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!
Considering sex toy storage? Look no further!
I’ve also reviewed sexual health goodies.
Don’t forget all those accessories and non-sex toy reviews.
If you’re looking for a particular review, please use the search bar at the right.
Lelo Tiania 2
from
You can now purchase the Tiani 3.
I’m not sure what took me so long to get this review out. Perhaps it’s because I hate repeating myself, and I’ve already reviewed the original Tiani. So what you need to know is that this is the same vibrator, plus power, a second attachment. There are a few minor tweaks, but the Tiani is mostly the same toy. If you hated it before, you probably won’t love it this go around. If you wished the vibrations were deeper, they’re still not, and if you think the whole idea is stupid, well, it’s still the same idea. But here’s what I do like about the Tiani 2:
SenseMotion is novel but not practical in the least. Thank god Lelo still allows you to use the remote normally but there’s two super weird settings you have to pass first. For starters, the first mode relies on the position of the remote. Flip it vertically to raise vibrations, back down to lower them. The controller itself vibrates to offer feedback to the user. That’s kind of a neat idea but also means the controller makes noise so that limits where and when you might be able to use the SenseMotion toys, in my opinion. In the first mode, a back and forth movement simulates pulsation. Well, sort of. There’s this bit delay of between movement and the vibration in the Tiani and it’s hard to get a good rhythm going.
The second mode, which you can activate by pressing the middle of three buttons, simply requires you to move the controller faster to increase the intensity of the vibrations. This means, that if you want to use the vibrations at the highest setting, you need to shake it pretty good.. which also works against it being inconspicuous as so many wireless vibrators aim to be. It’s also tiring and annoying.
The third mode is one where you simply press the + arrow to increase vibrations and the – arrow to decrease. It’s the one I like the most because it makes sense and doesn’t require too much concentration. I wish the controller turned onto this mode instead. There are eight settings, including pulsation and escalation and I swear the controller is more powerful than the Tiani itself.
However, I think Lelo has overestimated the “two attachments” thing. It’s really the main one and another. “One extra” would sound more appropriate to me. Additionally, there’s still a couple of annoying things:
So, what do I say? Yay or nay? I still like the WeVibe better, but if you need something less powerful or if you’re heart’s set on this Lelo toy, definitely get the Tiani 2 over the original.
You’re welcome.
Smooth Lover
This toy has been discontinued.
The Smooth Lover dildo from MyPleasure is actually one that I’d had my eye on for a long time. I mean, it’s just so pretty, but it doesn’t look like it’d do anything for me. For a while, no dildo did, and my luck is inconsistent even today. I took the plunge and asked to review it this month, and I’m, torn. On one hand., it’s a pretty, pink, silicone dildo and I kind of want to stick it to my wall–you can do that with the suction cup base–and look at it all day. On the other hand, I never want to use it again.
So, this dildo isn’t actually smooth. There are embossed swirls and such on it, which is exactly what gives its the pretty appearance. The silicone at the base spreads and thins out to create the suction cup, and there’s a slightly contoured head that had a ridge of silicone around it. Under the head, at the frenulum area, is this little nub of silicone. It’s kinda cute, but also sort of weird. You can imagine this is intended to stimulate the g-spot because the dildo is perfect straight otherwise. It feels interesting to begin with. Even though the dildo isn’t smooth, the scrollwork can’t be felt internally. Most people have mentioned that. However, the nub can. At first, I liked it and then it very quickly started to irritate the inner wall of my vagina, so I stopped playing with it.
I think I prefer my vibrators straighter and my dildos curved. I don’t like to stroke as much as I like to clench around a dildo. It was also a little awkward to hold this one. I wound up sort of pinching the base, because it’s only 6″ long, and there’s not a lot of room to grip it down there. I constantly felt as though it was going to slip out of my hand. I was pretty surprised by the firmness, or lack thereof. I think everyone who’s ever written a review for this toy has come to a different conclusion. The core is definitely firm, but it’s softer toward the base, and you can bend it a bit. It’s still not the best for g-spotting, in my opinion. Neither is the base wide enough for strap-on usage.
So, the chance to review this dildo pretty much confirmed my fears. Yes, it’s pretty. Yes, the suction cup works really well. It’s also annoying. There are two very visible seams. It’s awkwardly shaped for both g-spotting and holding. It’s definitely one of those “maybe they’ll be distracted by its looks” type of deals.
Cici
$31.89
from Store.OfSexAndLove.com
I was pleasantly surprised by Cici. Its design evokes Tantus’ silicone dildos, but it’s pretty small. For some reason, I forgot that I love small toys. I don’t know what’s up with that. So, I think you can guess that I actually found Cici pretty effective, despite the fact that it’s only a little over 5″ long and 1.5″ in diameter. In fact, I’d say it probably feels smaller than that, probably because the width is about the same all the way through. There’s a slightly contoured head, but it’s not so extreme that you have to work your way up to it. There’s no major tapering or growth in size. I tried this after the horribly rigid Vanity vr 4.5, though, so that probably affected my perfection.
One thing I noticed right away is that the gentle G-spot curve makes this thing fall over. It may be silly, but I like toys that can stand up on end. Blush could improve Cici, maybe, by using a suction cup base instead. Otherwise, the base provides a steady place to hold this dildo, and it always works for strap-ons; although, Cici doesn’t come with one.
The silicone is definitely firm for you to be able to control where this dildo is going. I’m not a huge fan of dildos that are so soft that I have trouble inserting them. In fact, once I lubed this up a bit, the head quickly pressed against my G-spot, and I was able to squirt within seconds. There’s a tiny bit of give if you squeeze this dildo in your hand, but the core is firm enough for thrusting or simply holding in place. It wasn’t so firm that it molested my cervix, however. This is good news, because it was feeling especially sensitive the first night I tried it. Sometimes I just need something small and a little soft, and Cici fit the bill.
So, I’m not quite gushing about this dildo, because I do like the feel of the softer silicone better. However, it did make me gush. The silicone is slightly more shiny than velvety. The manufacturer calls it satin–whatever that means. The material is best used with water-based lube, of course, but you don’t have to worry about phthalates. You can even bleach or boil it to clean it well enough to swap between partners or holes, which is one of the pluses of silicone. Unfortunately, Cici will collect lint just as well as any of your other silicone toys, and this one only comes in a plastic box that you’ll probably throw away. A storage bag would be a nice option, in my opinion.
I would recommend Cici to anyone looking for an affordable G-spot dildo. If you’re not sure this type of stimulation will work for you, you don’t need to spend much on the Cici. You could even get two or three of them for the price of any G-spot vibrator.
I am just not having much luck with the Jopen vibes, but I really want to. The most recent round that the company released use the .5 naming. That is, version 4.5, 5.5, et cetera. It’s kind of cute but also kind of confusing because it doesn’t seem like the 4.5, which I received, is actually halfway between versions 4 and VR5, and that’s exactly what I’d expect that sort of nomenclature to denote. Whatever.
So, the 4.5 is the most different from the Jopen toys I’ve tried before. It’s a rabbit-style vibrator, but both the clitoral attachment and the 5″ shaft are quite flexible, which might be good if you tried a similar vibrator–Lelo’s Ina comes to mind–but the design pressed too hard against you. Additionally, the clitoral arm isn’t just a rounded nut, but it has a little extension of silicone that vibrates wildly back and forth when the motor is on, like the rabbit ears of olden days. I always preferred pressing the actual bullet of rabbit vibes against my clit, but others enjoy this lighter, tickly sensation, so the 4.5 brings it back.
The vr 4.5 does many things the same. For example, each part has its own motor, and the two buttons let you operate them independently of one another. You press and hold the buttons to increase the steady vibrations, and a single click turns them back off. It’s a style that feels intuitive and that I like, but because it’s so uncommon, I always have to adjust to it again. The vibrations are damned powerful, even if I didn’t charge the thing the whole way. The silicone is velvety, and the whole thing is rechargeable. The design is intended to be water-resistant.
Like the other Jopen toys I tried, the shaft is very thin near the base but becomes this big bulbous thing at the end. It’s not huge. The diameter is only 1.5″ at the widest, but the way it grows, coupled with the rigidity, means a very painful experience for me. This is nothing new. I have a rather pronounced pubic bone, I think, but it sucks nonetheless. The vibrator and my bones keep fighting for space that just doesn’t exist! Although there is a slightly squishy silicone cover over the shaft, the interior is dead rigid, and this just isn’t the toy for my anatomy.
However, insertion is probably more uncomfortable when you factor in just how flexible the base of the shaft is. The toy doesn’t want to slide in; it keeps bending this way and that. So I applied lube –water-based only with these silicone vibes–and more and more and more.. and it just wasn’t working. The flexibility sounds good on paper but doesn’t work well in practice.
I could just repeat that last sentence for the clitoral stimulator. I find it to be really awkward. While the Vr 4 had an overly-short clit stimulator, this one seems too long. I mean, it’s over half the length of the shaft itself, so it just bunches up awkwardly against my fleshly vulva, and neither the bulbous vibrator nor the soft tickler makes contact where it should. The Vr4.5 is just not meant for my body, it would seem. I’m thinking maybe the Vr3 or 7 are my best bets at this point.
The Vr4.5 is also purple. I don’t mind the purple, but I’m a little sick of it. I think the sheen of this would look great in blue. This vibe comes in a minimal box that’s easy to recycle, and there’s a drawstring bag for storage, along with the wall charger. The bags are so big that they’re unwieldy, in my opinion, but others like them.
Cutey Wand
from
This is an archived review of a discontinued item.
I don’t own very many wands. There used to be, like, two: the Hitachi and the Hitachi knockoff. Now, there’s a lot. There are luxury ones, rechargeable wands, and mini options, like the Cutey Wand. So, the Cutey Wand. It’s tiny and got little jewels on the end. I’ll give it cute. I’ll give it wand-shaped. The naming isn’t spectacular by any means, but it’s not quite as annoying as we’ve all seen.
When I say tiny, I mean slightly longer than my finger. This is a pretty travel-friendly toy, if you only consider size. The dial base isn’t the easiest to accidentally turn on while sitting in your purse, but there’s no lock feature. Like the larger cousins, the Cutey Wand has a flexible head. It’s extremely flexible, in fact. You might not like this if you like a lot of pressure, which I do.
The head has a soft silicone casing with ridges along the side. I have to be honest, I’m not sure what the ridges are supposed to do. They’re visually interesting.. sort of, but they don’t add anything. I’m more likely to use the very top of the head or maybe the top edge. The head doesn’t have as much of a surface area as a larger wand, but I’m probably going to hold it in place rather than move it so I can feel the texture. It’s also potentially a place for you to miss when cleaning the wand, which is a bit frustrating.
However, cleaning is much easier because the Cutey Wand is water-resistant. You don’t want to try to drown it, but you can breathe easy that you’re not going to break it if you rinse off some gunk under the faucet. This is thanks to the O-ring at the end of the battery compartment, which easily screws on.
And those batteries? They’re six watch batteries. If they fall out, it’s really a hassle to get them back in there. You might consider just throwing it away once you use up the batteries, because it’s such a pain. Because the wand uses tiny watch batteries that won’t last forever, I can see this being the type of vibe that winds up in the bottom of some drawer after you use up the included batteries. It’s probably not a good selling point, but it’s true.
Those six batteries take up enough space that Blush Novelties could’ve just used a single AAA or AA. That would probably offer more power. The vibrations are advertised as powerful, but they’re quite buzzy. The few extra batteries are an improvement over those tiny bullets, but there’s not enough variation between the lower and highest settings. Of course, this one doesn’t have any pulsation or other settings, which is fine by me. I usually find them forgettable.
So, aside from size, I’m not really floored by the Cutey wand. At the very least, I want something stronger, and even if I were okay with the vibrations, the sheer number of required batteries is ridiculous. I mean, you have to buy two three-packs every time your vibrator dies. That’s not cool, man, not cool.
Naked is another BangBros property, but it’s a little different from Dancing Bear. The free website is a live cam girl site, where you can log on and find a lady who catches your eyes. Then, you can chat with her and other viewers. The women are usually in lingerie or naked, and they flirt and chat on cam, while you can encourage them to do more or go private if you pay via the tip system. Each cam performer has a set of featured photos that all free members can use. IF you want a one-on-one cam session, you’ll have to pay. It’s pretty standard as far as live sex sites go.
There’ve been several dozen models on every time I’ve checked it out. They’re mostly females; however, the website actually has sections for SheMales, MILFs, BBWs and Latinas. Those are all technically females, so the categories seem a little arbitrary, but it’ll make it easier to find what you’re looking for. The girls category itself is split up into age, content and physical characteristic groups.
The videos all play within your browser, so there’s nothing to download. They all loaded almost instantly for me, which is awesome. However, the quality will vary depending upon the model’s webcam, and they sometimes don’t position them in the best. The same quality issues all affect audio. By default, the videos load in a pretty small area; although, you can click to expand them. Low-quality videos will look better smaller, of course.
You can sign up for the premium Nake membership to download or play HD videos. This uses the same hub as Dancing Bear, so I won’t rehash everything. The premium membership offers actual porn featuring some of the Naked girls, rather than the cam-from-home style. It’s probably the best way to get more from your favorite Naked model. The membership goes for the same $24.95 per month as Dancing Bear.
This cam sex website is more up my alley. It’s a little easier to find something that I personally like, and I prefer watching a woman masturbate or even just hearing her chat to the CFNM style of Dancing Bear. Nake is surprisingly easy to use, and it seems like there’s always someone on the website. There’s even a supportive community feel that the other chatters provide as they communicate and chat with Naked’s models. The categories allow you to navigate pretty easily.
Obviously, registering gives you access to your own username, which some models require before you can participate in chat. Loading your account with tips will allow you to request activities and poses of the models. However, Nake is also a pretty good source of quick and dirty masturbation fodder. Your luck may be more hit or miss if you go the free way, however. There’s sometimes more talk than action but, then again, you can always open your wallet to solve that problem.
$24.95/month
from Dancing Bear
I may be a sex toy reviewer, and I may have enjoyed some porn in my time, but I’m definitely not familiar with all the Internet has to offer. After all, if it exists, porn can be made of it, or so they say. This appears to be the case with the folks behind Dancing Bear. The website offers CFNM Movies, which stands for “clothed female, naked male” and the naked male is actually some guy with a stuffed bear head who visits bachelorette parties and the like. It’s really not for me, personally. I prefer more penetration and naked everyone.
So the front page gives you a pretty good idea of what’s going on. Crazy college girls and women enjoying a night on the town get to watch the Dancing Bear shake and strip. It doesn’t lead to PIV sex, as far as I saw, but there’s a lot of oral–by them, to him–and sometimes anal. It’s not necessarily ‘softcore’, but I can see why it would be right up someone’s alley.
Content aside, the website is pretty typical. The main domain has a splash page, featuring images from videos. The bear is ripped, yo. You click past that to see some sample videos and images but, of course, the real deal is the membership. An ugly, giant blue link tells you how to get your password. The same link allows you to log-in; although, you have to click yet another link to finally sign in. It’s a bit annoying.
A 2-Day trial costs just $1, which I think is a pretty fair price. If you don’t like it, you’re only out a buck. The monthly membership is more affordable, at $24.95, while a year subscription is the most wallet friendly at just under $10 per month.
Once you sign up and log in, you’re brought to a hub powered by BangBros, the folks behind this Party CFNM website. The member’s areas shows what other people are watching and, by default, the newest Dancing Bear vids. You can re-organize it, of course, so if you’d prefer to see the most liked videos from the past month, that’s possible. It’s all pretty standard and easy to use.
If you just subscribe to dancing bears, you’ll see links to other genres or porn and stars, which may not be part of your membership. This could potentially become confusing; however, clicking these links will bring you to a page to purchase that additional content.
When you find the movie that you want to watch, you have multiple options. SD or HD videos are available, depending upon your monitor and Internet connection. You can also download a trailer, which is a feature that I like, or browse by chapters to find the exact content that will get you off. Dancing Bear allows you to easily navigate between full movies, trailers and chapters, which is handy.
You’re able to download videos in multiple file types to save for later, or view the MP4s in your browser, which I had no trouble doing. Some videos had only WMP files, which prompted Chrome to allow them to run. I’m not sure what exactly is up with the inconsistency. However, I experienced no lag for the light or medium videos on my cable connection.
The HD movies had no lag, but they didn’t load fast enough for me to skip through them, which is to be expected. The HD isn’t actually pixel-perfect HD, in my opinion. It’s good quality but could be better.
All of the videos have an amateur feel to them. Many seem to come from cameras that are mounted on a wall as to be out of the way, and the lighting isn’t always the best, but it’s far better than some porn I’ve seen. There’s no plot, and a lot of yelling from the watchers, so you may not love this type of porn if you prefer sensuous music or to hear the performers moan. On the other hand, it’ll sort of sound like you’re watching a sports match and not some porn. If you do find one that you especially like, you can add it to your favorites with ease.
Of course, the women aren’t performers, but the Dancing Bear men are. You can sometimes tell, as the man moves the women out of the way for the better camera angle. There’s definitely an air of “I’m just getting paid for this”, sometimes. Everyone has fun, and there’s a lot of laughter, but it’s not as genuine as some people might like. For example, I didn’t see a single clit get rubbed. So sad.
I think the following image depicts this critique pretty well:
I did have some trouble viewing the screencaps and videos in Firefox and Internet Explorer. Some scripts didn’t work and IE didn’t want to play the MP4 videos, but that might simply be an issue with plug-ins on my end. Everything was smooth in Chrome. However, I noticed a significant number of broken images and videos when I tried to look at movies in chapter view, which was my favorite. This definitely disappoints. Depending upon how your browser handles broken images, this might simply seem like the page isn’t fully loaded.
Ultimately, Dancing Bear might be your cup of tea, and the website is easy enough to use. It has all the features of comparable sites. However, the inconsistent file types and broken videos and images really drag it down and make it seem unprofessional.
