you look at the model in the picture, you can see there really isn’t that much room to loosen the strings anymore than they are and it’s obvious she’s a thin one.
Let me put this into numbers for you. The widest part of the glove has an 8.5″ circumference and I’m pretty sure that most bracelets are about 7″ long so I have no idea why the designers figure a 1.5″ increase in size is enough to fit most women. It just seems pretty realistic.
The good side is that, like anything that laces up, you can invest in a longer string. You can even replace it with your own ribbon, if you so choose. I personally think that would be more attractive. You’ll need one that is more than 5.75′ long; however. You’ll have to lace it up through all 27 eyelets, of course. That will be a nice afternoon’s work.
Aside from the fit, I am fairly impressed with the quality. I’ve never heard of this XoXo line of latex and leather gear but it seems like the company, Allure, sells quite a bit. The gloves were packaged in an easy-to-open plastic case with a picture of a model wearing them. While folded, they haven’t retained any creases.
The gloves appear to have two layers but the inside of the PVC isn’t finished. To be honest, I don’t know if this is a common thing because I haven’t owned a lot of PVC but it really is only one layer (I think). The exterior is super shiny and the inside is matte and softer. There is a hem around all the edges that is about 1/2″ wide so your skin will touch some of the shiny material on the edges. The eyelets for the lacing are sewn in through the hem so they’re secured to two layers of fabric and they’re quite flat and smooth. The sewing around all the edges and the placement of the eyelets are perfectly straight.
The hem continues around the single finger hole. Depending on your arm, you’ll probably wear this around the middle finger. It’s not full length but measures a little over 1.5″. Again, quite long for my fingers but the 3″ circumference fits loosely around my middle finger. It’s a bit bulky with the hems and the straight seam where both sides of the material meet to form the finger loop. It’s also the same width through the entire length.
It seems like scratches and stabby things can leave my marks. I know because my cat decided this glove looked yummy. Be careful of sharp objects and fingernails as this can mar the overall appearance of the PVC lace up gloves.
If you are a thin armed person who is taller and wants a just-above-the-shoulder arm warmer to complete a fetish outfit or costume, then the PVC Lace Up Gloves may be right up your alley. If you’re not so thin, not so tall or not patient enough to purchase alternative strings or ribbons, I’d pass. I know I’m extra lazy, however; so others may be more likely to be more patient and go the extra mile with these.
Frolic
3.99
from Of Sex and Love Store
Frolic is a water-based lube from the same company that makes Pink and Gun Oil. I decided to give it a shot because it’s attractive and water-based. The former isn’t a requirement but I definitely prefer water-based lubes over those that contain silicone.
The Frolic bottle is very similar to the bottles that Pink lube comes in. It’s a semi-opaque, white bottle with magenta text but the label uses a different font for the product name. Frolic states that is is a toy lubricant, especially for women and it is also glycerin-free. Glycerin-free lubes, lotions and potions are becoming increasingly common and, while I do not have any adverse reactions to the chemical, I know some people will appreciate that.
The ingredient list is fairly free of issues (as far as I know) and if you’re curious, includes:
I was curious how this lube differs from Pink Water so I looked up that ingredient list, too:
As you can see, Frolic does not contain parabens like Pink Water. Pink Water also has many more extracts. The two still share the same pump style bottle, complete with a little cap to prevent accidental spills. I like the cap but it’s not super tight so it comes off easily and every time I take it off myself, my cats decide it’s a perfect plaything. I will probably never see mine again.
The pump is incredibly easy to use and makes using lube much less messy than other bottle styles. Frolic really isn’t a messy lube to begin with, though. It’s one of the thicker lubes I’ve used–not quite a gel but significantly thicker than ToyFluid or Hydra. Frolic stays where you put it and I love that in a lube. Eventually, gravity will put it down but you don’t have to worry about lubing up your toy and having it all drip down on your hand before you can put the cap back on the bottle.
Furthermore, Frolic feels pretty damned silky on the fingers. It’s surprisingly silky for a water-based lube. It perhaps feels a bit more synthetic than some other water-based lubes I’ve used but it dries without being surprisingly sticky.
It’s hard for me to say how long Frolic lasts as I’ve only used it with toys despite the claim that this is more concentrated than other lubes. I do love that I can use it with any toy, even my silicone ones (as that collection is growing). My toy sessions never last as long as sex did and I don’t thrust as much as I find the right spots and press but one pump of Frolic has been sufficient for every session thus far.
The Pink website says that the grapefruit seed extract has anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties. I don’t know if I buy it but if that’s true, awesome! A lube that does double duty is a-okay in my book.
My verdict? Frolic really lives up to its name. I’ve been using a lot of thinner lubes with sex toys and they just don’t cut it. Frolic does and I can see myself reaching for it frequently.
