pressure wave technology

Review: BeYourLover Fatima multi-functional detachable toy

Kate Sloan
Please forgive me for all the dust/lint in these photos, I didn’t feel like spending a springtime afternoon hunched over Photoshop 😂

I’ve never seen a toy like the BeYourLover Fatima before. And I’ve been in this business for 13 years (as of last week, in fact!), so that’s really saying something.

In fact, this toy breaks the mold so completely that I need to change up my usual review format, too. This is a multi-functional, detachable toy – it’s practically the Swiss army knife of sex toys! – so I’m going to write about each component of the toy individually, and then about how they all come together in a synergistic symphony. Let’s dive in…

 

One toy, two parts

Picture, if you will, a standard rabbit vibrator – except that the clitoral arm can be detached from the internal arm, so that each component can be used separately if you so desire. That’s the BeYourLover Fatima.

In this case, the clitoral portion of the toy uses pressure-wave technology (à la Womanizer/Satisfyer/Rose toys) rather than vibration. The internal/vaginal part of the toy (which is not anal-safe, FYI) vibrates and also thrusts. (That’s just an overview; more details to come in the sections below.)

Pros of the toy being made up of two detachable parts:

  • When you’re in the mood to, you can use either part of the toy on its own without needing to involve the other one. This is great if, for instance, you like to warm up with some clit stimulation before jumping straight to penetration.
  • That being said, although you can use the toy’s components separately, they are wirelessly connected to one another via Bluetooth, so the clitoral arm can essentially act as a remote control for the internal arm, which makes the toy overall easier to use.
  • Unlike most other dual-stimulation vibrators, this one will fit just about every vulva, regardless of the distance between clit and vaginal opening, because you can always detach the halves from each other.

Cons:

  • The way that the toy’s two parts can be ‘attached’ isn’t particularly secure; I don’t think there’s a magnet or anything else holding it in place, you just kinda jam the clitoral arm into its appointed hole as far as it’ll go and then hope it’ll stay. As you’d expect, it therefore dislodges a fair bit during use, especially when using the toy’s thrusting function – so I mostly ended up holding the clitoral portion in one hand, detached totally from the vaginal arm, which stayed inside me.
  • Naturally, when you’re holding the clitoral arm of the toy in one hand, you lose the ability to use the toy (as a whole) hands-free or one-handed, which sorta defeats the purpose of using a dual-stim toy in the first place.
  • Somewhat egregiously, you have to recharge each part of the toy on its own, as if they were two separate toys. I wish both could be charged at the same time while attached to one another instead.
  • When you turn off one component of the toy, the other component turns off too. You can turn it right back on again if you want to use it on its own, but it’s annoying that this happens at all.

Clit-warming technology

Quick-press the button featuring a thermometer icon on the toy’s clitoral arm and you’ll activate its self-heating function. Supposedly this heats up both the clitoral part and the internal part of the BeYourLover Fatima, although that wasn’t my experience.

Pros:

  • The clitoral heating function works quickly and pretty damn well. It never got too hot for my comfort (supposedly it reaches about 42° Celsius), but felt warm enough to pair well with oral sex fantasies. It was a relaxing sensation, too, like my clit was at a spa!
  • The heating button flashes to let you know when the function is activated, and you can turn it off whenever you reach your desired heat level.

Cons:

  • I wasn’t able to get the vaginal arm to heat up, although it’s supposed to. Only the clitoral heating function worked for me.
  • There doesn’t seem to be an auto-shutoff for the heating function, so theoretically it could overheat if you leave it on for too long, although I didn’t experience that in my testing.

 

Thrusting is a must

The internal arm of the BeYourLover Fatima has a self-thrusting function. It’s only the tip of the toy (2 inches or so) that actually thrusts. There are 2 steady thrusting functions, followed by 5 patterns which are more irregular.

Pros:

  • This thrusting function is unusually quiet. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely still audible, but it’s not gratingly loud and mechanical-sounding like many other thrusters.
  • The thrusting feels good and adds to my pleasure, albeit not quite as intensely as I was hoping, for reasons I’ll describe below.

Cons:

  • Two steady speeds is really not enough, especially since the first one is already quite fast. My kingdom for even just one slower speed, so I don’t feel like I’m starting a session with jackhammer-esque speedy pounding. (I’d get back on Tinder if that’s what I wanted!) After the two speeds is a handful of patterns, most of which have too much space between thrusts to be useful as anything more than a frustrating tease.
  • If you try to control the thrusting via the button on the vaginal arm (rather than via the button on the clitoral arm), you have to double-click it every time you want to turn the thrusting function on or change to a different thrusting mode. I kept accidentally either single-clicking it (which engaged vibration instead) or long-pressing it (which turns the entire toy off).
  • I thought this toy was gonna hit my A-spot, but I think its shape and length aren’t quite right for that; it always feels like it’s almost hitting the spot but not quite. Your mileage may vary, since your vag may vary!
  • As with many self-thrusting toys, this one tends to slip out of your vag gradually over time, so you gotta either hold it in place by hand or anchor it there with a pillow or similar between your legs.

…Oh yeah, and it vibrates

The internal arm, that is. I don’t really care about vaginal vibration that much – my internal erogenous zones prefer motion and pressure over vibration – but some people dig it.

Pros:

  • There are 3 steady speeds, which is better than 2. That’s probably the most generous thing I could say here. (There’s also 5 vibration patterns, and as established, I don’t tend to like patterns much.)

Cons:

  • My biggest problem with the BeYourLover Fatima as a whole: If you want to use the thrusting function and the clit-stimulating function at the same time, then you will be forced to also use the vibrating function. There is no way to turn it off, so far as I can tell, without also turning off one or both of the other functions. This is battery-inefficient for those of us who’d rather just feel the thrusting + clit stim, and is particularly frustrating because of my next point:
  • These buzzyish vibrations drown out the subtleties of most other sensations, including the Fatima’s thrusting and especially its delicate pressure-wave clit stim. When I turn up the intensity of the clit portion in hopes of being able to feel it, it turns up the internal vibration too, drowning out the clit stim even more. This is ultimately why the Fatima can’t get me off.
  • The button that controls the toy’s vaginal arm is placed on the very tip of its handle, so I frequently bump it by accident when trying to push the toy deeper, resulting in an unexpected setting change, or sometimes in the toy shutting off altogether. Needless to say, this is irritating and distracting.

 

This thing sucks… your clit

As mentioned, the detachable clitoral arm of the BeYourLover Fatima uses pressure-wave technology, stimulating your clit with rhythmic air-waves. It has 7 modes.

Pros:

  • These pressure waves feel really good! They have a low-pitched ‘rumbliness’ to them that I find much more satisfying than many other air-pulse toys at this price point, which stimulates my clitoral network in super enjoyable ways.
  • The ‘mouth’ of the toy is well-shaped and well-sized, for my clit at least, with a diameter of about 1″. It creates a soft, comfortable seal around my clit when properly lubed, and stimulates more of the clitoral shaft rather than just the tip.
  • All 7 of this clit stimulator’s settings are steady speeds – no patterns to be found here. Hurrah! The gradation from speed to speed is gentle, not jarring.
  • The buttons on the clit stimulator also control the toy’s vaginal arm, if it’s turned on. This is a much easier and more convenient way of cycling through thrusting speeds or vibration speeds without having to move your hand. The buttons are also easy to locate by feel.
  • I like the ergonomic S-shape of this clit stimulator; it’s easy to hold onto and move around as needed. It’s sort of like a sperm-shaped little Satisfyer Penguin.

Cons:

  • Whenever I tried to use the Fatima with its two parts attached to each other, it didn’t maintain suction on my clit very well, because the thrusting action often caused the seal to dislodge. This is a pretty crucial flaw in the toy’s execution. As stated, I tended to use the two components detached from one another instead, for this reason among others.

More than the sum of its parts?

Man, I love when sex toy companies take a big swing, innovation-wise. I’ve never seen another sex toy company attempt anything quite like what BeYourLover has done with the Fatima. But did their gamble pay off?

Overall pros:

  • It is genuinely cool to have a toy that does so many things, and even does some of them well! With all the different configurations in which you could use this toy, it’s like having a few different toys in your arsenal for the price of one. That price, by the way, is currently $69.99, which I think is fair for what you get: a self-heating pressure-wave clit stimulator that acts as a remote control for a vibrating vaginal thruster.
  • The clitoral stimulation the Fatima offers is delightfully rumbly and pleasurable, with a nice variety of 7 speeds to choose from.
  • Being able to use one toy as a remote control for the other is really clever, and makes it so that using this toy feels like an integrated experience even when the parts are detached from one another.
  • It’s IPX7 waterproof! Yay!

Overall cons:

  • The toy’s vibration, which cannot be disengaged while other functions are engaged, drowns out a lot of the pleasure that those functions could otherwise provide. As a result, I was only able to get off with the Fatima if I either used the clit stimulator by itself (so I could actually feel it), or used the thrusting function by itself while using a different vibe on my clit.
  • It makes sense that this toy has a battery life of only about an hour, given its numerous power-hungry functions – but that’s aggravatingly short nonetheless, and one wonders if the toy would have a better battery life if its vibration function was separable from its other functions. It’s also annoying and inconvenient that each component of the toy has to be recharged separately.
  • The way the toy’s two components attach just isn’t secure enough, which results in mishaps like the clit stimulator losing suction or falling off altogether.

The Fatima is a thrillingly unique toy, and I’m sure it’ll make some folks very happy. But as for me, it mostly made me happy insofar as it’s a fascinatingly inventive design that could be an indicator of where sex toy technology is headed. 👀

 

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.

Review: EdenFantasys Wonder air-pulse wand massager

Kate Sloan

Vibrators that attempt to multi-task are really hit-or-miss, I have found. Sometimes they’re a chaotic mess, their motor failing under the weight of an overstuffed feature list. And sometimes, they’re well-engineered works of art, proof that their designers’ ambitiousness has paid off.

The EdenFantasys Wonder is… a secret third thing, somehow. Let’s discuss.

 

What is the EdenFantasys Wonder?

I asked EdenFantasys to send me this toy to review because I’d never seen another one quite like it.

It’s ostensibly a wand vibrator, except that embedded in the head of the wand is a pressure-wave nozzle, the likes of which you’d find on a Womanizer-type toy. The toy’s instructions call it “membrane pulsation,” because this technology causes a thin silicone membrane to quickly rumble back and forth, creating suction within the toy’s “mouth.”

However, the “mouth” or nozzle itself is just a silicone attachment that goes over the head of the “wand” and can be removed. If you use the pulsation function without this attachment on, you get pure unadulterated rumbling against your clit (or wherever).

The “handle” of the toy is actually a vibrator, suitable for vaginal insertion (I wouldn’t call this toy anal-safe because it doesn’t have a flared base). The vibration in the handle can be controlled independently from the pulsation in the head.

 

Pulsation membrane (right) and optional attachment that goes over it (left)

Things I like about this toy

  • My clit really digs the pulsation function! It’s rumbly, satisfying, and decently strong. It reminds me of the low-to-middling settings of the Hot Octopuss Pulse Queen, except the membrane is smaller and flatter than the PulsePlate on the Pulse Queen, so it doesn’t target my clit quite as effectively. As with most thumping/tapping toys of this kind, the Wonder’s pulsation slows down a bit when you apply pressure, but this one actually isn’t too egregious in that regard at all. I think I’d be able to reach orgasm with this pulsation function if only it had more than 3 steady speeds (see below).
  • I think it’s cool and unexpected that this toy comes with an attachment so you can vary the sensations you get from the pulsation function. It feels pretty different with versus without the attachment, and I think I generally prefer it without, as pulsation directly against my clit feels better to me than the tapping/mild suction-esque sensation I get when I use it with the attachment. Having the option to do either is a big plus, though, because it makes this toy even more versatile.
  • The insertable handle actually works really well as a dildo for me. It’s long (about 7″) and has a slight upward curve near the tip, which is the exact shape I always describe when people ask me about toys that can hit the A-spot. It’s also got some ribbed texture along the shaft, which feels good gliding back and forth against my vaginal walls as I thrust. I will say, I don’t like the vibration that the handle offers (more on that below), but when I use it with the vibration turned off, and pair it with another vibrator (or my fingers) on my clit, it feels great.
  • I find this toy refreshingly ergonomic to hold, as someone who struggles with hand pain at times. When I’m using the pulsation function on my clit, the handle fits perfectly in my hand, its ridged texture allowing me to maintain my grip even when my hands are lubey. When I flip it around and use the handle as a dildo inside me, I can place two fingers on either side of the wand’s neck, which gives me a good grip without needing to squeeze too hard (similar to the tiered handle on the dildo I designed). Initially I was a bit annoyed that this toy is shaped like a wand but isn’t a wand in the traditional sense (i.e. the head doesn’t vibrate), but I actually think the wand shape would make it easier for many people to hold and position how they want it.
  • The buttons are LED-lighted, easy to understand, satisfyingly clicky, and are positioned in an intuitive spot on the handle. Seems basic, but you would not believe how many sex toy companies fuck up buttons.
  • It’s waterproof! Hell yes!

 

Things I don’t like about this toy

  • The main issue is that the handle’s vibration is way too buzzy. Like, uncomfortably so. No matter where I use them – on my clit, inside my vag, even just lightly grazing my labia – the vibrations feel itchy, irritating, and surface-level, because they’re just too buzzy/high-pitched.
  • The pulsation and vibration functions each have 10 settings, only the first 3 of which are steady; after that, you have to cycle through 7 additional patterns to get back to the first setting. If you’ve read my reviews before, you’ve probably heard this rant: IMO, every mechanical toy should have at least 6-8 steady settings, and patterns should always be accessed via a separate button, to prevent the annoyance of having to scroll through all of them to get back to the lowest setting. As is, there just isn’t enough gradation or variety between the 3 steady speeds of either function for me to smoothly build toward orgasm with it.
  • I ultimately don’t feel like either function is powerful enough to get me off by itself. Again, it would’ve been awesome if the company had prioritized having a wider range of steady speeds (including some stronger ones), rather than adding more patterns.

 

Final thoughts

As a multi-tasker vibe, the EdenFantasys Wonder has a lot going for it – its pulsation function is pleasurable and unusual, the inclusion of an optional attachment widens the possibilities of how this toy can feel in use, and its insertable handle makes it even more versatile somehow.

At $64.99 (at time of writing), I think the Wonder is reasonably priced for the amount of functions it has. I just wish it were more powerful, had more settings, and had rumblier vibration in the handle. One thing I know for sure: it’s not like any wand I’ve tried before, which I guess is what makes it such a Wonder.

 

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.

Review: Tracy’s Dog Flowliper

Kate Sloan
Apologies for the cat hair. You know how it is.

Pressure-wave toys have been around for about a decade, and most of them have been pretty samey. A few companies have branched out with innovations within the pressure-wave toy genre, like when Arcwave made one for dicks, or when Womanizer made one with an “Autopilot” mode, but for the most part, these toys have largely been relatively similar to each other. They usually feature a small nozzle that directs rhythmic air waves at the clitoris for “touchless” pleasure, a sensation some people like and some people don’t.

So I was glad to see the new pressure-wave toy from Tracy’s Dog, the Flowliper, because it genuinely does some things differently from a lot of other pressure-wave toys. Let’s talk about what sets it apart from the crowd.

 

What is the Tracy’s Dog Flowliper?

The Flowliper is a rechargeable pressure-wave stimulator for clitoral use. It retails for $36–46, depending on where you get it from.

And before you ask: I have no idea what the product name means. My best guess is that it’s a portmanteau of “flower” and “lip,” but who can say? (Tracy, I suppose. Or perhaps her dog.)

 

Image via Tracy’s Dog because I have misplaced one of my attachments, lol.

Things I like about this toy

  • Tapping Attachment: It’s common these days for pressure-wave toys to come with more than one silicone head to go over the nozzle, to account for differences in clitoris size from user to user. The Flowliper takes this even further by including two different-sized nozzle heads and a third attachment that has a thin membrane of silicone covering its hole. This attachment turns the toy’s pressure-wave technology into a different sensation altogether: the membrane “taps” your clit rapidly, feeling almost more like mild oscillation than air waves. Using the toy with this attachment worked well for me as “foreplay” for using the more traditional nozzle heads, as it’s a subtler, gentler sensation that’s nonetheless pleasurable, especially when lubed. A lot of users (myself included, at times) have complained about pressure-wave toys feeling too intense, especially toward the start of a session, and this is a great solution for that.
  • Easy to Change the Attachments: Speaking of the swappable heads, I like that there’s a notch on each head which lines up with a corresponding notch on the toy itself, making it easy to orient the head correctly when you’re putting it on. This has occasionally been tricky for me with other such toys, so I appreciate this little quality-of-life addition.
  • Ergonomic Size & Shape: I like the elegant curves of the Flowliper. Holding it usually feels comfortable and natural, even with my chronic-pain-addled hands.
  • Buttons: The toy’s buttons are satisfyingly clicky and work as expected. There’s a power button to turn the toy on or off, two arrow buttons for navigating through the toy’s three steady speeds and seven patterns, and another button that switches the toy to its “Dynamic Pulse” mode (more on that in a sec). The buttons are also conveniently placed, exactly where my fingers naturally sit when I hold it. The power button is even located farther away from the other buttons so that I’m very unlikely to hit it by accident during use. (These button details may seem minor, but trust me – bad buttons can ruin a toy, and this toy has great buttons.)
  • Dynamic Pulse Mode: When I flipped through the Flowliper’s instructions and read about its Dynamic Pulse mode, I was intrigued, because it reminded me of Womanizer’s “Autopilot” mode, in which the toy controls itself, varying between different vibration patterns and speeds to give you an experience that feels more like a human partner touching you. However, the Flowliper only costs about one-third as much as the Womanizer Premium, so as you’d expect, the technology in the Flowliper isn’t quite as finessed. The toy’s Dynamic Pulse mode changes to a random pattern and intensity approximately every six seconds, keeping you on your toes. This has its downsides (see below) but I still found it boosted my arousal in a fun, pleasurable, and genuinely surprising way. Like Womanizer’s Autopilot mode, Dynamic Pulse mode has three different “ranges” it can operate within – low, medium, and high – so it won’t skip around wildly from high settings to low ones or vice-versa, which is a super useful feature for building gradually toward orgasm.
  • Price: At $36 (currently, as of this writing), the Flowliper is a very reasonably-priced pressure-wave toy, considering that the other sub-$100 pressure-wave toys I tend to recommend are in the $50-70 range. With its three different attachments, three speeds, seven patterns, and Dynamic Pulse mode, you get a lot of bang for your buck with this toy, since it can provide a bunch of different sensations.
  • Nice Aesthetic: I like the mix of smooth matte silicone and shiny frosted plastic that Tracy’s Dog has used for this toy. It gives it a distinct, surprisingly elegant look.
  • Useful LED Indicators: The LED light display on the Flowliper shows you which of the three Dynamic Pulse modes you’re in (low/medium/high) while that feature is engaged, and also tells you when the toy’s battery is running low and shows you the battery’s progress while it’s charging. These features wouldn’t be super notable on a high-end vibrator, but I’ve rarely seen “luxuries” like a low battery indicator on a toy of this price point, so it’s cool to see Tracy’s Dog raising the bar.

Things I don’t like about this toy

  • Buzziness: My main problem with the Flowliper is that its pressure waves feel high-pitched and not especially impactful – i.e. “buzzy.” This becomes more true as you turn up the intensity, and results in less-than-amazing orgasms for me. Granted, this could be due to the nozzles being the wrong shape and/or size for my particular anatomy, and thereby not being able to form a good seal around my clit; it’s hard to say. (The two nozzles that come with the toy have a side-to-side diameter of about 1.25 cm and 1.5 cm, and an up-and-down diameter of about 2 cm and 1.5 cm, respectively. On that note, these would not be suitable for people with especially large clits, including those with bottom growth from testosterone; for them, I’d recommend the Lelo Sila instead.)
  • Not Enough Steady Speeds: Of the 10 settings you can cycle through with the Flowliper’s two arrow buttons, only the first three are steady speeds; the next seven settings are patterns (more on them below). I strongly prefer pressure-wave toys that have at least 8-10 different speeds; otherwise the jumps between speeds tend to be jarringly intense and/or the highest setting doesn’t feel powerful enough (both are true for this toy).
  • Bad Patterns: The Flowliper’s seven pressure-wave patterns are largely erratic and annoying. While using them, I often felt that I was experiencing pleasure and arousal despite the pauses in between bouts of stimulation, not because of them. They would be good for creating frustration (hopefully the fun kind) during an edging session and not much else, IMO.
  • Randomness of Dynamic Pulse Mode: Because the Dynamic Pulse mode is literally random, it can cause me to ruin my orgasms by accident, if, for example, six seconds of steady air-pulses gets me close and then the toy switches to spaced-out pulses just as I’m coming. Granted, this is my own fault for leaving the toy on Dynamic Pulse mode while so close to orgasm, but theoretically it would be ideal if orgasms felt great regardless of what mode I was in, which isn’t the case with this toy.
  • Noise Level: The Flowliper isn’t wildly loud or anything – it’s definitely within the range of what I’d consider reasonable for a pressure-wave toy – but it’s nowhere near as quiet as some of the higher-end ones I’ve tried. As with most toys in its category, the Flowliper is louder when it’s not making contact with your body, and gets a bit quieter once it’s on your clit.
  • Not Waterproof: The Flowliper is rated IPX6, which means you can use it in the shower and wash it in the sink, but shouldn’t submerge it in water. As a bathtime masturbation fan, this is always a bit of a bummer for me, but it’s understandable at this price point.

Final thoughts

It’s really awesome to see mid-range companies like Tracy’s Dog aiming for the stars by incorporating features normally found in much pricier toys, like useful LED indicators, multiple head options, and a mode that lets you lie back and let the sex toy do the work for you.

The Tracy’s Dog Flowliper is certainly one of the best pressure-wave toys under $40 that I’ve tried; its air pulses don’t feel overly aggressive and aren’t worryingly loud, it offers an interesting variety of sensations, and it feels elegant and comfortable in my hand.

The “buzziness” of this toy’s air waves, and the limitation of only having three steady speeds to play within, made it miss the mark for me – but don’t get me wrong: I’ve definitely had orgasms with this toy and enjoyed them. It’s not my fave, but it’s perfectly decent for the price point, and it makes me eager to see what Tracy’s Dog will come up with next.

 

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

Review: Acmejoy Lolita

Kate Sloan

I was suspicious of the Acmejoy Lolita from the start, because it’s repeatedly described on its product page as being suitable for beginners.

Granted, it’s not inherently wrong to describe a sex toy as beginner-friendly – I certainly do it pretty often. But when I say that about a toy, what I tend to mean is that it will give beginners an introduction to sex toys (or to a particular category of sex toy) that is both user-friendly and pleasurable. I’ve heard from far too many people who gave up on sex toys after trying one bad one, and so I recommend certain toys to beginners the same way I’d tell a friend to start with my favorite episode of a TV show I wanted them to watch. I want their first impression to be positive and enjoyable, and for them to not feel alienated by it.

But all too often in the sex toy industry, when a toy is described as beginner-friendly, what that means is: It has a friendly and unintimidating aesthetic, but produces weak sensations. There’s an assumption being made that sex toy newbies are far more sensitive than long-time toy users, and that therefore, a toy which might disappoint an experienced user would be just fine for a beginner. I don’t think this is true – and I think it’s insulting.

A truly beginner-friendly vibrator will have a wide range of settings, so that new users can experiment to figure out what sensations they like. It should be a toy they can enjoy right out of the box but that they can also “grow into,” if, for example, they find that they want stronger vibrations a few months down the road, or want to try using a vibe internally after only using it externally. It should be versatile, varied, and forgiving.

The Acmejoy Lolita is none of those things, sadly.

But let’s back up and start with the basics. What is this toy? The Lolita – also known as the “Baby Octopus,” which is a much more apt name, seeing as that is what it looks like – is a small clitoral stimulator with two different functions, sucking and licking. The “sucking” is pressure-wave stimulation, and the “licking” is the rapid movement of a mechanical silicone tongue.

Despite what the Lolita’s inaccurate marketing copy says (“Pleasure two of your hottest hot spots at once!”), you can’t use both of these functions simultaneously, because they are located at different places on the toy. This is a cool idea in theory – you could start with licking and escalate to sucking when you’re turned on enough, or vice-versa. It is a bit odd that both functions are always on if the toy is on (there’s only one button on the toy, which controls both functions at once), but it could be useful if you plan on switching back and forth quickly between the two functions during any given session. Two vulva-owners could also theoretically get into a scissor-ish position and each use one of the toy’s functions at once, but I think it would be challenging to get the angles right.

One other potential benefit to how this toy is designed: If you want to get “sucked” by the pressure-wave part of the toy, while looking at its little silicone tongue flapping, there is a way you can position the toy so that is possible. I sometimes found this vaguely hot, as someone who watches a lot of cunnilingus porn. 🤷🏻‍♀️

My immediate thought, upon discovering that there’s no way to only engage one function at a time, was, “Isn’t that taxing on the motor?” In my experience with low-end to mid-range dual- and triple-stimulation toys, each of the functions tends to weaken when you turn on the other functions, because the motor isn’t typically engineered well enough to keep pace when it’s doing that much at once. It’s like trying to run The Sims on an old laptop.

Indeed, I think the Lolita’s strength suffers substantially for there being no way to use the functions individually. It’s… disappointingly weak, to say the least. Both the sucking and the licking feel very surface-level and insubstantial. Like, yeah, I know they’re happening, but my clit just doesn’t care. In my testing sessions, I was barely able to get turned on, let alone get off. And that’s with weed and porn factored into the equation.

The tongue certainly felt better than the suction. It felt slightly more impactful and even felt a bit like a real tongue at times, albeit the tongue of someone who is teasing you by giving you maddeningly gentle head. The tongue slows down significantly when pressure is applied, though, so for me, this could only ever be a tease – and not a very good one, at that.

The suction is worse – its “mouth” barely encompasses any of my clit, sitting on just the very tip of it, and it doesn’t create much of a seal or generate much sensation at all. Both the sucking and licking functions have 7 intensity settings, and there’s little difference, sensation-wise, between the lowest one and the highest. Have I mentioned that this toy is weak?!

Image via Acmejoy

I have some other issues with this toy, but they’re smaller quibbles that would’ve been forgivable if not for the toy’s bigger flaws. Namely:

After you reach the 7th intensity setting, if you hit the toy’s one button again in hopes of amping up the sensations further, the toy just shuts off. NO TOY SHOULD EVER DO THIS. This is a recipe for ruined orgasms.

Because the toy is spherical, it rolls around a lot and frequently falls off my nightstand. It does come with a small plastic stand, shaped like octopus tentacles, which you can sit it on top of to circumvent this problem, but I’m just not gonna keep something like that on my nightstand all the time, so it’s often not there when I need it. The shape of the toy is also awkward to hold onto – my achy and uncoordinated hands often find it hard to press its one button – and due to its roundness and smoothness, it doesn’t stay securely in place if I try to hold it between my thighs for hands-free use.

When you plug the toy in to charge, there’s no indication that it is indeed charging. Nothing lights up or buzzes or anything. You just have to guess, and hope, and pray.

Image via Acmejoy

I don’t like writing negative reviews, but the Acmejoy Lolita just isn’t a good toy. They’re charging $45.99 for something that doesn’t even feel as good as my fingers alone. Feel free to peruse Acmejoy’s clitoral vibes section – I know for a fact that it contains some options that are way better than the Lolita, including at least one that can actually get me off. But this one ain’t it.

I think we do sex toy consumers a disservice when we say that a weak toy is the same thing as a beginner-friendly toy. I think beginners deserve better than to be condescended to, underserved, and scared off toys altogether by bad ones that didn’t need to be made. I think that if calling your toy “good for beginners” is the only way you can make it make sense, you should probably just go back to the drawing board and make a better toy. Beginners’ tastes aren’t homogeneous, and they won’t be beginners forever. Regardless of your experience level, some toys are just bad. And this, I’m sorry to say, is one of them.

 

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

Review: Bestvibe Triple Arousal

Kate Sloan

What is the Bestvibe Triple Arousal?

Also known as the Bestvibe Multifunction Clitoral Sucking Licking and G-Spot Vibrator (whew), this toy has three different functions, which can be used individually or in any combination with one another:

  1. Plain ol’ vaginal vibration.
  2. Tapping or pulsing (or, as Bestvibe calls it, “hitting” or “flapping”) that is focused into one small area on the shaft and meant to target the G-spot.
  3. Pressure-wave stimulation (i.e. rhythmic air pulses) focused on the clit, with the addition of a tiny “tongue” inside the toy’s “mouth” to increase the stimulation provided by the pressure waves.

The vibration in the shaft boasts 10 different modes to choose from, while the other two functions each have 5.

Does it live up to its name, by arousing me in three different ways at once? Let’s discuss.

 

Tiny silicone “tongue” inside the toy’s nozzle

Things I like about this toy

  • The G-spot tapping function of this toy is really cool, and not something I’ve seen in many other toys. It reminds me of the “PulsePlate” technology used in some Hot Octopuss toys; it’s not exactly vibration and not exactly thrusting, but instead, a small circular panel on the toy rapidly moves up and down, tapping against your G-spot. In use, this mostly just feels like very rumbly vibration focused in a very small spot. That spot doesn’t always line up perfectly with my G-spot, which is located a bit closer to the vaginal opening than the tapping is, but it’s close enough to still feel very stimulating without giving me that uncomfortable “need-to-pee” sensation I sometimes get with overzealous G-spot toys.
  • The shaft vibration is also pretty decent. It gets buzzier as you turn it up, but I didn’t find it to be overly buzzy in an annoying way, and often it was the extra kick of sensation I needed to make the G-spot tapping feel excellent.
  • I love that you can control all three of the toy’s functions separately; they each have their own button on the side of the toy that you can use to cycle through their settings. This makes your experience with the toy much more customizable, as you can (for example) turn up the clit stimulation while keeping the G-spot stim on low, or vice-versa.
  • The internal arm is sized and shaped well to hit the G-spot and to feel good vaginally even without thrusting (because it would be pretty much impossible to maintain clitoral contact while thrusting this toy). It has a diameter of about 1.5″, so it might require some warm-up and lube depending on what size of penetrative objects you’re used to taking, but I found that it added noticeably to my orgasm intensity by pressing into my G-spot without any effort on my part. Its 5-inch insertable length isn’t quite long enough to hit my A-spot, but I don’t mind because this is such a wonderfully G-spot-focused toy.
  • The ridgey texture on the shaft enables the toy to stay in place better, even if you’re very wet and/or have used a lot of lube. This makes it easier to use this toy hands-free, which I often like to do when watching porn on my phone or reading an erotica book.
  • It’s relatively quiet. Sometimes there’s a bit of a slurpy sound when I’m repositioning the clitoral nozzle, and the vibrations would be louder if they weren’t buried in my vag, but in use it’s generally on the quieter side of the spectrum.
  • It’s IPX6 waterproof, meaning you should be able to wash it in the sink or use it in the shower without issue, but shouldn’t submerge it underwater for long.

Things I don’t like about this toy

  • Most crucially: The clitoral stimulation just doesn’t feel particularly good for me. The toy’s 0.63-inch-wide mouth is too small to envelop much of my clit beyond the very tip, which almost always feels annoying and aggressive to me. The “tongue” inside the toy’s nozzle doesn’t seem to change the sensation much, perhaps making the stimulation feel just slightly harsher on my clit. The toy’s “lips” don’t form much of a seal around my clit – though that could be due to the alignment issues I’ll discuss below – so that whole component of the toy ends up feeling like, at best, not-quite-enough clitoral tapping, or at worst, overly direct and overstimulating to the point of discomfort.
  • While the neck of this toy is bendy, ultimately I found that it isn’t long enough to comfortably stretch the distance between my clit and my vaginal opening. The clitoral portion of the toy tends to land slightly below my clit unless I manually readjust it every so often…
  • …and since it is indeed necessary for me to readjust the toy many times during use in order to keep it feeling comfortable and good, I noticed a pretty big issue with the toy’s controls: they’re located on the side of the clitoral part of the toy, which is the exact spot where you’ll likely be grabbing it to move it onto your clit. I mistakenly pressed buttons on the toy many times while testing it, which obviously can be extremely annoying and distracting, particularly when you’re getting close to coming.

 

Final thoughts

I genuinely like the vibrations and G-spot tapping that this toy provides – but its clitoral stimulator is disappointing (for my particular body, anyway), making it impossible for me to orgasm with this toy alone.

During one testing session, I shoved the clitoral portion of the toy aside and used my beloved Eroscillator there instead, utilizing the toy’s other two functions internally, and I was able to have an intense and satisfying orgasm this way – which leads me to believe that the clitoral part of the toy really is its weakest link, and is the only thing holding it back from success.

Seeing as the majority of vulva-owners require adequate clitoral stimulation in order to reach orgasm, it’s a shame when toy companies screw up the clitoral aspect of their dual-stim toys. Like, even the best icing in the world won’t taste good if it’s smeared on subpar cake.

Overall though, I have to say that I’m impressed with how well the Bestvibe Triple Arousal is executed. I think its asking price of £49.99 (about $61 USD or $83 CAD) is a bit steep, but if it worked well for your anatomy – which would likely necessitate your clit being located close to your vaginal opening, among other things – it might give you enough bang for your buck to be worth the cash. I just wish it worked better for my body and didn’t make my clit sad.

 

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.