about etc never again

Some misplaced nostalgia: on outgrowing toys

MICROW2I’m having a clearout, and I’m kind of sad about it. Sad might not be the right word – nostalgic? Nostalgic. Getting a little bit misty-eyed over a box of paper, hard ABS plastic and tiny motors.

My first ever sex toy was a silver Rocks-Off 80mm and I loved that thing, I adored it, it was a tiny shiny revolution in my bedside drawer. I complained of my phone making ‘weird buzzing noises’ just in case anyone overheard the faint zzzzzz of my little bullet, but one day it rolled away and disappeared into the dust behind a radiator somewhere and I moved house again shortly after. As much as I loved it, I didn’t think to buy another one until about a year later, when I finally decided to buy myself a ‘proper’ sex toy and ordered a terrifyingly huge wobbly pink jelly rabbit with rotating beads, flapping ears and a smiley face on the underside of the head. I got that thing inside of me three times ever – the little bumps from the smiley face actually hurt me so much I went at them with a scalpel – and earlier this year I finally sent it off to Lovehoney’s rabbit amnesty.

However, the little black bullet I bought along with the rabbit was a loyal friend until it broke, and that’s when I started buying other things. I bought myself a Lelo Gigi when I was flush, but I didn’t know how to use it at the time so I - for shame - left it in its box and moved onto cheap plastic whatsits with buzzy vibrations, a couple of straight classic vibes that I was always a little underwhelmed with, a weird neon jelly dildo with two ends (to be fair, I bought that more as an experiment than anything else and returned that within three months, with a grand total of five uses), and then a girl I was seeing introduced me to her Feeldoe and her Bodywand and her Tantus Curve and that was that. I figured out how to use my Gigi! I read about how gross jelly was, during my camming stint someone bought me a fairy wand (rip bbgurl, you left us too soon – the wand, not the person who got me it), and I figured out what kind of vibrations I liked. My older toys became mediocre. Kind of impressive in the way of numbers but in terms of like, actually getting me off? Nah pal. Not a fuckin chance.

MICROWA really good example of me outgrowing a toy is my Micro Magic Wand, which I haven’t even had that long, but in the time I have had it the amount of other, better toys I’ve been using has just completely spoiled me. I used to love this little thing! I thought it was the bees knees – but then something happened, to me, or to it, and it lost its charm. The vibrations irritate me. They feel thin, or sometimes I just can’t feel them at all, and I’m no longer able to justify the high pitched whine it makes even on the lowest setting, and I’m realising now just how obnoxious those little grooves on the head and the delightfully bendy neck are to clean. But it’s so cute! It fits into the palm of my hand, look how little the control is! But we’ve grown apart, me and the micro wand, and I have to say bye-bye, and put it into the box of all the other toys that I’ve grown apart from, and take it to the post office and look the lady behind the counter straight in the eye and lie to her when she asks what’s in this huge, unwieldy box. ‘Unwanted gifts. Cosmetics. I sold a bunch of fridge magnets to a collector on ebay.’ It’s not you, it’s me. Except maybe it is you a little bit, you and your less-than-stellar deadened vibrations.

I’ve been steadily returning and throwing out things I no longer use throughout this year but this is the last box! After this my toybox and my lil suitcase with the lock on it and my Big Bag of Bondage Bits are all going to be clean and free of things that were previously just taking up space. I’m a sentimental person, textbook cancerian, I never chuck things out, this is a big thing for me, I’m going to need like, emotional support and a strong cup of tea before I take this lot to the post office. I’m glad I had them – I probably wouldn’t be quite as forgiving if I hadn’t bought them from the one retailer that does free refunds and returns, I will admit – but I won’t miss them. I might get myself another 80mm though. Just for old time’s sake.

loot

I won a giveaway! Look at my goods!

So, a couple of days ago I found out I’d won first prize in Vibrator Kingdom’s christmas giveaway. The prize was a a rose quartz dildo made by Luminous Love Toys, who sadly won’t be making these anymore, so obviously I’ve been brimming over with excitement (I never win anything! I have the worst luck in the world) ever since I found out…and yesterday my parcel arrived. It was packaged up so well, and Donna at VK really went above and beyond with it, so I thought I’d put this lil post up just so you can have a peek at what a dildo made of rose quartz looks like, and the other goodies she put in, before I get around to reviewing it properly and spamming you all with pictures of it.

 

rq1 rq2
rq3 rq4

Bonuses! I’m really looking forward to trying out that latex bow and I’ve only had a sneaky taste of the lube so far but it tastes exactly like the raspberry sauce they put on Mr Whippy ice creams. 99-ers? Is that what they’re called now?

rq5

I honestly feel like if Stevie Nicks made dildos it’d look like this one. It’s so pretty! That little patch at the top of it shimmers exactly how an opal does when you turn it from side to side, or when you let it hit the light. I think I might have to make a couple of gifs to truly do it justice, it’s just so magical-fairy-elf-princess-white-witchy-esque. Maybe I’ll even try and charge it? Would that be going too far?

Lots of thanks to the lovely Donna over at Vibrator Kingdom!
dildo glass icicles medium pink queen of my world reviews

Review – Icicles No 24 tentacle glass dildo

tenta5The tentacle was my first glass toy and as much as I adore this thing, I wish I’d chosen something else. See, when I bought it I wasn’t that aware of how little give glass has – like, duh, obviously, it’s fucking glass – but having never held a glass toy in real life and having only a minimal idea of how heavy and firm they are, I went ahead and bought it anyway because #yolo, I guess.

As soon as I got it out of the box (which I don’t have anymore, but anyone familiar with Pipedream’s other vibrators, dildos, etc, will know what they look like – they’re very handy and I wish I’d kept mine) I was lovestruck. The beautiful translucent pink, the attention to detail, the whole thing was just awe-inspiring. And of course, all of that went to hell when I tried to use it and realised I’d bitten off way more than I could chew. It hurt, it was uncomfortable, I banished it back to its box and it sat in storage for months. Until I bought another, much smoother, glass dildo, and then another, this time a slightly curved one, and another, this time one with a lumpy bumpy graduated shaft. And I decided to give it a go again.

lelo medium never again reviews silicone vibrator

Lelo Ida review: I really didn’t want to write this.

LELO2The Lelo Ida was very kindly sent to me by the angels over at Lovehoney for review.

This is a very long review. Very long. Like, 1000+ words long, so please, please read it. I spent more time on this review than I’ve spent on some essays, I spent more time stressing about a sex toy than I’ve spent stressing about academic work, can we just let that sink in for a sec? Couple’s toys like this seem to be an incredibly divisive thing, judging from the reviews I’ve read about the We-Vibe(s) and the Tiani, and some people hate them, and some absolutely can’t-live-without-them adore them. My review falls into the former camp.I am a huge, huge fan of Lelo toys, like, I’m a little bit fanatical about them. My Gigi was one of the first toys I ever bought so that’s probably why I have such an unwavering loyalty to them – I think I’ve already mentioned in previous reviews that I’m definitely not a power queen so Lelo’s slightly subtler vibrations are perfect for me. I love ‘em. I really do. And this, coupled with my bizarre urge to smooth over everything bad (‘c’mon guys, it’s just a sprain! it’ll heal itself! what do you mean you can see the bone, don’t be daft, i feel fine!’) made writing this review a lil bit of an upsetting experience for me.

Just to reiterate – this is hella long, mostly waffle, and if you’re only interested in my experience using it solo, with toys, with my girlfriend, or with a male partner, please ctrl+f for either SOLO/TOYS/FEM/HET, whichever one you’re interested in, or you can just scroll down until you see the capitals. You do you, I won’t judge.
read more »

kink reviews

Bondage Boutique Clear PVC Ball Gag review

I purchased this gag from Lovehoney, along with the matching clear PVC cuffs that I reviewed recently.

 

I’ve never really been into ballgags, I prefer using O-ring gags or a nice bit gag or even a makeshift gag made out of a strip of silk or a tie with knots in the middle. I have a slightly irrational fear of having my teeth pulled out or moved around, brought on by a freak childhood accident where I fell flat on my face and knocked one of my (baby teeth, thankfully) front teeth out. Nothing’s quite as character building as being nicknamed ‘gappy’ by your classmates until the new one grew in. Anyway. Having a hard rubber ball strapped into my mouth behind my teeth isn’t exactly the most appealing idea in the world to me, thanks to that, but I decided to try one out for size. Please bear in mind that due to this I’m pretty much a total beginner to ballgags – I’ve worn them a few times in the past but only for about half an hour each time.

read more »