Raspberry Buttercream Frosting Liquid Hand Soap

September 26th, 2009

Raspberry Buttercream Frosting Soap

Raspberry Buttercream Frosting Soap
$16 from Jaqua

While browsing PinkCherry’s new products, I didn’t even wonder what a hand soap was doing on a sex toy site. Instead, I saw the words “Raspberry Buttercream Frosting” and basically freaked out because I’ve been on something of a sweets kick lately. So onto my list it went, and into my hands it was soon arriving.

Unfortunately, my dreams were dashed and my nose offended when I finally opened the package. Although packaged superbly (which I’ll discuss later) and gorgeously colored, Jaqua failed to deliver a promising scent with their liquid hand soap. I expected something berry and sweet right out of a bakery, but I’m still not sure what I got, and I’ve been using it for around 3 weeks. It’s a much heavier scent than I expected, as though there’s much too much of a single scent ingredient. It might be raspberry because my husband says he can smell the berry but I’m not sure. It does leave a berry-esque scent on my hands but actually using it isn’t my cup of tea. There’s also no trace of any frosting whatsoever. This is odd considering as it’s “enriched with fruit and plant extracts” (as well as aloe and Vitamins E). I’d think that fruit enriching would make is smell.. like fruit or berries, to be exact.

However, I’d like to point out that my husband really liked the scent of this soap, for whatever reason. He thought it smelled somewhat like raspberry and wanted more after we ran out.

As I mentioned, Raspberry Buttercream Frosting Liquid Hand Soap is still a good-looking product. It’s a typical, liquid soap bottle in cylindrical shape with a pump dispenser. You can see a dark raspberry-coloured liquid inside, but I’d say it’s a tad on the purple side; maybe it’s just because it’s so dark. The bottle is labeled quite nicely. The product name is on a solid square of raspberry red, and the ingredients are displayed on a similar panel on the back of the bottle. In between those, the stick itself is clear with light pink Jaqua symbols printed. for soap, it’s pretty sophisticated and you might even use it for decor if it matched your colour scheme.

Of course, using soap isn’t complicated. Give it a pump, add some water, lather. Rinse and repeat if you’re dirty. 😉 I found the soap to be rather thick, almost to the point of being solid. Sometimes chunks would like to fall right off my hands. Additionally, this made it resistant to lathering and my normal rather routine wasn’t sufficient. I realized this one day when I saw purple streaks on my white towels from drying my hands with stubborn soap residue. I’ve found I do have to lather longer and harder than usual. I have to be really purposeful about it, which is annoying. I do believe some of the water in the bottle sunk to the bottom as the last centimeter or so of product has been thinner and easier to work with. I wouldn’t call this “richly lathering” at all.

In terms of lasting time, I’ve had this bottle for about a month, and it’s nearing the end. That’s pretty average when it comes to hand soap and doesn’t stand out in any way.

While it’s not irritating and doesn’t dry my skin annoyingly (it neither makes my hands wonderfully soft), I’m not really enthused about Jaqua’s Raspberry Buttercream Frosting Liquid Hand Soap. I mean, it doesn’t smell as advertised and is difficult to work with. There’s not much else to redeem it. If all else fails, I want my soap to smell good and, considering as this was the draw, I’m pretty disappointed, especially for the price. At 8.5oz and 16.99, I could get several generic bottles of hand soap, which, in my opinion, would smell much better. I have a wonderfully scented raspberry soap sitting at the kitchen sink which probably cost less than $1. If this is the best that Jaqua offers, colour me unimpressed.

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Categories: Reviews, Sexual Health and Beauty

Intimate Organics Hydra Water Based Lubricant

September 14th, 2009

Hydra Water Based Lubricant

Hydra Water Based Lubricant
$19.08 from Amazon

Editor’s note: Intimate Organics is now known as Intimate Earth.

No one could argue that Intimate Organics went wrong when naming their water-based formula. In fact, I can think of no product that is more aptly based than Hydra. Plus, it gets cool points for being a mythical monster. But Hydra’s name is not the only remarkable characteristic about it so, listen up!

Hydra is absolutely, without competition, and I mean no-other-water-based-lube-even-comes-close, the slickest water-based lubricant I have ever used. It is so very slick that even though I knew it was water-based and I knew its name, I still checked the bottle after first use to make sure it wasn’t silicone-based so I wouldn’t accidentally, you know, ruin my toys. Yep, you read that right: it’s water based and incredibly slick and silky. And it’s not just my opinion, either. My husband, who usually thinks “Lube is lube” really enjoys this one because of its texture. So if slick is your thing, and maybe you usually prefer silicone lubes, you might give Hydra a try.

However, Hydra is rather thin and I do find myself always squirting out more from the push-top bottle than I intend to. Unless you prefer thinner lubes for anal sex, I’d skip Hydra for a thicker lube (like Maximus) for backdoor play.

Or if you like lubes that dry so completely that you don’t even feel the need to wash your hands, you might also give Hydra a try. After rubbing my fingers dry of excess lube, I didn’t feel tacky or gummy whatsoever. There was literally no residual lube like there frequently is.

But wait, there’s more!

If you like your lubes animal-friendly, completely vegan, and without harmful ingredients like parabens, glycerine, or DEA, Hydra might just be perfect for you. Like other Intimate Organic products, the company has been careful to use naturally devised ingredients rather than so many chemical ones which makes Hydra a good solution for those folks who have lube sensitivities. I usually don’t and, if you recall, the only other hypoallergenic I lube caused sensitivity (ironic, isn’t it?). I had no issues with sensitivity with Hydra.

Is there a catch? I’m glad you asked. Unfortunately, there is. While I enjoyed the feeling of Hydra right out of the bottle at the end, there were some less-than-desirable effects in the middle of the play. Hydra tends to be sticky as it dries (but, obviously, that fades when it’s dry), which requires reapplication of lube or the addition of water more than other lubes. This wasn’t a problem for vaginal sex, as I usually only need a little lube to get going if my husband hasn’t gone down on me. Past the initial penetration, I pretty quickly produce my own lube.

However, I noticed the stickiness much more when it came to clit stimulation. The hard and fast movements were really impeded by the stickiness of Hydra. I’m certain that adding a bit more lube would’ve freshened it right up, but, to be honest, I don’t like to do that. I’m a one-application-of-lube type of girl, I guess. Of course, I did apply the lube a few minutes before heading clit-side so it had time to dry. When I applied lube to a toy and used it right away, it was less sticky. All I can offer is a warning: If you want to avoid the stickiness of Hydra while it dries, be prepared to reapply fairly frequently or do have sex in an airless environment.

Not everyone minds reapplying lube, though, and if you’re one of those and the rest of Hydra’s properties sound appealing, I would wholeheartedly recommend it. It’s very uncommon for my husband to like a lube as much as he liked this one and I’m fond of its slickness as well. I was really surprised that Hydra is as silky as it is, just your run-of-the-mill lube; it may be the inclusion of aloe that does it. I usually like my lube a little thicker (like ID Glide), but Hydra definitely feels great in the beginning and isn’t messy at the end. This has been my second positive experience with Intimate Organics products and, despite the fact that I don’t care a lot about organic products, the quality I’ve seen thus far really has me intrigued.

13 Comments

Categories: Lube, Reviews

Oil of Love – Raspberry Kiss

September 4th, 2009

Oil of Love - Raspberry Kiss

Oil of Love - Raspberry Kiss
$12.36 from Amazon

What can I say about Kama Sutra products that hasn’t already been said? Their name is synonymous with sensuality and products are known for quality. So to say I was expecting an awesome product with their Oil of Love is an understatement, especially considering that I have literally wanted the product for years. It was one of the very first products I considered buying when my husband and I wanted to try new things with our sex life. I’m glad I finally tried the Oil of Love, even if it took years for me to do so and I can say without hesitation that this is one of the few products that is better than I expected.

Like other Kama Sutra products, the Oil of Love came in the green/gold tin, slightly smaller than a soda can, with a black cap. This tin was also in an open-ended plastic bag, but, unfortunately, neither of those was sealed as the cap had popped off and was floating loose in the box. Inside the tin was the glass jar containing the oil, which is corked shut and sealed with plastic. Despite the seal, the bottle did feel slippery, as though it had oil on it already. I gave it a wipe-down before opening it to ensure the bottle wouldn’t slip out of my hands and break or spill all over. The only adornment on the bottle is a stick/band that goes around it with a floral motif and the Kama Sutra logo/Oil of Love label on the front. What you mostly see is a gorgeous dark fuchsia color of the oil itself, and while it might be a bit more purple than I would expect for something raspberry, it’s gorgeous to look through the liquid.

After breaking the seal and popping the cork (which doesn’t require anything near the strength of a wine bottle, thankfully), the scent isn’t immediately noticeable. Overall, I found the scent to be light and refreshing, never overpowering. The scent becomes discernible after a bit of friction by either rubbing the oil in my hands or on another body part. It was also much more noticeable to me as a massage giver than receiver, probably because I kept leaning forward to kiss and lick my husband’s back. As the receiver, I was a little disappointed that I could not smell it better, though.

Unfortunately, I have to say that this smells nothing at all like a kiss of raspberry as the scent – Raspberry Kiss – would suggest. It smells wonderful and sweet but not berry-like in the least. In fact, I think a perfect suggestion for this scent would be vanilla cotton candy and my husband agrees. It’s a great scent, just misleading.

So I mentioned the kissing and licking, yes? It’s because the Oil of Love is also flavoured! The Oil of Love have a sweet flavour that is reminiscent and very complimentary to it’s scent (in this case, vanilla cotton candy), to provide that much more experience. Really, it almost tastes like candy and I have half a mind to drink the bottle, but won’t.

But that’s not all!

It also warms upon blowing which just adds another element of excitement to your massage. I don’t think this property was as noticeable to my husband or myself as the receiver, but I definitely noticed the heat on my mouth/face when I leaned down to blow. This could just be because our backs are not as sensitive, and I know that the fan was on during my massage, so it may have been a little counterproductive. Kissing and licking also seemed to activate the heat so that’s another plus.

We’re not into giving really long massages, and you probably won’t get hours out of one application of the Oil of Love as it is a bit thicker/heavier (that is, if you don’t lick it all off first). I probably massaged between 10 and 20 minutes with one application, and it definitely made it easier to manipulate my husband’s skin. When it was my turn, it also improved his – usually awful – technique and helped him to not be so rough (although I’m still training him). It did get a bit sticky on my hands toward the end but we were both able to dress without feeling the need to wash off the oil from our skins.

I found that it really doesn’t work very well for hand jobs. It becomes too sticky for the quick motions and works much better for a luxurious massage. While the tin states that this product is latex-safe (because it’s water and not oil-based as one might think(, it also warns not to use it internally, so I would shy away from using it as actual lube.

You’ll be relieved to know that Oil of Love is non-staining, too, because, no matter how hard I try, I am a messy person. After massage time was over, I noticed pinky spots on the bed from the oil but they washed out in the laundry just fine.

I am more than blown away with this product, in the end. The few shortcomings absolutely pale in comparison to the scent, flavour, warming and non-staining properties. While Oil of Love may not be the perfect product for hours of massage, it couldn’t be more perfect for us.

8 Comments

Categories: Massage, Reviews

Smartballs (Black/Magenta)

July 10th, 2009

Smartballs

Smartballs

This is an archived review of a discontinued product. These Pinkcherry Kegel Balls seem quite similar, however.

Smartballs have been reviewed a million times. Probably more. I can’t think of any toy which has been reviewed more. I actually cringe when I read another new review for them so I don’t want to inundate you with what you already know but I still wanted to try them for myself and PinkCherry provided them for me to do so.

In the event that you forgot or haven’t stumbled across one of those reviews, here’s a quick rundown: Elastomed (specially treated, non-porous elastomer), weighted, silicone retrieval cord, 0.3 lb, 4 1/2″ length, 4 1/2″ circumference, “ribbed”, dual-colour (with multiple colours available), vaginal exercisers with flexible connector which can be washed with soap/water or toy wash (but no boiling); made by Fun Factory (with Fun Factory’s standard packaging).

There are a couple things which are remarkable:

  • Smartballs are not round, they are actually oblong.
  • The connector is longer of that in the Luna Beads or K-Balls.
  • The combination of these things means a longer exerciser overall.
  • Different colours seem to offer differing amounts of stimulation via internal ‘vibrations.’
  • Smartballs offer the most stimulation via ‘vibration’ than either the Luna Beads or K-Balls.
  • Smartballs are also the heaviest which I consider no coincidence.
  • The retrieval cord is connected to the end of one ball, which is very points.
  • Silicone lube can be used.

There are also a few things I experienced:

  • Smartballs are more difficult to position than K-Balls. I needed to readjust them to find the right place for them to sit. If they were in a different position, they were uncomfortable, even painful. They also wanted to slip out more. I feel this is all due to the longer connector and oblong shape.
  • The ridges offered no help for insertion. My fingers were nowhere near there; however, insertion wasn’t so hard that I needed the ridges.
  • The ridges made no difference in sensation.
  • The retrieval cord on Smartballs is stiffer and more annoying than the cords on similar vagina balls.
  • Like all vaginal balls, the Smartballs push out tiny air “pockets” (queefs, I guess?) from the vagina. This can be annoying/distracting or may not affect you at all. I always have to get use to it, when I first put them in.
  • Although I could feel the inner vibrations more, they weren’t pleasurable. Furthermore, the shape of the balls didn’t work with my shape as well as the K-Balls. G-spot stimulation was little to none.
  • I was able to experience intense G-spot stimulation with one ball poised at the entrance to my vagina and a strong massager-style vibrator.
  • The pointy end where the cord is, fucking hurt/pinched!
  • Vaginal balls are not good for stationary activities.

My personal preference for kegel balls is not Fun Factory’s Smartballs. They are certainly well made but my specific shape and the oblong balls do not mix very well. I think all of my issues would be solved by making the Smartballs round and while I know every woman is different, I think that one improvement would make them more enjoyable for the majority of women.

It is of significance that Fun Factory has released a sort of Smartballs 2.0 with their Teneo Duo Smartballs. These exercisers do lack the painful, pointy place as the way the retrieval cord is connected has changed. However, they still appear to be oblong.

3 Comments

Categories: Reviews, Sexual Health and Beauty

Silicone Intimate Diver

July 3rd, 2009

Silicone Intimate Diver

Silicone Intimate Diver
N/A from

This is an archived review of a discontinued product.

My experience with sea creatures as sex toys has proven unpleasant more than once now. For whatever reasons, dolphins and their cousins, the porpoises are perhaps a little too realistic for comfort. Such was the case with the Intimate Diver, a dual-stimulation vibrator.

A little information about this toy. Made of TPR silicone, the Intimate Diver is waterproof, of course. A note that this is not pure silicone, and while it’s generally more hygienic and less porous than jelly or cyberskin, for instance, it’s still porous, so anal use or sharing without a condom isn’t a good idea. You’re also limited to water-based lubes here.

My pink porpoise is posed so its forked tail – the clit stimulator – curls over its back toward its head – the internal/G-spot stimulator. The very tip of this toy is his nose, and he has a “fin” on each side as well as a vertical fin on his back. The body is this sea creature has a little give but is mostly firm. The fins, tail, and nose have more give because they’re thinner, but you won’t experience any rabbit ear floppiness with this tail (like on rabbit vibes with much thinner parts).

His head contains a bullet-style vibe, which is powered by 2AAA batteries that slip into an EZ load pack. As you can imagine, this doesn’t make it the most powerful toy. For me, the lowest and middle settings will do little more than tease; the highest likely won’t get me off but it’s decent. Unfortunately, the thicker TPR silicone isn’t great with vibrations, and it’s definitely more difficult to feel them in the tail. Furthermore, once inserted, vaginal muscles have a tendency to muffle some of the vibrations which even worsens the problem. Stronger vibes and a thinner tail might help with this but I just prefer toys with bullets at the clit, too, because of the pressure it gives. Unfortunately, the TPR silicone was soft enough that it wasn’t a good toy to grind with, either.

What ultimately turned me off from this sex toy is that its fins hurt upon insertion. I could plainly feel the side fins poking at me painfully because they were much denser than the tail or nose. I’m not really sure what purpose they’re supposed to serve; the back fin could possibly provide G-spot stimulation (although it didn’t, for me), but those side fines are pointless. It’s hard to feel aroused when you’re in pain. The moral of the story here: just because you want to model a vibrator after an animal does not mean it has to be completely anatomically correct. Fins serve a purpose in the water, not in my vagina.

It’s good to see California Exotic working with higher quality materials than jelly (even if they’re aren’t as quality as they’d have us believe) but it seems like a lot of corners were cut to make this toy.

18 Comments

Categories: Reviews, Vibrators

ID Moments

June 25th, 2009

ID Moments

ID Moments
N/A from

ID no longer sells Moments lube, but you can buy ID Free, which seems similar.

I’m a big fan of ID Glide. It’s my go-to lube, and it’s versatile because it’s water-based, so when I got my last package from PinkCherry, I was surprised to see a little 2.7 oz bottle of lube by the same company. Moments seems to be ID’s take on a hypoallergenic water-based lube for folks with sensitive skin by removing ingredients like paraben and glycerin and, while I’ve never had many issues with sensitivities to lube, it seemed like a nice addition. Somewhat ironically, ID Moments is one of only two lubes that has caused irritation to my skin.

However, let me describe the specs of this product before going into use. ID Moments comes in ID’s typical round, flip-top bottle with the top and labels in a deep shade of pink. Because it’s water-based, it can be used for any activity or with any material and easily washes off with water (so wet activities might not be the best use). While it has no glycerine or parabens, it does have nearly a dozen other ingredients. The bottle was also sealed (beneath the top).

The very first thing I noticed – I mean how could you miss it? – was the atrocious scent of this lube. It does seem like I’m the only one whose nose was offended by this, though; some people even seemed to really like it. The smell originally reminded me of something which had fermented, in a bad way. In fact, I checked the expiration date (it was fine) because I was sure no company would intentionally make a product smell like this. Furthermore, I could find no mention of this product having a fragrance, so I checked ID’s website, and it says it is fragrance-free. Even if my preference for certain smells is unique, I would be very disappointed in this lube if I bought it believing it was fragrance-free. I am happy to note that the smell seems to have eased up, and now I interpret it more as a very, very sour, fruity smell – like the scent equivalent of a Warhead (which I hate, LOL).

I did a quick taste test and ID Moments has a slightly sour/fruity taste as well. I also wanted to check out the thickness. ID Moments is not the thinnest lube around but it’s not as thick as ID Glide which is a con for me; I like my lubes thicker because I don’t like to deal with the mess. On the other hand, ID Moments is rather silky and rubs into the skin without becoming sticky at all.

But I can’t say how it works internally because I was too busy wondering why my genitals were burning to notice. I have double and triple checked and can’t find any mention of this being a warming lube so the logical assumption here is that ID Moments and my girl parts just do not mix. It’s just kind of funny that the girl who has only been allergic to 2 things in her entire life would be irritated by hypoallergenic lube, right?

I wanted to be really thorough so I used the lube 3 times, each time with a different toy just in case it was toy material and not the lube causing the problem. It was the lube. Luckily, I never used a ton of lube (I don’t normally) and the sensation quickly went away as soon as I stopped my activities.

I know that mine might be the only experience that goes badly, but I’d rather err on the side of caution and just not recommend this lube to anyone. With that said, PinkCherry also carries Wet Naturals Beautifully Bare (read my review), a lube that is also paraben and glycerin-free, which I have used to much success.

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Categories: Lube, Reviews

Goliath

May 22nd, 2009

Goliath
$73 from Tantus

Tantus now makes a Super Soft version of the Goliath. 

Tantus is a brand many people love but which never much appealed to me because so many of its products are for harness use.  Although harness compatible dildos can absolutely be used harness-free, I found many of the designs by Tantus to be a little, well, boring and too smooth.  On the other hand, many of the dildos have an overabundance of ridges, ripples and bulges, which don’t work very well for hard and fast thrusting. It really takes a particular dildo to please me, texture and shape are of utmost importance and since I haven’t mastered the art of G-spot orgasm, I usually stick to sex toys which stimulate my clit. However, I was interested in trying some of their products when PinkCherry offered, and browsed through their collection. I wasn’t looking for the super smooth, Silk trio of dildos and the Echo, while beautiful, seemed like a bit too much for me. I wound up choosing the Goliath .
goliath
With its metallic purple shine and lifelike veins and contoured head, Tantus has produced a pretty good-looking dildo. Luckily, its unrealistic colour balanced off its more realistic shape because I don’t like my dildos to be too true to life. Like other Tantus products, this dildo is 100% silicone (advertised as “100% ultra-premium platinum silicone” on the package) which means no harmful chemicals (promising you a rash and irritation-free experience, unlike mine with Sil-A-Gel))or porousness and you can thoroughly clean Goliath by boiling or bleaching but, since I don’t plan on sharing or using this dildo anally, warm water and soap will suffice. The packaging claims that “with minimal care, Tantus Toys can last a lifetime”; because they can be sterilized, you can even donate them to friends should they outlive your need or, dare I say, will them to your children. 😉

If you hadn’t guessed already by the name, Goliath’s stature is anything but small. Weighing in at 7 1/2″ in length and width with a girth at 5 1/2″, it’s not a toy for beginners or those who like things thin. And, after trying it out, I would also say it’s not a toy for those who like their insertables soft. The silicone material is rather rigid and while it doesn’t feel as hard in my hand (I can squeeze a bit and bend the shaft), once nestled inside my pussy it feels rather unyielding. Coupled with its size, it provided an experience more uncomfortable than I had bargained for.

Of course, as with any toy of such a significant size, lube is a must. Water-based lubes are safe with any material and higher quality silicone lubes may always work. Even with lube, I found there was initial resistance when I inserted Goliath. After passing my pubic bone, it became easier but it seemed like even though I wasn’t inserting much of the dildo, it quickly assaulted my cervix. Perhaps the thickness of the shaft makes Goliath seem shorter than it is but I felt like I could insert less than I usually can with my toys. Maybe it’s just perception or it could be that there seems to be a bit more leeway with thinner toys and cocks but it just didn’t feel like this dildo was made for my body, at least for thrusting. However, I did enjoy the sensation of having this dildo inside while focusing on clitoral stimulation. I always enjoy the way it feels when my muscles contract in orgasm around an object.

Goliath’s veins were discernible but not overly so. I didn’t really feel either way about them. The same could be said for the provided bullet which turns this into a vibrating dildo (I hate the term LOL). The one speed, silver bullet is pretty standard size, battery (3, watch style) powered and operates with a push button on the end. For its size, the vibrations are decent but the definitely become more muted once inserted into the dildo. I could barely feel them at the tip; although, the vibrations were more easily felt at the base.

Overall, the bullet seemed much cheaper than the toy. I’m sure they are better bullets. More than once, the vibration didn’t seem to want to work correctly because the bullet is so fickle. Additionally, I had a difficult time inserting and removing the bullet, which comes separately from the dildo. The package advises using lube, which I had to do in order to insert it. Insertion without lube meant the bullet barely went in. However, despite the fact that I applied lube, I had one hell of a time removing the bullet. First, the cap popped off, then it started randomly vibrating and after about 10 minutes of wrestlin’ with it, I finally pulled the bullet loose.

I think a much better use of the hole is the Tantus suction cup which allows you to play with your toys on any flat surface. At first, I noticed that the smooth bottom of Goliath has a bit of suction, but it’s not enough to secure it to a surface.

In the end, I was left a well-made, high-quality dildo and I expect it to last no less than a lifetime (even if the bullet was disappointing); however, the combination of size and stiff silicone left me wanting, well, a little less. I’m sure that some will love the Goliath, and there’s probably a Tantus dildo that will work well for me, but the search doesn’t end here.

31 Comments

Categories: Dildos, Reviews

Image © MisterUnlucky; used with permission.