Leaf Spirit

January 16th, 2012

BMS no longer makes the original Leaf Spirit, but you can buy the newer Leaf Spirit Plus.

The Spirit was the vibrator that I wanted the most out of the Leaf line. Its ergonomic design is called to me because I’m a clit vibe type of girl. I figured I’d have a pretty good idea of the piece, considering that I’d already used one Leaf vibe, but, as it turns out, that wasn’t quite the case.

My Spirit wasn’t charged when I opened the box so I set it up to charge for a couple hours. Immediately, I made note of how much smaller the Spirit is than I expected. When I plugged the charger into the port, which sits vertically through the widest part of the vibrator, it felt as though the plug was going to stab out the other end of the toy. In fact, it must have been designed to just fit the plug.

At just 2.8″ in width, and with its contours, the Spirit is a palm-type vibrator if I’ve ever seen one. Although I don’t cup my hand around my vulva to masturbate so the idea of a palm vibrator is kind of weird to begin with. However, it’s perfect for use during sex, even though I haven’t been able to use it that way. The Lead website states it is 1.8″ tall and that would be true if it were rectangular. Really, at its widest in the middle, it’s more like 1″, which is similar to the length of the plug.

As it curves into a gentle “C” shapes, the ends taper as well. The end that would make contact with your clit also narrows to a point while the other rounds out, to cup your vulva. When you hold the vibrator so that it curves against your mons pubis, the single button is on top (and well as the port). Of course, this makes sense, but I found the button to sit more flush with the Spirit than the Fresh, so I have a more difficult time finding it. I have to keep my finger on it or stop using it to visually locate the button. Although the button lights up, I tend to hold it in a position where I cannot see it.

Like all toys that use this type of control, it works. Press and hold to raise the vibrations, and the button blinks more rapidly as you raise the vibrations. A single push turns it off. Because there are no settings, there’s no confusion. There’s also not a lot to drool over. For whatever reason, the PowerBullet technology feels much weaker and buzzier in the Spirit. If vibrations alone are what I was looking for, I would have been disappointed. I quickly became immune to them.

Spirit has the hollow sounding vibrations and the slight electronic whine that I noticed of the Fresh. It’s a little annoying but others may not notice. Considering the size, it’s a little loud. I have quieter bullets, for example.

The shape also left a little to be desired. I think it would be great pressed between bodies during partner play, but to get any sort of pressure, I need to apply force with my fingers, and the small surface space meant I accidentally turned this thing off, more often than not. I’m not as big a fan of pinpoint stimulation as some are, either. I do like the layer of squishy silicone that coats the outside of this sex toy. There’s a noticeable squish on the pointed end, which I think led to me enjoying this vibrator a little more than I would have. I did try to use the rounded end, but with little success. It’s too much of an edge for me. The small size will actually fit into some panties. I gave it a whirl and was able to walk around with it vibrating away.

The squishy silicone, sadly, picks up lint and fur like crazy. It’s easy enough to rinse off with soap and water but makes toy wipes a little less useful. Like the entire Leaf line, the Spirit is meant to be waterproof and I’ve had no trouble with that during cleaning. It’s easier to see on the Spirit how the silicone stretches around the charging port, offering protection from liquids.

I do have to say that one full charge only lasted me one masturbation session. Granted, it was probably around 30 minutes, mostly on the highest speed, and involved a couple of orgasms, but the manual guarantees at least 40 minutes (1 hour and 15 on the lower setting). It just died on me randomly and I wasn’t quite done.

Of course, this one comes in a cardboard box with a manual, canvas bag and charger. The bag is the same size for all the toys and Spirit feels a little swamped in its home. I’m slightly dubious that it’s as green as its color, but that’s not really a selling point for me.

I probably like Fresh a little better, surprisingly. However, I would recommend this as a toy for couples during sex or either for a palm-based massage. If you lube it up — water-based, please! — it could make for a good back or muscle massager if light stimulation is for you.

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Red Velvet and Absinthe

January 12th, 2012

After a while, erotica starts to look a lot alike. There are so many collections I have that.. I do not care anything about. There’s maybe three that really stand out and Red Velvet and Absinthe is one of those. I mean, the idea of paranormal erotica is pretty cool and I expected werewolves and vampires — which I got — but some of the more ghostly and unusual ideas were really memorable.

So, of course, werewolves and vampires are heavy in this book. The first few stories I read were only about werewolves. I wasn’t reading them in order so it almost seemed as though the editor has purposefully shied away from vampires because, you know, Twilight sucks.. There are also some vampire stories, including one with a lesbian slant. Ghosts make their appearance in this book and there’s one extremely interesting voodoo doll story. All in all, if you like the paranormal or are turned on by the unusual, I can’t recommend this enough.

My favorites include Dolly with the aforementioned voodoo doll, in which a young woman makes her doll and with it brings to life a person/creature and begins a sexual and romantic relationship that ends with an interestingly sweet twist. Anna Meadows paints a picture worth a thousand years in her story Painted about a young man’s fixation with a painting of an alluring woman. I could practically feel the walls shaking as I read through a thunderstorm scene. La Belle Morte is not a story with a happy ending for the protagonist, a young woman who is on death row, but the author somehow manages to cause the reader to forget the fact as the woman escapes into sexual fantasies with a strange visitor. An angel even makes an appearance in the very last story, Benediction.

There’s a few caveats, though, and I suspect these issues won’t be problematic for everyone. The focus here is on quality writing and story-telling rather than erotic happenings so if you’re the “want it now” type, you might find some of these to take too long to get to the good stuff or don’t spend enough time on it. I did skip a few longer stories because I usually prefer them short. With that said, I also went back to read stories that I’d skipped when I wasn’t trying to get off because I found the material to be interesting. People who don’t necessarily read erotica to get off will probably like the caliber of the writing in this book.

Secondly, Red Velvet and Absinthe focuses on romance. The sex is either between committed partners or implies commitment despite the paranormal circumstances in a til-death-do-us-part-and-sometimes-not-even-then sort of way. One night stands aren’t really part of the repertoire. Still, the romance is done in a dark and Gothic sort of way, with vampires turning their beloveds so that they can spend eternity together or one story which takes place in a prison cell. Danger is common-place as mere mortals dally with werewolves and other beastly creatures. It’s quite thrilling.

Really, that’s why I found myself both getting off and continuing to read just to see what happens next. That’s pretty high praise and I can say, without doubt, I’d love to reread the stories in this book.

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