Sharing the Sexy #17

• Here’s a rad article on how to stimulate the A-spot! (If you want my advice on this same topic, I suggest getting your hands on a Tantus Tsunami, my favorite A-spotting tool.)

• Original Plumbing, a publication produced by and for trans guys, is expanding their web presence and needs your help! (The perks for contributing include things like indie porn subscriptions, so… why the hell not?)

• Here’s a piece on luxury sex toys, including Jimmyjane’s latest offering, the Hello Touch. (What are your thoughts on fingertip vibrators? I have historically hated them but am willing to believe that Jimmyjane might change my mind on this.)

• Ever wondered how to share sex toys safely?

• Would you want your vulva to look like Barbie’s? Oy, ladies. Love all your parts!

• A monthly delivery of tampons, pads, and chocolate for just $15 per month? How sweet!

• Kendra is planning her first gangbang.

Sharing the Sexy #13

• Porn star James Deen answered reader questions on Reddit. Read dat shit.

• There’s a Justin Bieber sex doll now. Ugh!!

• Jimmyjane vibrator designer Ethan Imboden has a prudish and proud mother. Aww, I love a good story about family and sex toys.

• Sarah wrote about how to use Craigslist to get laid.

• HOOK released a handbook for male-bodied sex workers. I don’t know about you, but I find stuff like this so fascinating to read, even if it doesn’t apply to me.

• What are the 30 must-see feminist porn sites?

• Check out this zine on the importance of verbal consent to brush up on your sex-positive etiquette.

Review: Jimmyjane Form 2

Before I was a sex toy reviewer, I lusted passionately after everything Jimmyjane. I was especially curious about the Form 2, and my desire was inflamed even more when I saw that Gala Darling called the Form 2 “the best, best, best sex toy [she has] ever encountered.”

The Form 2 is a waterproof, rechargeable clitoral vibrator shaped like a pair of bunny ears or an extracted tooth. It comes in your choice of hot pink or “slate,” a dark grey color. It charges magnetically via a little dock that you can sit it on when it’s not in use. It’s covered in high-quality silicone and the bottom is stainless steel. In other words: ka-ching! This toy is luxe as hell. If it is your dream to feel like Donald Trump every time you masturbate, then you’ve arrived.

The magic of the Form 2 is in its dual motors. See, each ear has its own motor, so when you lay the toy vertically on your clit, each side gets its own dose of stimulation. I found this difficult to adjust to; normally I get off by having the top of my clit stimulated, through the hood, so stimulation of the sides felt a bit foreign. I remedied this by nestling my clit so the hood touches the valley in between the ears, which feels awesome and gets me off every single time.

But back to those dual motors… The Form 2 has some run-of-the-mill patterns, including constant vibration and short pulsations, but the winner, by a mile, is the oscillation mode. In this mode, the vibrations shift back and forth rhythmically between the two ears, and – as others have noted – it feels kind of like oral sex. Actually, I think it feels closer to oral than toys which try to feel like oral. Ever since I discovered this mode, I haven’t used the others at all, because it’s perfect.

The vibrations of the Form 2 are surprisingly strong and rumbly for how small it is. In fact, sometimes the lowest speed feels like too much when I first start using it – but then I just warm myself up by running the ears lightly over my labia and vaginal opening, and it all works out in the end.

It would be unethical of me to write a review of the Form 2 without mentioning what Epiphora calls its “fatal flaw”. Look around at almost any review of this toy and you’ll see mention of it: apparently sometimes the toy becomes very loud and the vibrations shift into the base, making it unusable. I’ve used my Form 2 many times and I’ve never encountered this glitch, but lots of people have reported it, so I feel it’s important to mention. This toy is expensive as hell and there’s no guarantee that it won’t act up (though it does come with a nice three-year warranty).

The Form 2 has become, easily, one of my very favorite clitoral vibes. It’s stronger and more pinpointed than the Lelo Siri and has better modes than the We-Vibe Tango – but it’s also more expensive and potentially less reliable than either of those toys, so take that into consideration.

Review: Jimmyjane Iconic Rabbit

Jimmyjane’s Iconic Rabbit has been on my sex toy wishlist for a long, long time – since before I started reviewing. I’ve always enjoyed dual stimulation and had romanticized the idea of a rabbit vibrator as the perfect solution. And Jimmyjane’s rabbit is so much prettier than all the disgusting pink-and-purple jelly ones on the market. I had to have it.

I must confess, though: I actually own one of those gross jelly rabbits. I bought it before I knew better. And although its plasticky smell worried me and the material made my vagina burn after every session, the stimulation was ideal. The shaft twirled against my wanton G-spot. The rabbit ears thrummed against my clit. It got me off spectacularly and quickly, every time. The damn thing was waterproof, too, so I could even take it in the bath with me. If it hadn’t been made of jelly, I probably would have married it.

I expected Jimmyjane’s rabbit to top the one I have from California Exotics, but other than material, there’s no category in which the Iconic Rabbit is as good as my old jelly rabbit.

First of all, you should know: Jimmyjane does not actually make, and did not design, this toy. It’s from their “Usual Suspects” collection, a set of classic sex toys curated and whitewashed by Jimmyjane. The Iconic Rabbit is identical to Vibratex’s very famous Rabbit Habit toy, except that it’s all white, made of “body-safe elastomer,” and has the words “Iconic Rabbit” written on it. I must admit, it looks hella classy.

Elastomer, by the way, is not the worst sex toy material out there (like jelly), but it’s certainly not the best. It’s porous, so you can never fully sterilize it for sharing with a non-fluid-bonded partner. And you certainly can’t put it in your ass if you ever want to use it vaginally again. But on the plus side, it’s compatible with all kinds of lube (I was too nervous to test it with silicone-based lube, though).

The vibrating rabbit ears have that high-pitched, buzzy quality that makes them seem startlingly strong at first and then maddeningly imperceptible after a few minutes, because of the numbness they cause. They’re also really thin and floppy, so they don’t stay on the hood of my clit where I need them. This is obnoxious as fuck; I do not have the patience to re-adjust a toy every ten seconds while I’m trying to get off.

The twirling shaft is highly amusing to look at, and feels great on my G-spot and vaginal walls. The movements are so big, however, that the toy tends to move around a fair bit unless I grip it very tightly. As you might expect, this really doesn’t help the whole “runaway clit stimulator” problem.

The toy’s main issue is its power distribution. Remember when I said the clit vibe can feel very strong at first? That strength vanishes as soon as you turn on the shaft. Each part of the toy steals power from the other. This isn’t a new or unique problem for a rabbit vibe to have, but it’s annoying nonetheless. I don’t think I need to explain how frustrating it is to have to choose between clit stimulation and G-spot rubbing to be able to get off – especially since this is supposed to be a dual-stimulation toy, not an “only one type of satisfying stimulation at a time” toy.

It also has two faces on it. A rabbit face below the bunny ears, and a weird cartoon woman face on the underside of the shaft. I don’t know how you feel about anthropomorphized sex toys, but if you’re not a fan, you’ll hate this one.

I had high hopes for the Iconic Rabbit, and it did not deliver. It has yet to give me an orgasm, because of its weak clitoral vibrations – except for one time, when the bunny ears shifted off my clit about 5 seconds before I was about to come (ARGH) and the shaft pushed me into a weird, unsatisfying, G-spot-based half-orgasm that left me too frustrated to stop but too oversensitive to continue. (THE WORST!) As much as I wanted to love this toy, I just can’t recommend it to anyone – especially with its $100 price tag.

You know you’re a sex nerd when…

…you use the words “cunnilingus” and “fellatio” all the time in regular conversation.

…you’re taken aback by any woman who’s upset she can’t climax from intercourse alone, and throw statistics at her.

…you spend a disproportionate amount of time idly surfing Lelo, Njoy, Liberator, and Jimmyjane’s websites.

…you go to a sex shop with a friend and spend the entire time doing mini-reviews of every toy you see, regardless of whether or not you yourself have used it.

…your friends know to ask you if they have a sexual problem or need a toy recommendation.

…you own both The Ultimate Guide to Fellatio and The Ultimate Guide to Cunnilingus, have read both thoroughly, and lend them out as needed.

…you quote Violet Blue, Kidder Kaper, Dan Savage, and Tristan Taormino in everyday life.

…you periodically make a huge event out of putting your sex toys in boiling water to sterilize them.

…you react in utter horror to jelly toys.

…you explain to your partner, during sex, the benefits and drawbacks of the position you’re in, and suggest possible alternatives and alterations.

…you have a favorite kind of condom, and you order it in bulk online.

…you’ve repurposed your Lelo boxes into storage for lube and butt plugs.

…the slightest hesitance on your partner’s part causes you to ask them a series of questions to make sure you’re respecting their boundaries.

…you’ve done MojoUpgrade at least 5 times.

…you’ve taken one of your parents to a sex shop before, at their request.

…you know the layout of your local sex boutique so well that you’re thrown off when they change it at all.

…you know the nutritional information and caloric content of semen, menstrual blood, female ejaculatory fluid, and various kinds of flavored lube.

…you own several thick, dark, large towels.

…your first response to any plea for sexual advice is “Ask your partner what they think!”

…you know the efficacy rates of all the birth control methods off the top of your head.

…your masturbation sessions are more like lab experiments.