Come for a Cause

Oct 202011
 

Babeland.com is doing a wonderful October fundraiser called Pink October: Come for a Cause.  For each qualifying purchase, 10% will go to the Young Survival Coalition, which helps women under 40 with breast cancer.  One of the best ways to have fun while making a Come for a Cause purchase is by checking out the Power to the Pink kit.  This kit contains a delicious bottle of Sliquid Pink Lemonade flavored lube, a Babeland Buzz vibrator, and the ever-popular pink Mystic Wand.   Check out the reviews for all three products in these videos!

The Power to the Pink Kit is a fun way to support breast cancer survivors

Sliquid Pink Lemonade flavored lubricant is one of the most high-quality flavored lubes I’ve encountered.  It has a strong fruity lemonade scent, but only light to moderate flavor, so it isn’t overwhelming or sickly sweet.  It works quite well as a lube, especially considering it’s flavored (most flavored lubes tend to be stickier and less useful for actually lubricating).  It has a body-happy formula, a quality Sliquid products are known for.  And its pink lemonade flavor is unique and refreshingly different from the usual strawberry/cherry flavors of most flavored lubes.

The Babeland Buzz is a waterproof and easy-to-use bullet vibrator.  It has a simple one-button control, and provides strong buzzy vibrations.  It has all the convenience and fun of a good bullet vibe, plus it comes in a cute sparkly pink color!  Note: be careful to tap the batteries all the way down when putting them in, as I found it was easy to get them not-quite-all-the-way in by accident and think the toy was breaking (see video).

For the full scoop on the Mystic Wand, you can check out my review of it from last year.  In short, the Mystic Wand is a portable, battery-powered vibrator.  It has a variety of settings with powerful vibrations, and is nice and lightweight.  Plus, the button panel has a really bright blue light, so you can pretend you have some strange piece of alien technology between your thighs (if that’s your thing)!

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The Minna Ola Responds to Your Touch

Aug 292011
 

 

  • Toy: Ola (sent by Babeland.com for review)
  • Type: Rechargeable vibrator, mostly button-free controls, touch-responsive vibration, waterproof
  • Manufacturer: Minna
  • Material: Silicone
  • Price: $165
  • SMT rating: Strong 0 if you squeeze hard, but not quite a 1.

The sex toy industry is always looking for the newest, fanciest, prettiest way to seduce you into purchasing a brand new best friend.  Sometimes, these attempts are gimmicky flops, but every now and then one of their crazy ideas really hits the spot, if I ain’t being too subtle.  The Ola by Minna (aka the Minna Ola) gives us a truly original way to control the power of this S-shaped, waterproof, rechargeable sex toy.  The underside of the small part of the S is a squeezable, soft, enticing little touch-pad that reacts to pressure.  Stroke it softly, and it responds with an immediate rumbling purr.  The harder you squeeze it, the more intense the vibrations get, culminating in a very respectable intensity level.

The Minna Ola lets you make your own vibration patterns and control them by touch

The Minna Ola is rechargeable, and its recharger connection is magnetic, which makes it easy to line up and attach.  Thoughtfully, the Ola lets you know how charged it is by vibrating one to three times (three being fully charged) when it’s turned on; this is much more useful for people who are visually impaired than the “blinking light” method of demonstrating charge that many other toys use.  The S-shape of the toy works with the body in all sorts of delightful ways, whether you use it on the vulva or in the vagina.  The main draw, of course, is the touch-responsiveness.  You can use this to create all sorts of fun sensations and patterns, and when you find a favorite, you can use the second button on the toy to memorize and repeat a pattern until you want to give it a new one.  The Ola even comes fully charged, so you can start playing with it right away!
The touch-responsiveness of the Ola may be a downside, depending on what you like from a toy.  If you enjoy upping the vibration intensity or flipping through patterns by simply hitting a button, you may find the touch-pad too fussy a way of controlling the toy.  While this touch-vibration style makes it a great toy for exploring, either with a partner or solo, the creativity necessary to use it effectively keeps it from being totally effortless.  It’s intuitive, but not effortless.  The body isn’t flexible, which could be a plus or a minus, depending on what you’re looking for.  Finally, like any other silicone toy, you need to use water-based lubes, not silicone-based, with the Ola.
Overall, the Ola is a cool new type of  vibrator.  Its touch pad is intuitive and easy to use and allows you to let your creativity shine in what sorts of patterns you make for yourself (or your partner).  It’s a fun, sexy toy, and while the touch-pad is certainly unique, it isn’t a cheap gimmick.  The Minna Ola is being sold exclusively through Babeland, and I appreciate that they sent me a copy of this delicious toy for review.

 

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Washable, comfy, strap-on joy with the SpareParts Joque Harness

Aug 182011
 

  • Toy: SpareParts Joque Harness (sent by Babeland.com for review)
  • Type: Washable fabric strap-on harness that’s highly adjustable, super comfy, and very durable.  Holds one cock, with a pocket inside if you want to add your own vibrator.
  • Material: Nylon, Spandex, Elastic and Velcro. Comes with a purple or black pouch and black straps
  • Price: $100
  • SMT rating: N/A.  It doesn’t vibrate unless you add your own vibrator.

Once upon a time, I co-discovered a new sex injury that I will simply name “The Kitty” in honor of the co-creator.  I will spare you the details, dear reader, and simply state that she was left with a rug burn on the bridge of her nose from repeated rubbing against a leather strap-on harness strap.  How embarrassing for everyone involved, although we were also proud of our new discovery!  Oh, the sacrifices we sex educators must make.  Anyway, the moral of the story is simple: I love a leather harness as much as the next person (assuming the person next to me loves them a lot), but sometimes a washable cloth harness is simply the best tool for the job.  I’d been hearing the joyful reviews of SpareParts harnesses, and so I asked Babeland to save my reputation as someone who invents new sex injuries by sending one right away.  Even better, they sent two – a his and a hers.  The Joque is the one for women, the Deuce review will be up shortly.

Joque Harness Image

The Joque is a sexy, comfy, highly adjustable harness. Watch the video to see just how adjustable it is!  It’s got lovely side cinches to make it easy to tighten, loosen, and slide on and off on a whim without making major adjustments.  The jock strap design highlights your round lil’ (or big) hiney, and the pouch has a stretchy cock ring to keep your dildo secure.  Plus, the inside of the pouch has flaps that cover the back of the flared base to offer padding between your mons (your fluffy mound area over the public bone) and your toy.  Toss it in the wash when you’re done and you’re all set.  Have sex with lots of people in a night/weekend? Buy a few so you always have a fresh one handy!  You can also tuck an outtie vibe into the pouch to get yourself buzzed while you’re strapping it to Kitty (she does get around in all the best ways) or whoever is lucky enough to receive your affections.

What are the cons to this design?  Frankly, I haven’t found one yet.  It rides low, as it should, so it’s easy to maneuver.  It’s easily adjustable and visually appealing.  It does not have a removable ring, but the ring it has offers a firm stretch that worked for my narrow dildo in the video as well as my thick Bandit dildo.  It didn’t chafe anyone, and people liked the way it looked. The washability remains my favorite quality, though.  With two generous size options, it’s likely to fit the slender folks and the thick ‘n juicy folks, which is a promise that’s often made and rarely kept so I appreciate that SpareParts does follow through on their size ranges.  No excuses – go give it a shot before you leave someone with some awkward explaining to do at work the next day!

 

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You can now rock two penises. Really.

Aug 182011
 

  • Toy: SpareParts Deuce Harness (sent by Babeland.com for review)
  • Type: Washable fabric strap-on harness that’s highly adjustable, super comfy, and very durable.  Holds two cocks (both silicone or one flesh and one silicone), with a pocket inside if you want to add your own vibrator or to happily hold your scrotum or entire flaccid package.
  • Material: Nylon, Spandex, Elastic and Velcro. Comes with a black pouch and black straps
  • Price: $130
  • SMT rating: N/A –  It doesn’t vibrate unless you add your own vibrator.

    • Ok, so the person sitting next to me is urging me to make some off-color and/or Strong Bad-related puns about the name of this product, but is too awesome to tarnish in such a way.  Besides, I think Strong Bad is trying to avoid strap-on related scandals in the current political climate.  Instead I will simply state the most important thing about this harness: you can now rock two cocks.  They could be two silicone cocks, one flesh cock and one silicone cock, or… if you were born with two flesh cocks one over the other, then you can now outfit them with a lovely harness.  Hey, this is a judgement-free zone, right?

    Back to two cocks.  Just… just imagine it.  Maybe the lower one is soft and tucked safely in the pouch, whether you’re wearing a soft pack prothetic cock or you were born with your package already attached.  Maybe you always wanted to have two hard cocks, just for the sheer joy of it.  Whatever your mood, the Deuce by SpareParts is ready in all its attractive-yet-washable glory.  The harness is modeled by what appears to be a cis-gendered male on the package, suggesting the delights of discovering what could happen if the stressors and/or distractions of an erection were removed from your minds.  Or maybe you wanna get a little kinky with your boytoy for the evening.  Super safe sex?  Another great reason!  Gosh darn it, the reasons are infinite.  It’s comfy, it’s highly adjustable, and the two sizes will fit a very wide range of body sizes.  That’s really true – it’s not just a claim.  And you can also use it with just one cock, of course.

    What are the downsides to this design?  You’ll have to tell me, because I haven’t found any yet!

    *Important note: Babeland was kind enough to let me know that the lower hole of the Deuce was not designed to support a silicone cock all on its own.  I would suggest wearing a basic rope harness or other adjustable harness that you can make extra-low-riding if you want to use it with two silicone dicks.

     

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    Goodies for Floating World

    Jul 032011
     

    Most of the time, I prepare for conferences by nerding up with lots of articles, picking up a fresh notebook and a few good pens (anyone want to contribute an ipad to my cause?), readying my digital slides and packing layers for those ever-frigid presentation rooms.  It’s a different story when I’m off to a sex-positive event like Floating World!  Suitcases are fewer, presentation outfits are much more creative, comfy shoes or no shoes are the rule, and at least one piece of luggage is usually dedicated to fun freebies like these!  FunWares has generously sent me this gorgeous box of seductive tingly lip glosses, stimulating Tenga Egg toys, and delightful flavored dental dams.  Yay!  And you guessed it: I’m the lucky educator who gets to share all of these goodies with workshop attendees.  The condoms were a purchase I made – 100 unlubricated condoms for teaching safer oral sex skills, and for folks who want to avoid the silicone lube that typically comes with lubed condoms.  If you’re not yet in the know, that dab of silicone lube can put unwelcome wear on beloved silicone dildos and prosthetics.

    Yep, Floating World is not your typical educational event, or at least not the ones I cut my teeth on as a grad student with a CV to build.  At events such as these, the days and evenings are filled with some of the most breath-taking, entertaining and applicable sex ed from some of the finest fellow educators in the world.  And the nights?  They’re educational and entertaining in… other ways. And the outfits get even better!

    Many thanks to FunWares for helping me spice up my presentations at FloatingWorld.  Will I be seeing you there this year?

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    The Amor from Over the Rainbow

    May 052011
     


    Sometimes, the perfect penis is an absolutely average-sized one.  You mean, you gotta figure that Mother Nature knew what she was doing with the design specs, there.  However, I do have to admit that a dildo with rainbow stripes might even be  a little bit extra-perfect.  No offense, Mother Nature!  So, is the Rainbow Amor the most perfect penis of all?  Read on to find out.

    • Toy: Rainbow Amor (sent by Babeland.com for review)
    • Type: Dildo, harness-compatible, rainbow-colored!
    • Manufacturer: Fun Factory
    • Material: Silicone
    • Price: $65
    • SMT rating: N/A

    Babeland's limited-edition Rainbow version of the Amor is deliciously colorful

     

    Fun Factory spoils us so.  Not only do they may fantastic, body-friendly and oh-so-good toys, they’re now releasing a delightfully colorful version of their Amor dildo: it’s the Rainbow Amor!

    Other than the beautiful coloring (and, seriously, look at how cute and pretty that is), what makes the Rainbow Amor so great?  It’s made from medical-grade silicone, so it’s body-friendly, but it has some give that is reminiscent of old-school extra-firm jelly toys without all the health risks.  It has a soft, flexible flared base that is comfortable against the pubic bone when worn in a strap-on harness.  Its curved shape is moderate but noticeable, gives nice G-spot pressure, and feels filling without being a large toy.  For those who prefer a more realistic size, the Amor is 5.5″ long and 1.5″ wide, which is about the national average for penis size.

    And, finally: HELLO, IT IS RAINBOW-COLORED.  How awesome is that?

    There aren’t any downsides to the Rainbow Amor, per se, but it may have some features which bother you depending on your personal taste.  First, since it’s about average for real penis sizes, it’s a bit on the small side, especially lengthwise, with regards to its size compared to other dildos.  Also, if you prefer your dildos to look realistic, clearly the rainbow coloring of this toy might be too much for you.  Since it’s a smooth, non-textured shape, this also makes it a less realistic toy.  And, finally, it’s worth repeating that since this is a silicone toy, it is not compatible with silicone lubricants.

    Overall, the Rainbow Amor is a great dildo.  Not only is it a nice, friendly, average-size with a good shape for G-spot stimulation and pleasant, giving texture, it is also a beautiful rainbow color that pretty much guarantees it will be the belle of the ball at any Pride celebration.

     

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