All Reviews

Current Fave Lubes

Kate Sloan

It’s been a while since I’ve done this, so… here’s some current faves of mine in the lube category!

Best general-purpose lube: Sutil Rich (available at SheVibe and Come As You Are)

This water-based formula is, indeed, rich. It feels much more luxe than most lubes of this type; its viscosity is almost more akin to a thick silicone-based lube, though there are no silicones in it. I would happily use this for hand stuff, vag stuff, butt stuff, on toys and on dicks and on fingers… Gimme more!

Best for vaginal sex: Sliquid Organics Natural Gel (available at SheVibe, Come As You Are, and Peepshow)

Water-based lubes work great for vaginal sex because they don’t dry up when they can get re-lubricated by your natural bodily fluids throughout a session. This one is thick and gel-like, non-irritating, and not as expensive as Sutil, so it’s an absolute staple for me. And it comes in a pretty huge bottle that lasts me a long time.

Best for handjobs: The Butters (available at Peepshow)

You just can’t beat the all-natural slip-‘n’-slide of this oil-based formula for an HJ. It’s creamy, long-lasting, and it smells and tastes not-entirely-awful incase you’re gonna get your face down there afterward. It’s got a bit of grittiness to it, so it’s best if you or your partner like a little friction. It also sinks into the skin after a while, so it’s ideal if you enjoy a well-moisturized cock. Just don’t try to use it with condoms (oil breaks down latex), and at this point I’d recommend against using it vaginally because it may have given me an infection once or twice.

Best for handjobs (runner-up): Slippery Stuff Silicone Lubricant (available at SheVibe)

This is one of the thicker, more gel-like silicone lubes I’ve encountered, making it great for HJs. My partner says it feels luxurious and cushioned, so you can use it to stroke hard and fast without discomfort. They also say this one feels more like vaginal lubrication than the Butters, if you’re into that. However, like most (if not all) silicone-based lubes, it tastes pretty gross, so I would recommend against this one if you think your HJ is gonna transition into a BJ.

Best for butt stuff: Sliquid Silk (available at SheVibe, and Peepshow)

This hybrid lube – that is to say, mostly water-based, with a small amount of silicone mixed in – marries the longevity of silicone lubes to the cushiony slip of water-based ones, making it ideal for anal play. The silicone content is low enough that you can even use it with silicone toys (though you should spot-test beforehand to make sure), so it’s one of my faves for pegging.

 

What are your favorite lubes these days?

Review: We-Vibe Moxie

Kate Sloan

Sex toy companies have been trying to make a decent “panty vibe” seemingly since the dawn of time. I don’t know why so many toymakers seem to think that a wearable, Bluetooth-controllable vibrator is the height of fun and sexiness, but they do. So they keep trying, even though many such efforts turn out abysmal.

In my time, I’ve tried the FixSation, the Wake-Up Vibe, the Lelo Noa, and various iterations of the We-Vibe. This category of toy is, at best, mildly amusing, and at worst, uncomfortable and embarrassing. The problem with wearable vibrators is that you generally need to do stuff to vibrators to make them work well for your body – hold them in just the right position, flick through the speeds or patterns, maybe move them around – and wearable vibrators seek to eliminate all that stuff, which (for many people, I’d guess, and for me) isn’t possible without severely compromising on pleasure.

But they keep on tryin’, don’t they?

We-Vibe’s latest offering in this category is the Moxie, a mint-green panty vibe. Here’s what makes it special: the vibe itself goes inside your underwear, as you’d expect, but you anchor it in place with a separate magnetic piece that goes on the outside of your underwear. It’s a fairly strong magnet, so you can basically secure the vibe wherever you want on your vulva – good news for those of us who find that other wearable vibes don’t quite line up with our anatomy, or our preferred vibration placement.

As is par for the course with We-Vibe, the motor in the Moxie is top-notch. It’s rumbly, strong, and offers just enough speeds and patterns. This motor is definitely powerful enough that I could get off with it, though, for reasons outlined below, I haven’t.

The major difference between the Moxie and the We-Vibe Sync, shape-wise, is that the Moxie is only external and has no insertable portion. For this reason, the main difference in how they feel is that the Sync puts pressure on your clit, while the Moxie does not. You can adjust the hinges on the Sync to make the toy fit more tightly or more loosely, depending on the amount of pressure you prefer; with the Moxie, however, any clitoral pressure will have to be provided from the outside, whether by you squeezing your thighs together, physically pressing your hand against the toy, grinding against a partner, or however you want to do that.

A lot of people have been asking me to weigh in on whether the Moxie is worth the $129 price tag, and I think the crux of that question is whether or not you need pressure on your clit. If you don’t, and light vibration on your bits is all you need – and/or if you don’t like penetration – the Moxie will probably work just fine. But if you want penetration and/or you need pressure on your clit, you should get the Sync instead. It works almost identically but will suit you better.

Both toys can be controlled either with an included remote, with the one button on the toy itself, or with We-Vibe’s We-Connect app. My partner and I prefer the app, because it gives you the most granular and intuitive control over the vibrations. But, as ever, the technology’s not quite as good as I wish it was. The vibrator disconnects from the app a lot, and there’s often a delay between adjusting modes on-screen and feeling them change on your bits. After a night out using the Moxie surreptitiously at a cocktail bar, my fastidious Sir announced, “This app isn’t precise enough for my dominance.” He hath spoken.

There is an app called Oui-Vibe which is not strictly We-Vibe-sanctioned, through which you can also control their toys if you want to. The gas-pedal-esque motion is more intuitive than adjusting speeds with your finger on a screen, though the interface is often incomprehensible and there’s still connection issues to contend with.

While I don’t think I would ever have an orgasm with the We-Vibe Moxie unless I was physically pressing it against myself, I do think it’s probably the best “panty vibe” on the market. The motor is eons better than this type of toy usually has, the controls are easy to figure out, and the magnetic clip keeps the toy in place. If you really, really want a vibe you can wear in your underwear and perhaps use in public, the Moxie and Sync are the ones I would recommend. As for me, I’ll be in my bed, kicking back with my Magic Wand.

 

Thanks to We-Vibe for sending me this product to review!

Review: Bodywand Midnight Plug-In Massager

Kate Sloan

Astute readers will recall that the quest for a rumbly, reliable, petite wand vibrator has occupied a lot of my sex toy testing time over the past year. Seeking a travel-friendly wand capable of getting me off in hotel rooms, I’ve tried colorful contenders, sleek silver selections, and rose-gold gadgets. But all of them have come up short: most often, they’re too buzzy or weak; sometimes they have mechanical problems that make them short out at crucial moments; sometimes they just don’t feel sexy enough to slot into a fantasy-like hotel tryst.

But I’m elated to announce that I’ve finally found the compact wand of my dreams: the Bodywand Midnight plug-in massager.

Sometimes I feel like Bodywand is a secret I’m keeping from the sex toy world. They just don’t seem that widely known about; they’re almost never recommended in the same breath as the Magic Wand and the Doxy. I’ve had an original plug-in Bodywand for years and it remains a staple of my collection, a failsafe for times when many other vibrators just aren’t up to snuff, because its vibrations are strong enough, rumbly enough, and it has a DIAL.

Let me tell you about the dial, because it’s a big fucking deal. The vast majority of wand vibrators – and indeed, vibrators in general – have buttons (or sometimes, infuriatingly, just one button) which you use to navigate through the various speeds and settings. This system probably works fine for most people, but my clit is easily numbed and easily overstimulated, so sometimes a too-big jump between speeds can desensitize or overload my bits before I even realize what’s happened. I almost always wish I had more granular control over vibration strength. With Bodywand, I finally fucking do.

Both this smaller Midnight edition and my older, bulkier Bodywand have a dial, and it’s a fucking godsend. I can edge up their power just the tiniest bit at a time, and slide it back down again when I need to. I can control my entire experience, second by second, with the smallest flicks of my thumb. It makes me feel empowered where a lot of vibrators leave me frustrated and defeated.

The quality of the vibrations, too, impresses me. I find them deliciously rumbly – but I should note that they’re only really rumbly for the bottom one-third to one-half of the vibration range. Friends who need more power have described these vibes as buzzy, but I tend to stay on the lower side of this vibrator’s capabilities so I only ever encounter rumbliness for the most part. Sometimes I nudge up into buzzy-land toward the end of a long session, but at that point it’s the type of buzziness that pushes me over the edge, rather than numbing me out.

This vibrator’s flexible neck works fine for me because I don’t put a lot of pressure on my clit when I use vibes, but if you do like pressure, you’ll probably find this vibrator unworkable. While we’re talking about the neck, I should also mention that the head is apparently made of thermoplastic rubber – a bummer, for sure. It would have been so easy to make it silicone and it would have improved this product substantially. Since TPR is porous, I’ll have to stick a condom on this wand if I ever want to share it with a partner I’m not fluid-bonded with, use it anally (which I wouldn’t recommend, but hey), or use it while menstruating or while getting over a vaginal infection. It’s not the biggest deal but it is annoying.

But for the most part, I’m over the moon for this vibrator. At 10″ long, it’s a reasonable size for my carry-on luggage, and also doesn’t take up much room on my nightstand when I’m using it at home. The dial makes a satisfying clicking noise when it kicks on, and gives me sublime control over my experience. The vibe being electric might inconvenience some people, but for me, it just means I don’t have to worry about batteries and charging. The head thrums faithfully against my body and gives me easy, consistent orgasms, which I appreciate all the more because so many other vibrators have utterly failed at this task.

The Bodywand Midnight massager is the best new vibe I’ve tried in a long time, and I’m sure that it and my suitcase are about to get closely acquainted.

 

Thanks so much to Bodywand for sending me this product to try!

Review: Rock Candy Suga Daddy 8″

Kate Sloan

When Rock Candy reached out to me offering me a toy to review, I was immediately entranced by their toys’ aesthetic. They’re all pink or blue, look vaguely like candy, and made to satisfy size queens (and other size royalty). These things are very up my alley. And now a Rock Candy dildo was gonna go up my “alley” as well. *rimshot*

They sent me the 8″ Suga Daddy, a big blue dildo with a suction cup base. I thought it would be good for pegging, but when it arrived on my doorstep, I immediately realized it was probably too big for my partner’s ass to take. My vag, however, is a different story.

This dildo, as its name implies, is 8″ long, though the insertable length is only 7.25″. This makes it long enough to hit my A-spot with some room to spare – yay! It doesn’t hit the spot with any particular intensity, being flexible and curveless, but it does nudge it gently, which is sometimes enough for me. The diameter of the toy tops out at 1.875″ – pretty big, but not unmanageable for most vaginas and some butts. I feel nice and filled up when this toy is inside me.

The best thing about this toy, IMO, is the ridges along its shaft. It has a glans and coronal ridge, much like a flesh-and-blood penis, but those ridges/bloops/bumps continue down the length of the toy and feel like one coronal ridge after another, popping pleasantly over my pubic bone one by one with each thrust. This can be intense but sometimes that’s exactly what I want.

The silicone, I should note, is fairly firm and unyielding. This means that the Suga Daddy will stand up well in a strap-on, jutting out merrily from the body. However, for my purposes, it’s firmer than I prefer a silicone toy to be. It doesn’t bend to the will of my vagina, and often leaves me with a slightly bruised-feeling vag and urethra if I’ve been pounding away for a while. A good, thick water-based lube helps with this issue, but doesn’t solve it entirely, especially since the texture of the silicone is a little draggy.

I wish the 8″ Suga Daddy had a slight upward curve for targeting erogenous zones with more precision, and that its base was thicker and heftier so I could thrust quickly with it more easily. But it’s a really good dildo for when you just want to be stuffed full of whimsically-colored silicone. It’s firm and formidable, and if you enjoy the sensation of being gently and slowly stretched open, you’ll love the girthy and gradually-widening shaft of this toy. Its ridges are like a roller coaster for the vagina, and while sometimes I want my A-spot or G-spot targeted more directly, sometimes a resolute massage of my vaginal walls is exactly what I want, and the Suga Daddy can certainly do that.

 

Thanks to Rock Candy for sending me this toy to review!

Review: Lelo Loki

Kate Sloan
Photos by mb – thank you, mb!

Being a service sub, I relish opportunities to shower my dominant in gifts – but being a freelance writer, I don’t always have the financial resources to make this happen (to say the least). So I was happy when Betty’s Toy Box sent me a Lelo Loki for my partner to try. I suspected he would love it, and he did!

Prior to acquiring the Loki, he had a Lelo Billy, which is pretty but has never been updated to have one of Lelo’s much rumblier 2nd-generation motors like some of their other toys have. The Billy’s diameter is also on the slimmer side – 1.37 inches – and he’s been preferring slightly larger penetration lately. Its minimal curve, too, leaves something to be desired.

The Loki, by comparison, boasts a 1.5-inch diameter, a more extreme curve for hitting the prostate, a better flared base, and a stronger and rumblier motor. It’s an upgrade in every way, so long as you can contend with the size.

The Loki is basically a butt-friendly version of the much-revered Lelo Mona 2, its G-spot-focused cousin. Frankly you could use either toy for either purpose, so long as you were careful not to let the Mona slip too far inside you during anal play – but it is nice to have an anal-specific toy when that’s what you’re in the mood for. The Loki’s curve also means it could hit the G-spot through the vaginal wall when used anally, if that’s the anatomy you’re working with.

My partner likes a lot of things about the Loki: the pretty blue color, the excellent motor, the many varying speeds, the prostate-targeting shape, the travel lock, the silky silicone, and the size, which he describes as “really, really perfect: don’t need a lot of warmup but feels full.”

His complaints about the toy are as follows: Some of the pulsing settings are too annoyingly unpredictable to be pleasurable. There are visible seams on both the handle and the insertable part of the toy, which are ugly and potentially hard to clean. The charging cable is too short, and is – for some reason – beige, which really doesn’t jive with the otherwise sleek aesthetic of the toy and its accoutrements. The toy rotates easily during use. It’s difficult to tell what each button does simply by feel, so he has to look at them while adjusting the toy’s speed. And button-pressing is consistently finicky on this toy: the buttons will light up when clicked but the setting won’t always change, which is an issue I’ve also experienced with the Doxy and can confirm is very annoying.

Overall, though, m’dude is very happy with his Lelo Loki. He says it’s become his favorite vibrating anal toy. He’ll frequently plug it in before we start having phone sex so it’ll be ready for him whenever he wants to use it – and I love hearing how hard he comes when it’s in his ass. Lelo certainly has their problems, from poorly-designed toys to weirdly exclusive toys to ethical abominations, but when they try to make vibrators that are simple and simply good, they often succeed. Now if only they would develop their entire product line and marketing strategy as thoughtfully and well as they developed the Loki.

 

Thanks to Betty’s Toy Box for hooking us up with a Lelo Loki to try!