icicles

Review: Pipedream Icicles no. 53

Kate Sloan

A dildo doesn’t always have to be groundbreaking or unique to be good. Sometimes it can just be a standard, get-‘er-done, regular old dildo that just gets it right. The Icicles #53 is one of those dildos: not fancy, just good.

I’ve tried toys from the Icicles line before, to varying degrees of success. #26 hurt my butt; #2 was satisfactory, but when I gave it away to a friend, she accidentally dropped it and it broke into two jagged pieces; #24 is legitimately unique and one of the prettier pieces in my collection; #6 was a fun adventure in texture. Overall the quality of the Icicles line is only so-so; I’ve seen other reviewers say that the color flaked off of theirs, for example. However, I think the line is a good, relatively low-cost option if you want to expand your collection of glass toys – just stick to designs that have minimal coloring and no thin/breakable-looking bits, and you should be alright.

I actually requested a different Icicles toy but got sent the #53 instead – which is fine, as I’m sometimes pleasantly surprised when I try the random things companies choose for me. This was one of those cases.

#53 is an all-glass dildo with 6.5” of insertable length and a diameter of 1.4”. It has the most subtle curve of any dildo I’ve ever seen – so subtle that I occasionally have to take the toy out of my vag, make sure the curve is oriented the way it’s supposed to be, and then re-insert it. The head of the toy is defined and penis-like, which I am totally into.

There’s a very subtle, pale pink corkscrew-like texture that covers the whole shaft of the toy below the head, but this pattern feels so meek in comparison to the bulging head that I can’t even feel it. If you like a lot of texture, look elsewhere (the aforementioned Icicles #6 is great for this).

The main reason I’ve been using the fuck out of this dildo recently is that it’s weirdly good at finding and stimulating my A-spot. The gentle curve and tapered head make this possible, along with the just-right length of the toy. It does absolutely nothing for my G-spot – the curve isn’t intense enough for that – but my anterior fornix is getting a whole lotta lovin’.

That said, if you’re not into A-spot stimulation and you’ve ever tried a glass toy before, I think you’d be really bored by this toy. Like I said, it’s nothing fancy. It’s a pretty standard glass dildo, at a size that’s slightly below average on the dildo spectrum. There are lots more interesting-looking toys in the Icicles line, and there are other companies doing cool things with glass too.

This lovely toy was provided to me courtesy of Pipedream. Thanks, babes!

Review: Icicles no. 6

Kate Sloan

Glass toys are such a weird change from other materials when you haven’t used one before, or when (like me) it’s been a while since you’ve used one. They can feel unyielding and uncomfortable, like they’re infiltrating your insides instead of gently slipping into you.

I had that experience with the Icicles no. 6 initially: it awkwardly pressed my NuvaRing into my vaginal wall, bumped my cervix constantly, and generally felt like a bit of an assault.

However, then I had the bright idea to get turned on first. I had forgotten how important this is when using glass toys, or any other kind of super-firm toy. Especially for those of us who, like me, have a somewhat weak-hearted vagina.

This dildo is suuuper long – 7 inches, in fact. Part of that is because it’s harness-compatible and has smartly factored in the inch you often lose when you put a dildo in a harness. But if you’re not using it that way, it can seem intimidatingly long. I can only fit about two-thirds of it inside my short-ish vagina; even at maximum arousal, I can only get it in up to the first ring, so my vag doesn’t get the benefit of that particular texture.

I do get to feel the little nubs, though, and they are fun. In fact, they’re the reason I requested this dildo from Sensual Intelligence: I had never tried a glass toy with that texture before. The modest 1.4" diameter of this dildo makes the nubs a subtle sensation, not an overpowering one. They just provide a little bit of scritchy friction against my vaginal walls that is surprisingly lovely.

The dildo’s head is flared a little bit, as any good dildo’s head should be, if you ask me. It’s too narrow to stimulate my G-spot with any intensity, but if I angle it just right, it can get all up in my A-spot like a champ. Y’all know that I basically live for A-spot stimulation, and this dildo manages to provide it while also gently stroking my walls with its nubblies, so it gets a big gold star from me in terms of sensation (provided I can keep it from bumping into my cervix, which takes a little practice).

Some people have reported that the paint on Icicles toys tends to flake off. The Icicles line is made by Pipedream, a company known for its shitty toys – so yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if paint was coming off in people’s orifices. Personally I haven’t noticed that with this toy, but I can see that the pink parts are painted on the surface (messily, too!) rather than being embedded in the toy like they ought to be, so I am a little concerned. If you want an Icicles toy without the risk of paint problems, try their clear rippled dildo.

While the Icicles no. 6 obviously isn’t perfect (nothing by Pipedream is), it has produced some pretty intense orgasms for me because of its A-spot access and firm feeling. Just make sure you warm up before you use it!

Review: Icicles No. 26

Kate Sloan

Last week I went to an introductory anal play workshop at my local sex toy store. The instructor warned, “The rectum curves, so toys made of hard materials like glass are not ideal if they’re longer than a couple of inches or so.” I nodded my agreement, but then, at the end of the workshop, I totally ignored her advice and bought an Icicles No. 26 butt plug. It was just so pretty. And, I rationalized, I had never tried a glass plug before.

I should have listened to the instructor. This plug has 4″ of insertable length, which is longer than a firm plug can comfortably be (at least, for my body) – and to make matters worse, the tip of it is pointy and pokes me in the rectal wall. Lovely.

The tapered tip makes insertion a lot easier, which is why it’s such a staple of anal toys everywhere, but in a toy this long and this hard, it’s just not a practical feature once the plug has been inserted. I can’t sit down while wearing this plug, because it feels like I’m going to puncture something.

The base is also annoying, as circular butt plug bases tend to be. It cuts into my asscheeks unrelentingly. Will anal toy designers (other than Tantus, Fun Factory, and Njoy) ever learn that cheeks exist?

On top of all those other complaints, I also found this plug too girthy at 1 ½”, but that’s a matter of personal preference. Just be aware that a glass plug will always feel thicker than a silicone one, even if it’s the exact same size, because glass does not squish to accommodate your body. Yet another reason why silicone is the best material for anal toys.

One of the only things that makes a glass butt toy worthwhile is that, if it’s clear, it allows a partner to look up your butt. For reasons I cannot personally empathize with, some people find this sexy. If you do, this is a good plug for that.

Aside from being a butt-o-scope, though, the Icicles No. 26 is really kind of awful. Pipedream makes another glass plug which looks plenty more manageable, so maybe I’ll try it once my ass recovers from its recent trials.

Review: Icicles No. 24

Kate Sloan

Pipedream’s Icicles collection is notorious for ripping off other people’s designs. However, I’ve never seen anything like the Icicles No. 24 anywhere else. It’s a pink tentacle. A gnarled tongue. A glass octopus cock. My curiosity was piqued the moment I saw it.

Conscious Contraceptives was nice enough to send me one, and when I took it out of the box, I just fondled it for a while. It’s kind of scary; the bottom side bears two long rows of pointy-ish bumps, and the top side has some tree branch-like lines carved into it. It’s one of those toys that could either be amazingly pleasurable or unprecedentedly painful. My vag was nervous.

But actually, this is a pretty awesome dildo. Sure, you need to use a boatload of lube on it, or your delicate internal tissues could snag uncomfortably on the ultra-mega texture all over this toy. But once lubrication is taken care of, the Icicles No. 24 provides some very unique and very intense sensations.

I prefer to use the dildo with the handle facing up toward my clit. This puts the bumps on the bottom side of my vag, where I can’t feel them as intensely – and this is a good thing, because even when I face them upward, they hit the perimeter of my G-spot without actually rubbing the spot itself. The feeling of those bumps took some getting used to, especially since that part of my vagina rarely gets much attention at all, but a few well-lubed practice sessions taught me to enjoy all that texture.

The top side of the toy is less texture-heavy, boasting an interconnected web of ridges that can definitely be felt but are never uncomfortable the way the bumps can be. The shape of the toy puts those ridges riiiight on my G-spot, while the tip curves downward into my posterior fornix. There’s not as much sexual sensitivity there as there is in my anterior fornix, but it still feels nice.

The curved handle is easy to hold onto, though I usually just grip it in my fist instead of bothering with the fingerhole. If the handle is intended to stimulate my clit, it’s a fail; I have to push the toy in uncomfortably far for that to happen. Besides which, it’s bumpy glass, which isn’t my clit’s favorite thing in the first place.

Overall, I’m fairly shocked by how much I like the Icicles No. 24. It’s not going to be my new go-to dildo or anything, but it surpassed my expectations. It might surpass yours too, if you like glass, texture, and tentacles, and you’ve got lube to spare.

Thanks so much to Conscious Contraceptives for sending me this toy! Check out their mission statement – a portion of their profit from every purchase is donated toward helping underprivileged communities get the contraceptives they need. Shop for sex toys and help the world!

Review: Icicles No. 2

Kate Sloan

The icicles No. 2 dildo is like a tall, muscular, handsome guy you meet at a party. As he charms you with easy flirtation, you think about sleeping with him; you imagine he probably looks fantastic naked and has a big, thick cock. But at the same time, you know his good looks may have allowed him to squeak by without picking up the sexual skills you’ll need to be satisfied. He likely knows how to use his dick well, but maybe that’s all he knows how to do. And as good-looking as he is, a lack of creativity and versatility would make him a bore in bed.

That is to say: the Icicles No. 2 is a beautiful dildo, and it feels good in use, but it doesn’t do anything particularly new or exciting or even satisfying.

The Icicles line, by Pipedreams, is the mass-produced answer to all those small companies making hand-blown glass toys. The “big guys” don’t always pay as much attention to quality as the little guys do, and I’ve heard some bad stories about the Icicles line – mainly that some of the paint will sometimes flake off the colored dildos. For this reason, I chose an Icicles model that had no color, and was fairly straight-ahead.

Icicles No. 2 actually kind of looks like an icicle, unlike many of its brothers and sisters. It consists of several ripply bulbs, ranging in size from ¾" to 1 ½" – it measures 8 ½" from end to end, so it’s quite big. I can only fit about half of it inside me comfortably.

My overwhelming impression of this toy is that it doesn’t know what it wants to be. The big end feels good in my vagina for the first little while, but eventually I crave a thicker shaft with more G-spotting capabilities. The small end, on the other hand, feels good when inserted anally, but the toy doesn’t have a flared base, so I worry about using it that way. I feel like Pipedreams should have picked one specific purpose for this toy, whether that be vaginal or anal stimulation, and added features to improve the toy for that use. As is, it’s a little “meh” in either orifice.

Another obnoxious thing about Icicles toys is that they don’t come with storage bags. The packaging is nice, and includes a thick styrofoam insert to protect the toy during transit, but there really isn’t any excuse for selling glass toys without padded bags to keep them in. I’ve been keeping this dildo in the styrofoam it came in, but that’s big and bulky, so I’ll have to come up with another solution soon (maybe I’ll wrap it in an old shirt?). Hey Pipedreams, even tiny, independent toy makers have figured out the importance of including storage options; why haven’t you?

The biggest ball is my favorite part of the toy, because it hits my G-spot very nicely when it first slides in. If the entire dildo consisted of 1 ½" balls, it’d probably be my new favorite glass toy. It still wouldn’t be especially exciting or interesting, but at least it’d be good.

If you want a long, ripply, glass wand that can be used anally or vaginally, to pleasant effect, the Icicles No. 2 could be your new best friend. But if you’ve already felt glass ripples, this one probably won’t impress you too much, and you’d be better off getting something more unique (maybe the tentacle-like Icicles No. 24, or the G-spot champion Bent Graduate). Glass is fun, easy to take care of, and feels great, but toy manufacturers will have to be more creative than the Icicles No. 2 if they want to continue to do well.