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.
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I can’t quite put my finger on why, but I just really like Lovehoney Fresh Biodegradable Sex Toy & Body Wipes. They’re not unlike most toy wipes, packaged in plastic and resealable. Perhaps it’s the scent that seems fresh and clean albeit subtle; although, I understand that many people might prefer a product with no smell at all.
I definitely enjoy that they’re strong enough to use. A while back I used another store brand’s toy wipes, and they ripped as I tried to take them out of the package let alone use them. I usually have nails (okay, one long nail because they break so easily), so this is a deal-breaker.
I typically use wipes for quick cleanup of toys and myself (and once to clean up some honey that had dripped from my sandwich onto my bed skirt but don’t judge me!). But since silicone picks up lint/fur/hair/etc so easily, I’ll do a full soap-and-water cleanse before using them again. These wipes are good enough for removing large debris and lube, which can accumulate. I prefer wipes better to spray because you still need to wipe or rinse it off, and wipes mean I can skip a step.t
I didn’t find these wipes to be irritating, and one of the ingredients included is Aloe so you might find them especially soothing. The rest of the ingredients list includes:
Phenoxyethanol, as you might guess, is the ingredient that kills germs. I’m not super familiar with it, but there’s no triclosan in this.
Now, when you read that these wipes are biodegradable, you shouldn’t think this means “flushable.” Actually, even flushable wipes that you might buy really shouldn’t be flushed down your toilet and neither should tampons! It took me over a decade to learn this. Those things are described as flushable only because they fit, but doing so creates a bunch of problems at the end of the (sewer) lines.
But being biodegradable means that when they go out with your trash, they will eventually break down, unlike so much of our trash. I am sure the process is slow, but that’s better than nothing!
With that said, these wipes aren’t as affordable as some. Lovehoney carries wipes by Aneros, which cost about $4 less for the same count. I was surprised to find this was the case for a store brand. Swipes are one of the few brands that are still available (where did they all go??), and those are cheaper, too. If you want the best bet and aren’t as lazy as I am, a toy cleaning wipe is even more cost effective.
And even though I like these Lovehoney wipes, I am too cheap to be loyal, so I would opt for something cheaper if I wanted to replace them. Sorrynotsorry.
Do you guys remember last year when adult coloring books became *the* thing? Suddenly, everyone was selling them or using them, and a new market blossomed. One of the cool things about *adult* coloring books when compared to those of my childhood was that they could be full of adult themes: sophisticated designs, sex toys, skulls, and curse words — like the #NSFW Creative Cursing Coloring Book that SheVibe sells.
I really enjoy the coloring bandwagon. I saw the appeal. It’s relaxing and fun. It’s a little artistic. Adult coloring books combine childlike delight with a devious streak. Win-win, right?
Now, you might wonder whether SheVibe is the right company to make an adult coloring book, but I’d like to remind you that the website is decorated with gorgeous comic-style covers every month, and many customers receive boxes full of similar art (not me.. yet). It’s a match made in Heaven.
I opted for the Creative Cursing Coloring Book because I’ve got a foul mouth, but if you want to color scenes, SheVibe has you covered, too.
You can actually buy those 4 coloring books as a bundle to save money.
The Creative Cursing Coloring Book is full of everyone’s favorite curse words as well as some newly-creative words. Some definitely seem inspired by the Brits (Fucking Wanker, anyone?), who we all know cuss quite colorfully.
Each word is detailed, typically with a floral (paisley) design. By my count, there are 37 pictures to color including a copy of the cover, which is the last page. The pictures are printed front-and-back on the pages, but they’re fairly thick stock so you could probably use pens or markers without too much bleed through.
Thus far, I’ve used coloring pencils and have discovered that I am not great at choosing palettes. Woops.
This brings me to another issue, which is not at all the fault of SheVibe or the Creative Cursing Coloring Book. I have weak joints, and pain likes to flare up when I’m writing or drawing (painting my nails can be a bitch sometimes). So I’ve not spent too much time with the #NSFW Creative Cursing Coloring Book. I wish I could.
It would be nice if the pages were perforated if you wanted to tear them out to color (or have your friends join you) or simply to show off when you’re done. But I assume this would bring up the price quite a bit.
There are similar products that are readily available, and some may be cheaper than this coloring book from SheVibe, but you might opt for this if you want to support the company and show appreciation for Alex Kotkin, who is the artist behind the coloring books and comic covers on the site.
I can tell you that everyone who’s seen the Creative Cursing Coloring book has been super excited over it and was interested in finding their own. I think this would make a great gift.
I’d like to thank SheVibe for providing not just this coloring book for me to review!
Sex Yourself
$11.99 (Kindle)
from Amazon
If I was going to pick a book that was friendly and welcoming to readers, especially those who are looking to expand or start their sex lives, Sex Yourself would be pretty far up there.
Sex Yourself, subtitle ” The Woman’s Guide to Mastering Masturbation and Achieving Powerful Orgasms,” is the product of author Carlyle Jansen. Jansen is actually the founder of Toronto sex toy store Good For Her. I feel like Jansen is a capable vessel to disseminate this information, and Sex Yourself lends credibility by not avoiding actual names for our anatomy or trying to cute things up. I appreciate this.
The book does a good job at talking to the inexperienced reader without being overwhelming them while avoiding those all-too-common mistakes of treating sex as something to hem and/or hehe about. Jansen proves you can be gentle without being infantilizing or condescending (although, she does swap “masturbation” with “self-pleasure” and “solo sex”). Why don’t more people do this?
Right from the start, Sex Yourself aims to encourage masturbation and to mitigate feelings of guilt about masturbation. Jansen reassures the reader with stats about women and masturbation. She also touches on how solo sex is still sex, even if it’s with yourself, but it’s not cheating. The first chapter wraps up with benefits of masturbation, both for yourself and your partnered sex.
A bit of the formatting is lost in the digital edition
From here, Jansen teaches the reader about erogenous zones such as the clitoris. She also specifies between the vulva and vagina. Yasss! The second chapter is the comprehensive anatomy lesson that most of us never got with addition info on discharge, pregnancy, and menopause.
I don’t want to go through every chapter in detail, but Sex Yourself is worth reading for many people, even if I found most of the information a little basic. It’s the type of book that a parent might give to their daughter or that a young woman might seek out to get in touch with her sexual side.
This book is body positive, and the encouragement for self-love extends beyond masturbation. Jansen’s words somehow make it a little more easy to be in a woman with so many expectations put upon us before providing actionable techniques for masturbation. Every topic that Jansen tackles to techniques to toys to masturbating in front of your partner is in-depth and accessible while encouraging natural sexual exploration.
I was consistently impressed with Jansen’s advice, the type that I and my fellow sex bloggers have been providing for years. Sex Yourself suggests lube time and again (yay) while providing all the information you need to choose a one (you can learn a bit more about the science of lube in this post). Issues such as ass-to-vag toy usage and anal toy safety aren’t glossed over. I love this.
Sex Yourself also dispels some myths such as one type of orgasm being superior to the other or that there’s a difference between G-spot and clitoral orgasms, to begin with. The book also doesn’t spread falsehoods like squirting is just pee, either.
Perhaps it’s because Jansen wrote Sex Yourself like so many of my peers have been writing posts (you’ll find recommendations for some of our favorite toys!) and books that it struck gold. It’s real, it’s useful, and its presence was much needed in the world of sex ed.
It’s also a quick read, and you can page through to the content you need without reading it all. In fact, I would recommend a physical copy because it looks like the formatting works just a bit better/is more polished than the digital version.
From the pictures, Cal Exotic’s new Luxe vibrating “dildo” looks like many of the silicone dildos on the market. It has a suction cup base and a slightly contoured head. You can choose from bright pink or purple or two more fleshlike colors.
Of course, it’s not a dildo because it’s actually a vibrator. I guess the suction cups, which works but I will never use, counts this thing as a dildo in someone’s book. It would be harness-compatible, but I’m still not feeling the nomenclature. It’s not a dildo, okay? Luxe is also not as sleek in person as it seems — so much for being luxe — and that’s where I need to focus the beginning of this review.
In person, you can clearly see a white, cylindrical casing beneath the thin layer of silicone that covers it. The silicone is so sheer that it harkens back to a time of PVC jelly vibrators and rabbits with their innards revealed for the world to see. Now, I suspect that the function of this vibrator requires a different interior than others, and I’ll get to that later.
But this whole thing seems like such a weird design flaw that you could see through it. And what I can see? Isn’t the best. During the initial washing, I saw what appears to be a crack in that inner piece of plastic, which was easy to spot through the silicone. I hadn’t even had a chance to use the Luxe, yet. So it’s not looking good for this one.
Usually I break the toys myself, but this one came pre-broken??
The more I looked, the more cracks I saw. I.. what?
I can’t even think of a joke to crack about this. Oh, wait, there it is!
Well, what about its touch-sensitive capabilities? I’ve got slightly better news for you.
This function works not by squeezing the vibrator harder like the Limon or Ola, which is what I initially assumed, but by responding to the area of the shaft that’s squeezed. To illustrate, if you wrap one hand around the shaft, it doesn’t seem to increase vibrations. But adding your second hand beneath it increases the intensity. You can assume that thrusting the toy internally would achieve the same effect. Whether it’s noticeable internally is up for debate, however.
And, to be honest, I’m not a huge fan of the shape or size of this toy, and I think it’s part of that inner mechanism, which feels pretty rigid under the thin silicone coating. Although I don’t need a curved toy for G-spot stimulation, the absolute straightness of the Luxe isn’t comfortable. In fact, it’s almost painful despite only having a 1.5-inch diameter, which is the same throught the entire shaft.
If the shaft tapered a bit more before the head (or overall), it’d be fine. But then the toy might not be sensitive to touches. Perhaps that mechanism should be located further toward the base, or the diameter slightly smaller overall. As it is, Luxe just feels invasive, and I can’t enjoy the touch sensitive function.
It’s a shame because I would like to. The rounded head works well enough for G-spot stimulation, the vibrations are more rumbly than buzzy, and the strength is decent. It’s not like a Hitachi, but it’s definitely good enough. I even liked some of the modes, which never happens.
I think there’s promise if they can offer the same function in a variety of sizes. I am assuming that it’s a size constraint due to what I can see through the silicone, but what the hell do I know, right? If ever there were a toy that I wanted to rip apart, it’s the Luxe. And perhaps I will. After all, it’s already on its way to breaking.
One last gripe: I kind of hate when toys have a single button and require you to hold it to turn it off. I would rather have to hit a down button 8 million times or have a separate master power button. I want an auto off and find myself ridiculously annoyed when this isn’t an option.
I might be alone in this. Luxe has a pretty high rating on GoodVibes, but none of those people left reviews, so take that with a grain of salt.
This is an archived review of a discontinued product. You can purchase a similar unicorn dildo by Raw Love.
Have you ever used a toy that’s just too good? Yea. It’s a thing. I didn’t know either.
Sure, I’ve have toys that were very good. Some were, eh, good enough. Some were, wow, not good at all. This dildo might be the first that’s too good. It’s almost unbelievable like a unicorn, you might say.
So let’s talk about that first. This is a dildo like a unicorn horn. I got one swathed in pastels with silicone wrapping its way down the shaft. To be honest, it looks a bit more like ice cream than a unicorn horn, but you can also get it in pearlescent white, which might be more traditional for unicorns, along with a bold, rainbow-colored one. There’s even a gorgeous blue-purple one on the manufacturer’s site that SheVibe doesn’t carry (yet…?).
There’s a flat base that could be compatible with your harness if you want the power of the unicorn; though, I’ve only used this solo.
The dildo is surprisingly flexible. You can bend it backward to touch itself. The outer layer has a fair amount of give. It’s not squishy like VixSkin, more like a softer version of Tantus’ shiny silicone. The core is firm enough to remain upright. And it’s not so soft that you can’t control it from the base when it’s inserted. I really enjoy the formula of this silicone, and much silicone has fallen into the “meh” camp for me previously.
The one thing that’s not good about the silicone? It’s the lintiest lint-magnet ever. Like wash-it-and-wash-it-again. I’ve never had to spend so much time washing a toy as I have the unicorn dildo. And there is no way possible to photograph it without picking up more lint and hair. Sorry.
The Unicorn Dildo by Split @SplitPeaches is pretty enough that WordPress can't even handle a photo of it, apparently. pic.twitter.com/ua3Y4H4oJw
— Adriana (@adriana_r) April 13, 2017
The end of the horn is rounded, so penetration feels easy with a little lube, even if it’s not particularly awesome lube, haha. And the particular increase in circumference is nearly perfect. I don’t need to be warmed up at all, and the narrower tip doesn’t bother my cervix. Again, near perfection.
But I think a custom size would be better up my alley. The length — 10 inches — isn’t really necessary, and I don’t feel especially full when the toy hits my cervix. If this were maybe 3″ shorter, I would absolutely adore it. It would still not be the toy for size queens, but I’d be able to appreciate the 2.75-inch circumference near the base in a way that I just can’t now.
Still, I can use the dildo, get it right where I want it (thanks to the flexibility), press it right against my G-spot (thanks to the firmness) and hold it in place until I squirt. It’s made me squirt nearly immediately. Like 10 seconds or less. It doesn’t take much to make me squirt, but this is still impressive. A second ejaculation followed, needing less than half that time.
But if it only takes fifteen seconds, what else do I do it with it, you know? Fortunately, I do find the unicorn dildo to be quite enjoyable while stroking. The twisted texture seems too subtle to notice, but I can feel the waves in a way that’s in no way objectionable. Split Peaches makes dildos with much more texture if that’s up your alley, however.
If there were any toy that was going to give me a vaginal orgasm, the unicorn dildo is probably it. We’re not there yet, but, hey, sometimes you’ve got to believe in magic, right?
As it turns out, it doesn’t take much to list your most-loved and most-hated sex toys in a year when you only review a handful. I hadn’t realized how many items I hadn’t reviewed until just now. To be fair, there are a few things in my queue that I could review, should have done so long ago, but most of these don’t inspire loving sonnets or wrathful rants.
And I wrote more erotica and personal blog posts than I have in some time. But reviews were few and far between.
So let’s talk about what I loved.
Lovehoney’s Desire didn’t measure up to other clitoral vibes
Ah, well, lesson learned.
The folks at Minna were helpful, but it was simply too much trouble to try and try again. The feedback provided by kGoal is useful and the concept worthy, but this product was not ready for release.
Let’s hope Minna does better with their upcoming make kegel exerciser.
I know this post is a bit late, but I certainly hope you find it useful. Just going through my archives showed how few sex toy reviews I’d written in the past year, so I have already taken steps to rectify that by reaching out to companies who might be in need of reviews.
2017 will have more things to choose from and, hopefully, more sex toys that I actually like!
kGoal
$149
from Minna Life
You’re not going to find many negative reviews of Minna’s kGoal, and I think that’s because it works for most people. But it didn’t work for me. Not technologically. Not shapewise. Not at all, and I think it’s important for people who have similar bodies and preferences as me to know what they’re getting into. Because what they want is a smart toy that helps them exercise their PC muscles, not an exercise in frustration.
By now, you all know that kGoals uses Bluetooth to connect to your device. It contains sensors that measure the strength, and the app (for Android and iOS) includes “games” to help you get your reps in without boring to death.
But there are a few problems with kGoals.
Any wireless technology struggles with physical barriers. It’s why pretty much any remote-controlled vibrator is terrible, why WiFi signals decreases the further you are from the router and why cell reception is so difficult to find in rural areas.
Your body is a pretty big physical impediment to wrap directly around a Bluetooth-enabled device, and I quickly found this out with the kGoal. It works best when you connect before insertion, which makes sense. But sometimes even that wouldn’t work. And while some of my devices would connect, not all of them would.
Once it was connected — and I only had it connected successfully during insertion twice tops — the connection is prone to drop because of these same issues. Of course, you’ll need to drop your phone, remove the toy, clean lube from your fingers, reconnect the device, reinsert it and get back into position. It’s a fucking hassle.
I cannot explain how awesome Minna was at answering my questions. When I attempted to use kGoal with my new phone — because my mmold one doesn’t turn on — I couldn’t even sign in. There was some account error, and they told me to sign up again.
Of course, this would lose any information I had from my previous account, meager as it were. If this problem persists, then it could wipe out a lot of user data between devices.
Also, I’m pretty sure I’m still waiting on an email and can’t even log in soooo =/
Listen, I know that my pubic bone doesn’t run exactly the same as other women. It’s why I don’t need very much of a curve for G-spot stimulation and why the Pure Wand totally didn’t work for me. It’s also why most kegel balls are too damn large and feel pinchy.
Now, you also need to understand the design of the kGoal to understand why it also won’t work for my anatomy. The kGoal looks like a dual stimulator, and the arms are quite flexible from one another with the external part being rather flat.
The insertable portion is coated in essentially a balloon of silicone that expands with air and compresses with force (of your vagina or hand). It feels more similar to the Minna Ola than the Limon.
https://twitter.com/adriana_r/status/816236453214699521
There’s a very narrow shaft in this, but the head is rounded and very firm beneath the silicone. It is also huge. I mean, it shouldn’t be. I’ve taken larger cocks and toys, but they weren’t rigid.
Minna’s kGoal always hurts going in and it gets stuck behind my pubic bone when I want the damned thing out. I know that Minna tried that damnedest to work with the actual human body, but we’re not all identical.
Unfortunately, I think you’re not going to know whether this works for you until you try it but if you have a similarly pronounced pubic bone as I do, I might advise against the financial and physical risk you’re taking with kGoal.
I don’t know. They say it’s supposed to be pleasurable. Maybe the pitiful vibration would be better for someone who didn’t feel like the crotch was in a Chinese finger trap/lobster claw/C clamp (choose your metaphor).
You can use the thing for pleasure or for exercise without the app, but it really takes away from the innovation and usefulness if you’re just relying on the vibration.
So once you get it inserted, if you can get comforted and connected, you open up the app and play some games. There are two simple games that requires squeezing to accomplish tasks. “Game” might even be giving them more credit than they deserve. Activities? Regardless, it’s harder than you might think, and it’s great for giving you feedback about how you use your PC muscles.
You set goals for how often you want to work out, and the app will remind you. These are all pretty good features.
But the problem with kGoal is there are so many damn “ifs” to get to that point, and it’s difficult to pinpoint how to minimize them. I cannot in good conscience recommend a toy this costly with so many risks.
Does kGoal sound like something you’d like? Are you okay with a really innovative and costly paperweight? If so, buy it. If not, buy anything else.
