Wildberry Cherry Incense

September 6th, 2010

Continuing on the path of “and here’s something a little different,” I requested two packs of incense from AdultSexToys. It’s been a few years since I’ve burned a single stick of incense; although, I have a nice glass burner that I purchased quite a while back. I burned a lot of incense when I was a teen. It was partly the “cool” thing to do and partly because I enjoyed a lot of the stores. There were multiple shops downtown: one a candle shop and one a head shop; although I never smoked pot, I liked the alternative culture they both had. After these shops closed, I purchased all my incense from a reiki place that was equally as neat.

And now, I’m getting it from a sex toy store. I’m not entirely sure that incense has anything to do with sex or sex toys. Even if I were having sex, this would really remain an out-of-the-bedroom item for me but I still like it.

The brand is Wildberry and they make a variety of scents so don’t let the terminology get you. First up for review is cherry. Cherry is just a classic scent (and flavour) in anything. I enjoy cherry. I probably like faux-cherry scents better than the actual scent of cherry. Wildberry Cherry Incense sticks smells ridiculously like cherry Kool-aid. It’s strong and sweet and more than a little artificial but I like it anyway.

During burning, that scent mixes with the smoky and heavy scents of, well, burning. I can still smell the cherry and the burning smell isn’t overwhelming like some but I’d still like the cherry scent to be stronger during actual use. It’s not very practical for me to walk around, holding an incense stick under my nose.

However, I’d like to note that some scents really give me a headache and cherry does not. It’s become my go-to incense for that reason.

Wildberry incense seems to burn a little cleaner than I recall incense doing. IT may just be that I have my incense burner sitting on top of my bookshelves so my cats don’t die. There’s not a lot of wind up there and clean us is easy.

I like that it’s hard to catch the whole damned stick on fire. Some incense burns too easily and, before you know it, half the stick is gone. This isn’t the case with this incense. I haven’t paid close enough attention to burn time to make any observations but neither do I have any complaints.

This incense comes in a pack of 100 sticks. 100! At the rate I’m going, one package will last me a year, at least. The package itself consists of a clear plastic bag. I believe it was sealed and I had to open it. The bunch of sticks are wrapped, at the bottom, with a couple layers of tissue paper. The ends of the sticks are all colour coded: cherry gets a deep, pinky red. It’s gorgeous. The Wildberry logo is printed on the outside of the bag, as well as the name of the scent and the UPC, in black. It’s basic but informative.

I burn this every few days, when I remember it and drag my chair over to the bookshelves so I can light up a stick. It’s quite enjoyable

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Sex Tarts Tangy Lube Sampler Set

September 10th, 2009

When it comes to flavoured lubes, Sex Tarts is a pretty common/popular brand and is readily available so I thought it would make a good brand to review for TabuToys. I decided on the Tangy Lube Sampler set for a couple of reasons, mostly because I wanted to try more than one flavour but also to have a back up just in case I didn’t like what I tasted.

This set includes 1 2 fl. ounce flip top, squeeze tube each of Green Apple Fizz, Strawberry Punch and Cherry Pop lubes – all of which are flavours I generally like. The tubes are bright green, a medium orangey red and a dark pinkish red, respectively. In the event that you are not down with size, these are much bigger than sample packets and “sampler set” might actually be a bit misleading unless you drink flavoured lube for breakfast. There’s really a fair amount of product in this set; there’s also more than enough plastic. The 3 bottles are packed in a plastic container as well and it’s really big. Upon opening the package it came in, I really thought it was wasteful both in space and materials.

Packaging aside, I gave each lube a taste/smell test. Immediately, Cherry Pop smelled most true to life, with Strawberry Punch Coming in second. The Green Apple Fuzz didn’t have much of a scent at all, maybe a sort of generic sweet scent. I found the same to be true about taste. Cherry Pop came in first being the most true to life. Strawberry Punch had a very strong, sweet and tangy flavour but tasted more like strawberry flavouring than the actual fruit. Green Apple Fizz came up short, being generically sweet and rather unlike anything apple. My husband and I both noticed that the tastes and smells seemed to be covering up something else. I thought it was sort of Nutrisweet-y but he thought it was more reminiscent of lube or even plastic. In his words, no matter how much the tastes covered it up “It’s still lube”.

Lucky for him, I seem to have less of an aversion to it and was more than happy to glob some on his cock for the sake of review. While I enjoy giving him pleasure, oral sex is generally pretty uncomfortable for me physically. I don’t need lube for oral sex – although some folks with dryer mouths might – but figured flavoured lube might distract me from my discomfort. I was sort of right.

For starters, this water based lube was pretty damned thin and came squirting out of the tube like it has a mission. I wound up with way more in my hand than I meant and forgot I had tissues on the nightstand so wound up wiping it all over my husband’s thigh. 😉 A smaller hole would easily fix that, however. I also noticed how sticky it was immediately. My hair was constantly sticking to my mouth or his cock and, while it can sometimes be a nuisance, it was generally moreso because of the lube. It was also quite sticky for giving oral sex and impeded my efforts a bit. I guess it’s a good thing that it was quickly whisked away by my tongue and mouth, allowing for my saliva to create a better environment. On the other hand, if you want long lasting taste, this is not the product.

I am glad to report, however, that Sex Tarts lube does a good job of masking the smell and taste of ejaculate (as long as there’s still some left). If you’re not a big fan of either characteristic of a certain man seed, this might making giving oral easier for you.

Though, the taste was better on him than straight from the bottle. I did enjoy licking it up and it did make it a bit more fun. I felt more eager than I sometimes am to give head. But this was easily negated by the stickiness of the Sex Tarts lube.

Although you could technically use this lube for penetrative sex and it is latex safe, I wouldn’t. Even if you love sticky lubes (but, really, who does?), Sex Tarts does contain parabens and glycerin which can be problematic for some vaginas. Interestingly enough, the Cherry Pop and Green Apple lubes have a little “sugar free” labels on them. I’m not sure if this means Strawberry Punch does contain sugar because the ingredients are nearly the same for all 3 bottles.

They all contain:

  • Water
  • Glycerin
  • Propylene Glycol
  • Sucralose
  • Flavor
  • Methylparaben
  • Propylparaben
  • Diazolidinyl Urea

Cherry Pop and Green Apple also contain Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose and Citric Acid, while The Strawberry Punch is the only lube which has Cellulose Gum- which I guess is the sugar. This definitely isn’t a lube for vaginal use for anyone who is sensitive to any of those ingredients and I honestly wouldn’t really want to use it clitorally, either.

Ultimately, I wasn’t thrilled with the Sex Tarts Tangy Lube Sampler Set. Although it isn’t the worst product I’ve ever tried, it wouldn’t hurt if it tastes a bit better, wasn’t so sticky, didn’t gush from the tube and had more body friendly materials. While I might recommend the sampler for someone as a starting point, I will probably be looking for better flavoured lube next time.

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