Review: Honeypot CBD-Infused Lube

Kate Sloan
Image via Honeypot

Since both my vagina and I are stoners, I’ve tried a fair number of CBD-infused lubes. The effects they boast are impressive:

  • heightened sensation
  • better orgasms
  • muscle relaxation
  • increased bloodflow
  • lessening of sexual pain

However, the one I’m reviewing today is different from any other CBD lube I’ve tried, because it’s silicone-based. It’s Honeypot lube, and I’m a fan.

The problem with a lot of existing CBD lubes is that they’re oil-based. Of course, this gives them a sexy texture that’s great for masturbation or for barrier-free partnered sex, but if you use latex condoms (as I do) or other latex sexual barriers, you can’t use oil-based products because the oil will break down the latex, compromising the safety of your barriers.

I’ve always thought: why should people who don’t use condoms get to have all the fun when it comes to CBD lubes?! And now that I have Honeypot, I don’t have to stress about that anymore, because it’s a condom-safe one.

(Obligatory caveat: generally speaking, you shouldn’t use silicone-based lube with silicone toys, because it might degrade the material. But that seems to only happen with some silicone lubes and some toys, so try doing a spot test near the base of your toy to check whether it’ll have a bad reaction before you use it.)

 

 

Image via Honeypot

Honeypot lube comes in elegant packaging that looks and feels luxurious. Its branding is minimalistic and sexy. Crucially, the pump on its bottle is well-designed, not prone to making a  mess, and feels satisfying to press.

The taste of it leans sweet and acidic, and the medicinal flavor of the hemp extract shines through. Unlike a lot of CBD lubes, this one isn’t infused with peppermint or any other flavorful ingredients, which has its upsides and its downsides: your genitals won’t get overloaded with minty sensation, as with some CBD lubes that make me feel like my vagina just got pumped full of Icy Hot, but there’s also no flavoring to mask the herbal hemp flavor, so this wouldn’t be my top pick if oral sex was on the agenda.

Texture-wise, Honeypot is pretty standard for a silicone-based formulation. It’s perhaps a little thinner and less cushiony than Uberlube (usually my go-to silicone lube). My partner thought the consistency felt a lot like vaginal lubrication, which is a plus for us, both because it blends more seamlessly into my own lubrication during sex, and because it gives them gender euphoria when we use this lube on toys we’re putting into their hole.

 

Image via Honeypot

But what about the CBD? Here’s a brief primer on using CBD lubes, incase you’ve never done so before. It only really takes effect when applied to mucous membranes, like the inside of the vagina or butt, and the innermost part of the inner labia. (Sorry, penises. Possibly uncircumcised ones can absorb CBD better, due to them being more mucosal than circumcised dicks, but I’m not sure.)

You should ideally apply it 10-15 minutes before you want the effects to kick in, and it needs to be massaged into the skin a little bit to reach maximal effectiveness. So, for example, it might be nice to gently massage it into someone’s labia and vaginal opening while you’re kissing them, and then spend another 10-15 minutes kissing, groping, grinding, etc. before progressing down to genital-town.

Without the usual peppermint overloading my senses, I find that with Honeypot I’m more able to focus on the actual effects of the CBD. There’s a subtle warming sensation internally which dissipates after about a minute and is then replaced with muscle relaxation and a feeling of extra engorgement. The added bloodflow to the area makes everything feel more swollen and sensitive, in a good way.

As silicone lubes tend to do, this one lasts and lasts. My partner used it on a butt plug which they left in for over an hour (without re-lubing at any point), and removal was just as smooth and pleasant as insertion.

 

Unlike a lot of lubes, Honeypot is actually lab-tested to ensure its ingredients list is accurate and honest. It’s THC-free and made from hemp, which may affect its legality where you live (I know that hemp-based CBD often exists in a legal loophole, though you’ll have to do research on the laws in your area to know for sure).

At $36 per bottle, it’s pricey for a lube, but pretty reasonable for a CBD lube (the last one I reviewed was $60 for an even smaller bottle!). They also offer bulk pricing options, so if you try it and find that you love it, you can stock up at a lower rate.

Overall I’m really impressed with Honeypot silicone-based CBD lube! It’s elegant, effective, and unique. I think it holds a lot of promise for people struggling with vaginal pain, arousal issues, post-menopausal vaginal dryness, and various other sexual struggles. Cheers to Honeypot for making a lube that is truly unlike any other one I’ve tried!

 

This post was sponsored, meaning I was paid to write a fair and honest review of this product. As always, all writing and opinions are my own (and my partner’s).

4 Hot Roleplays You Can Do At Home

Kate Sloan

Being at home all the time can get pretty monotonous, and that monotony can start to show up in your sex life too. I don’t know about you, but when I think about “shaking things up” sexually, my mind goes to two places: kink, and roleplay. And since I’ve already written a lot about kink on this blog (and in a whole book!), today let’s focus on roleplay.

If you and your partner are stuck at home due to the pandemic and feeling trapped in a sexual rut, I’m here to help. Here are 4 suggestions for roleplays you can do at home – no COVID risk required.

 

First meeting, first hookup

It can be fun to revisit “firsts” with an established partner through the magic of roleplay, especially if things are feeling a little rote lately. Normally I’d recommend you meet up at a bar or restaurant and pretend you’re on a first date, or that you happen to strike up a conversation with a sexy “stranger” at the next table – but since that’s obviously not the safest activity at the moment, you can do a different version at home.

Imagine the two of you have been corresponding on a dating app for weeks, that your chemistry via texting or phone calls has been undeniable, and that both of you are vaxxed, self-isolating, and have recently tested negative. Imagine, then, that the conditions are finally perfect for you to meet in person for the first time, but that you’ve chosen to do so at one of your homes because it’s more secluded. Will you cuddle up on the couch for some “Netflix & chill,” or will you get right to the sexytimes? Will you seduce each other with slow foreplay or will you be so touch-hungry that you jump each other’s bones? No way to know until you try…

 

Massage therapy & sexual healing

Stress has a demonstrable, physiological effect on your ability to get aroused, so it can be really helpful to incorporate relaxing activities into sex, like exploring erotic massage with your partner. Why not combine that with a roleplay to make it extra hot?

I love the fantasy of a massage therapist getting so turned on by my body during a massage that they have to make a move on me… or vice versa: me getting so visibly turned on by their touch that they choose to take the massage in an erotic direction.

Have some pre-warmed massage oil on hand (I like one with a scent for this type of roleplay because it helps recreate the sensual environment of an actual fancy massage parlor), lay down a towel or Liberator Throe before you start to catch any drips, and have at it!

 

Exes reconnecting

Picture this: you have a super hot ex, with whom things ended for reasons that were purely circumstantial (e.g. they had to move across the country for work, or one of you didn’t have the mental and emotional bandwidth for a serious relationship at the time). During the pandemic, that ex reached out, ready to meet up, hang out, and see where things go. And now you’re both vaxxed and recently tested, and they’re sitting on your sofa, looking fixedly at you just the way they did when they were in love with you. What would you do?

I recently did a similar roleplay with my partner and it really helped me connect to feelings of desirability and romantic longing, which are both aphrodisiac emotions for me. Oh, the drama of it all!

 

Marvelous medical play

At some point last year, a hired nurse came to my apartment to swab my nose for a COVID test because I was going to be interviewed for a TV show in-studio soon, and I was surprised by the intimacy of the interaction: inviting a stranger into your home during a pandemic, making stilted small-talk, and sitting with them on the couch while they do a medical procedure on you. I think this could be a great jumping-off point for an at-home medical-play scene if you’re into that.

Obviously, you can make it a bit sexier than a COVID test. Maybe a doctor needs to examine your genitals to make sure they haven’t been affected by the loneliness of the pandemic, and to revitalize them if they have been. Maybe a nurse wants to test how the pandemic has affected your hand-eye coordination… by seeing how well you can get them off with your hands. Maybe a medical professional has the only “vaccine” available for miles and you have to bargain for it with your body. The possibilities are endless!

 

Have you done any roleplays at home during the pandemic? What was your fave?

 

This post was sponsored. As always, all writing and opinions are my own.

31 Things I Do to Combat Loneliness During the Pandemic

Kate Sloan

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that loneliness has been a serious problem for many of us during the pandemic. As a hardcore introvert who doesn’t live alone, I’ve been spared the worst of it, but it still sneaks up on me sometimes. Here are 31 things I do regularly that help ease the pain of loneliness:

  1. Have long phone calls with my spouse nearly every night.
  2. While on those phone calls, sync up shows/movies to watch together, so it’s almost like we’re cuddled up on the couch enjoying entertainment together like a non-long-distance couple could do.
  3. Look at real estate websites and imagine the parties I would throw, post-COVID, if I owned this brick-walled loft or that Grecian mansion.
  4. Skype with my best friend once a week to catch up and record our podcast.
  5. Watch live improv shows online (the Bad Dog Comedy channel on YouTube, and the usually-weekly performance of RaaatScraps, are my faves). It almost feels like being in an actual comedy venue again.
  6. Read books containing loveable characters. Literature, I think, is one of humanity’s best ways for mentally communing with other people when we can’t physically be around other people.
  7. Drink wine and play Jackbox games with my roommate and her boyfriend once a week or so.
  8. Occasionally lurk around online dating sites fantasizing about what my life would be like if I was dating this person or that. (Turns out that a tendency to visit site after site into the wee hours is maybe not the healthiest thing for me, but hey, life is a journey of self-discovery!)
  9. Flirt with people on social media.
  10. Argue with people on Reddit. (Would not recommend.)
  11. Learn to deeply enjoy my own company. This is a lifelong process, I suspect.
  12. Watch old videos of fun times with friends.
  13. Play songs on my piano and ukulele, close my eyes, and imagine I’m performing them for a massive crowd (in a post-pandemic world in which that would not be at all concerning for any of us).
  14. Chat with my therapist on the phone twice a month.
  15. Cuddle with cats.
  16. Cultivate obsessions with YouTubers – gorgeous women doing beauty tutorials, clever men making cocktails, etc.
  17. Use realistic sex toys and fantasize about various hot people.
  18. Learn to cook new meals and make new drinks, in the hopes of one day being able to serve them to people I love.
  19. Leave my favorite Twitch streamer’s videos playing on my iPad when I go to sleep, just to hear the comforting sound of a familiar voice (even if he happens to be battling the Elite Four or trying to catch a shiny Rayquaza or whatever).
  20. Have one-person dance parties in my room, and imagine I’m surrounded by sweaty bodies writhing in tandem at a club.
  21. Make a gratitude list.
  22. Go for (masked) walks down to the waterfront, to be with the wind and the waves and the other wandering souls who’ve found their way there.
  23. Send out compliments as often as it occurs to me to do so.
  24. Create families in The Sims and have them throw parties, go on adventures, etc.
  25. Listen to music that seems to “get” how I’m feeling, like that of Ben Hopkins, Paul Cook & the Chronicles, Sarah Vaughan, Ski Lift, Blossom Dearie, Hippo Campus, Fleet Foxes, and Nick Jonas (his most recent album Spaceman is full of COVID vibes!).
  26. Reflect on memories of wonderful social experiences, like being part of a competitive improv team, attending sex-positive mixers, and chatting with the folks who came to my book launch event.
  27. Add more lamps to my room. I don’t know why, but they make the space feel cozier.
  28. Be proactive about my own self-care, including stuff like taking my meds + vitamins every day and using my SAD lamp every day, because taking good care of myself is extra important when no one is physically around to take care of me.
  29. Step away from the internet sometimes. Being online may seem like a solution to loneliness, because there are so many people buzzing around on there, but often it just exacerbates the problem. “Touch grass,” as the kids say.
  30. Look out my window at all the lit-up windows of other people who are stuck inside.
  31. Remember, always, that this too shall pass.

 

This post was sponsored. As always, all writing and opinions are my own.

6 Reasons I Sucked at Being a Webcam Performer

Kate Sloan

I have the greatest respect for webcam performers, in part because I have done small and infrequent versions of what they do, and have found it to be almost insurmountably difficult for me (as I think it would be for many people). Here are just some of the numerous reasons I wasn’t cut out for this type of work, though I admire it deeply…

 

It takes me a while to come and I don’t enjoy faking orgasms. There was a constant tension, in my camming days, between what my clients wanted to see and what I was physically capable of showing them. When someone would book a 15-minute session and say they wanted to see me come, I got tense immediately because I knew it likely wasn’t possible. Either I’d have to get myself very close to orgasm in advance of the session (which was time for which I should’ve been, but wasn’t being, paid), or I’d have to fake an orgasm.

Of course, a third option would be to just tell the client that there was no way I could get myself off in that amount of time, especially in a way that was picturesque (i.e. not just holding a Magic Wand against my clit for 15 minutes), but sometimes this was perceived as cash-grubbing. Sigh.

 

I’m not an exhibitionist. Like, at all. This became pretty clear to me after my first few cam sessions. I had heard friends and colleagues of mine discussing the unique sexual rush of performing for an audience, and aside from a brief glow of pride whenever someone complimented my body, I never really felt that. It just felt like work, because, well, it was. But I’d been hoping I’d enjoy it more than I did. Ah well, diff’rent strokes…

 

The amount of work it involves is gigantic, and I have limited energy. Back when I thought I might take camming seriously and try to make it into one of my income streams, I read tons of articles with headlines like “8 Things Every Camgirl MUST Know” and “Tips for Chaturbate Performers,” and realized I had barely scratched the surface of how much work is actually involved in camming.

It’s not only the on-screen performances, which are taxing enough, but also the self-promotion, audience-building, administrative labor (like answering emails and filling out tax forms), emotional labor (like chatting with prospective clients via DM and filtering out the ones who demanded freebies), graphic design and editing of promotional images, personal branding, etc. etc. etc. I’m tired! I don’t know how cam performers do it all, especially ones who live with chronic illness like I do, but kudos.

 

I’m way too anxious. Are they having a good time? Am I moving at a good pace? Should I be nakeder than this? Are they regretting paying for this? Are they screenshotting this? Are they secretly recording video? What if I don’t orgasm in time? What if THEY don’t orgasm in time? How do I gracefully exit the conversation once the clock runs out? How do I ever expect to make money doing this when I look like THIS? Is my face doing pretty things? Is my body too contorted? Are my vibrators too loud? Are my dildos obscuring my vulva? Are they getting what they paid for?

I’ve never been great at shutting off the anxious voice in my head, but this was especially true during webcam shows. They’re just not my medium, methinks.

 

Sometimes it required tech know-how that I don’t possess. Granted, I do have a spouse now who’s very tech-savvy, so this is addressable if I wanted to address it… but that doesn’t necessarily mean my feeling of overwhelm and incompetence would go away!

When I read articles about optimizing streaming speed, troubleshooting platform glitches, and why it’s important to customize your Chaturbate profile, I just get stressed out and tend to shut down emotionally + shut down my computer. I know the tech side of things is largely handled by whatever streaming service you use these days, but I just don’t think I have the bandwidth (emotionally or internet-wise!) to handle the rest.

 

I kept getting distracted by the other performers on the site. Listen, I’m very bisexual. Any website where hot people of various genders are touching themselves live on camera is pretty hard to resist at least perusing. And if I peruse, I will watch. And if I watch, I will totally forget why I went to the website in the first place (i.e. performing myself). But I don’t mind that – it’s a pretty good dilemma, as far as dilemmas go. 😉

 

Any of you also dabbled in cam performing and found it wasn’t for you? Or did you eventually figure out how to make it work for you?

 

This post was sponsored by the folks at Designurbate, who will make you a Chaturbate profile template free of charge. As always, all writing and opinions are my own.

Review: Treediride Adele 3-in-1 Thruster

Kate Sloan

Since the beginning of my career as a sex toy reviewer, I have gotten annoyed at internal vibrators and wished they could thrust in addition to (or instead of) vibrating. While I know there are plenty of people who enjoy internal vibration, anecdotal evidence (from talking to others about this and from my own experiences) leads me to believe that many people with vaginas prefer that those vaginas be stimulated with motion in addition to, or in lieu of, vibration. Maybe it has to do with the G-spot being buried in the vaginal wall and requiring more robust stimulation than other erogenous zones; maybe it speaks to the evolutionarily-honed desire to be fucked; maybe it just feels good and we don’t need to overthink why.

In any case, I got excited about reviewing the Treediride Adele 3-in-1 thrusting vibrator because it does 3 different things: it thrusts, it vibrates, and it sucks your clit. And I think that’s pretty great.

 

What is it?

The Treediride Adele (presumably not named after the singer, although who knows) consists of a pressure-wave stimulation toy for your clit, attached via a very flexible and floppy cord to a dildo-like object that can both vibrate and thrust.

Each of these 3 functions can be controlled separately, which is crucial for a toy like this. I don’t want to begin my masturbation session by bombarding my genitals immediately with suction, vibration, and thrusting – I want to build up gradually, as my arousal grows. I also don’t always want to change the intensity of stimulation on my clit when I change the intensity of internal sensations, or vice-versa; it’s far better to be able to control each sensation independently.

This functionality, combined with the flexibility of the toy’s connecting cord, also means that if you wanted to use only one component or function of the toy, you could. For example, I could insert the thruster part of this toy and use a different vibe on my clit, if I was in the mood to mix-and-match. I love when dual- or triple-stim toys are actually versatile, rather than pigeonholing you into using the toy in only one specific way!

 

How does it feel?

The clitoral stimulation of this toy is somewhat unique among pressure-wave toys, because it has a little “tongue” inside its “mouth” which stimulates the clit in addition to the air-pulse action also at play. I find that this makes it unusually suitable for using over my clitoral hood, which is usually how I prefer to use this type of toy because my clit is hella sensitive. Often, my hood mutes pressure-wave sensations, so that using a toy directly feels like way too much and using it over my hood feels like way too little – but the addition of that “tongue” seems to make the toy still feel great even when used indirectly. Cool!

The thrusting function is what I’d expect for a thruster at this low-to-middling price point: a bit too manically fast, and not super impactful (so not ideal for people who like getting fucked very hard), but certainly good enough to hit my erogenous zones in a satisfying way and contribute to wonderful orgasms. I think the shape of the internal portion makes a huge difference here: it’s semi-realistic, with a sculpted head and “coronal ridge” reminiscent of a flesh-and-blood dick, but with gentle hills and valleys along the length of the shaft to amp up the stimulation. The thruster component itself is only 5″ long but still manages to hit both my G-spot and my A-spot on every thrust if I nudge it into the right position before I begin.

The vibration is just okay. It’s strong, but buzzy. Paired with the thrusting motion, it feels fantastic, seeming to amplify the pleasure of each thrust without adding too much numbness – but it’s definitely not the type of vibe I like to use on my clit, so if you want anything resembling a clitoral vibrator, you should look elsewhere because this toy ain’t it.

That said, this toy’s combo of thrusting + vibration + clitoral suction (or even just thrusting + clitoral suction) gets me off remarkably quickly and intensely. The orgasms feel so easy they almost sneak up on me. I think the fast tapping against my G-spot and A-spot simultaneously is the biggest factor in my response to this toy. That and the fact that I can move the clitoral portion to different parts of my clit – the tip, the hood, the side – as needed to prevent overstimulation of any one area.

That’s one major benefit of this toy’s components being connected by a bendable cord, rather than being locked in place as they are on many rabbit vibes: you can move the clit portion however you see fit. Not only does this mean you can stimulate whatever spot on your clit feels best at any given moment – it also means, crucially, that you can move the clitoral stimulation slightly aside during/after orgasm, to mitigate the sensitivity overload that can happen at the point of climax. This contributes massively to the quality of my orgasms with this toy, because for me, an orgasm interrupted by an onslaught of direct stimulation during my most sensitive moments is almost as bad as a ruined orgasm.

Is there anything you don’t like about it?

The thrusting starts at a fairly high speed and doesn’t slow down, so if you’re looking for firm, steady thrusts at a reasonable human speed, you’re not gonna find that here. But that’s been true of pretty much every thruster I’ve tried, including high-end ones like those in the Fun Factory Stronic line.

The flexibility of the cord between the toy’s two components leads me to wonder if their electrical connection could be severed by overzealous bending or pulling of the cord. I wouldn’t tend to yank it around much during a masturbation session, but things do happen in storage sometimes (which is how, for example, I damaged my last pair of wired Apple earbuds and had to get new ones) – so I’d recommend being careful about how you store this toy and how roughly you pull on its two parts.

It is a little odd that this toy has 10 sucking modes, 5 vibration modes, and 9 thrusting modes. Typically I’d expect each of a toy’s functions to have the same number of modes/speeds/patterns. But it’s not a huge deal, because I tend to only use the first mode of thrusting and vibration while varying the suction mode as I get closer to orgasm.

For folks with strength/mobility issues, or folks who are lazy masturbators, this toy is a mixed bag. The thrusting motion is more self-sufficient than that of any thruster I’ve tried, not requiring much repositioning or holding in place in order to keep hitting those internal spots, perhaps because the ridges on the shaft allow it to maintain its purchase against my vaginal walls. But the clitoral stimulator basically has to be held in place by hand while you’re using it (at least, on my anatomy), or else it falls right off. You win some, you lose some.

 

Final thoughts

At $45.99, I think the Treediride Adele is very well-priced for what it is: a well-designed triple-function toy that feels really fucking good. It’s made of silky-soft silicone. It’s magnetically rechargeable and holds a charge well. It seems to be waterproof (or at least, mine hasn’t broken when I’ve washed it in the sink), though I can’t find official confirmation of this on Treediride’s website. It has, in short, many of the qualities I expect from great toys – including the ability to give me super intense orgasms.

If you like the feeling of internal thrusting, and you like pressure-wave sensations on your clit (or think you might), I think this toy would certainly be worth the $46 for you. I was surprised by how good it felt; maybe you will be too.

 

This post was sponsored, meaning I was paid to write a fair and honest review of this product. As always, all writing and opinions are my own.