pressure wave technology

Review: Lora DiCarlo Baci

Kate Sloan

My relationship to receiving cunnilingus has undergone a lot of changes over the years. There was a time, in my late teens and early twenties, when getting head was literally the majority of my sex life, because my partners then were people who preferred licking pussy over pretty much every other activity – and had therefore gotten quite good at it.

Later, as I started hooking up with randoms from Tinder and OkCupid, I gradually stopped asking for oral because it… stopped being good. But now that I’m back to being partnered with a self-professed pussy-eating fanatic, it’s back to being one of my favorite sexual activities, and something that I often fantasize about when I’m alone.

Accordingly, I’m as intrigued as I’ve ever been by the plethora of sex toys that claim to imitate cunnilingus. One in particular has gotten a lot of great reviews: the Lora DiCarlo Baci. (Apparently pronounced like “botchy.”) Let’s talk about it.

 

What is the Lora DiCarlo Baci?

Lora DiCarlo – both the company itself and the woman of the same name who founded it – is somewhat controversial and mysterious. While their products are beautifully designed and get good reviews, they’ve made a lot of sweeping claims that were called into question by an infamous Wired.com article, like that their founder is a med school dropout and that they use “micro-robotics” in their toys. However, in the sex toy industry, it’s hard to fault a company for talking itself up a little; they all do it. At least this one seems to be making genuinely original toys rather than basing their entire business model on plagiarism like some other sex toy companies do.

While Lora DiCarlo makes toys aimed at various different erogenous zones, the Baci is one that focuses specifically on clitoral pleasure. It does this in an interesting and unique way: although it uses similar “pressure-wave” technology to what’s found in Satisfyers and Womanizers, it also has what the company calls a “thrum pad” which is meant to sit between the inner labia during use, vibrating against the underside of the clitoral shaft and other, more deeply-buried portions of the internal clit. The company calls this “full-coverage clitoral stimulation,” a phrase certain to get my attention.

What I like about this toy:

  • Let’s not bury the lede: this thing feels good. Really good. A lot of pressure-wave toys are so focused on the glans of my clit that they feel almost inconsequential, like someone teasingly licking the tip of your dick when you really want a deepthroat blowjob. The Baci stimulates my glans with its “mouth,” rubs against my clitoral hood and inner labia with its “lips,” and rumbles against broad swathes of my internal clit with its sizeable “thrum pad.” The result is full-clit stimulation that normally I can only get from a huge, rumbly wand vibrator or my partner using their entire mouth on me. (I should say, water-based lube is a must with the Baci, particularly if you want it to feel like oral at all.)
  • As you’d expect from that description, the orgasms from this toy are more satisfying than those from many other toys in this category. This just makes sense: in general, the more of your sex organ that’s being stimulated before and during your orgasm, the more intense and long-lasting that orgasm is likely to feel. I reach climax easily, consistently and hard with this toy.
  • The Baci has 10 intensity settings (and no patterns, which I don’t care about anyway). I’ve never gone past 4 out of 10. I’ve never needed to. This toy is that good. If you’ve been curious about pressure-wave toys but are worried they’d be too subtle for you (which is a reasonable fear if, for example, you tend to masturbate with a powerful wand vibrator), I think the Baci could actually work for you. It’s not just that its motor is stronger than many of its competitors’; it’s that it uses its strength in a different way, stimulating more of the clitoral structure.
  • The controls are easy to understand: there’s a power button on the top that you press and hold to turn the toy on or off, and then there are “+” and “–” buttons on the back for changing the speed. All of these buttons are located and constructed such that I never bump them by accident.
  • It’s waterproof. Love.
  • The construction feels pretty sturdy, like it could get knocked around inside my suitcase or purse and be fine.
  • It comes with a travel cover, so you can keep it free from lint, dirt, etc. when it’s riding around in your bag or even when it’s just been tossed into your nightstand drawer.

What I don’t like about this toy:

  • The form factor of this toy is awkward, to say the least. It’s what my friend Epiphora would call a “vulva hog,” meaning it takes up so much space on my vulva during use that I can’t easily add a dildo, fingers, or a partner’s penis into the mix if I want some internal stimulation. If you’re looking to use a pressure-wave toy during penetrative sex, I’d recommend the We-Vibe Melt or Womanizer Premium instead. A stationary vag toy like the Hole Punch Fluke can work with the Baci, though. And frankly, when my clit’s being stimulated as fully and as well as the Baci can do it, I don’t always need extra stimulation to get me off. (P.S. There is something very funny to me about referring to penetration as “extra stimulation,” given how often that phrase is used about clit contact, which is, for me and most other people with vulvas, mandatory for reaching orgasm…)
  • As often happens with pressure-wave toys, sometimes the Baci makes me come faster than I wanted to, in that way that’s like “Oh shit, am I about to…? Oh no, yes, I am.” Seems weird to complain about this, I know, but sometimes I want to stretch out a session a little longer!
  • It’s a little loud. But like, so am I when I’m using it.
  • I don’t love the aesthetic of it. It’s almost my exact skin tone and kind of reminds me of a medical device, like something a doctor might use to take my cunt’s temperature. (Then again, a clinical aesthetic can be well-suited for medical play scenes, so your mileage may vary…)
  • The battery life isn’t amazing; I have to charge the Baci every 4-5 sessions or so, which is more often than I’d typically expect for a toy of this kind.
  • It’s expensive: about $205-220 in Canada (depending on where you get it from). HOWEVER, CurrentBody has it on sale for $145 USD at the time that I’m writing this, and that’s reduced even further to $116 USD (about $151 CAD) when you use my coupon code “GIRLY20” on your order. That’s a pretty sweet deal.
  • The plastic travel cover that it comes with is weirdly hard to open. You have to squeeze it and then rotate it, like the childproof cap on a bottle of pills. As someone with chronic pain and strength issues in my hands, I found this frustrating; it took me 5-10 minutes of struggling and pain in order to get it open the first time, so I haven’t attempted to close it again.

 

Final thoughts

The Lora DiCarlo Baci has impressed me so thoroughly that I’d put it in my top 3 favorite pressure-wave toys now. (The others, if you’re wondering, are the Lelo Sila and Satisfyer Curvy 2.) This type of toy is always so hit-or-miss for me, with some of them giving me weak, half-ruined orgasms and some of them making me come so hard and fast that I practically black out; the Baci is definitely in the latter category.

I can’t confirm for certain whether all the claims made by Lora DiCarlo about their toys and technologies are accurate. But what I can tell you is that the Baci is a top-of-the-line clitoral stimulator that I hope will usher in a new trend of companies pushing the boundaries of what a clit toy can be.

 

Thanks to CurrentBody for sending me this product to review! You can use the code “GIRLY20” to get 20% off your order at CurrentBody – yay!

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: Womanizer Liberty by Lily Allen

Kate Sloan

If you were following along with new developments in the sex toy industry back when the first Womanizer model launched, then you know that these toys had an ugly start. Literally.

The tragically-named company was bringing an exciting new technology to the market – pressure-wave stimulation, i.e. making clits feel good with rhythmic pulses of air – but they had made a grave miscalculation (in my view) by festooning their new toys in cartoonish leopard print and over-the-top rhinestones. The product itself was giving folks with vulvas a whole different type of stimulation than they were used to, so Womanizer could’ve gone with a much less gaudy aesthetic and still intrigued consumers around the globe. And yet, they went with designs so garish that I was frankly kind of embarrassed when friends spotted the toy on my nightstand. (As you can imagine, in my line of work, that situation doesn’t usually embarrass me…)

I say this not to retroactively shame Womanizer, but to say that I really appreciate the aesthetic direction the brand has taken over the past few years, particularly since they were acquired by We-Vibe. Their current lineup is sleek and sophisticated-looking. If you love leopard print, perhaps you’re crestfallen (I can appreciate it too, just not on a sex toy), but I’m delighted that consumers can access pressure-wave toys now without their friends and lovers making comments such as, “Did an Elvis impersonator in Vegas throw that at you from the stage?” or “Liberace called; he wants his vibrator back.”

The most recent addition to my Womanizer collection, sent to me by the lovely folks at XOXTOYS, is the Womanizer Liberty by Lily Allen, a special-edition toy co-designed by the British singer/songwriter whose name it bears. Prior to trying this toy, the only other thing I knew about Lily Allen was that she did a song called “Alfie” that I liked (I think it was even my ringtone for a while in middle school). I’m not quite sure to what extent she was actually involved in the design process for this toy, but I imagine that she at least picked the colors, and they’re good ones: a very 1960s juxtaposition of hot pink and bright orange. I actually love this color combo and find it uplifting to see this toy on my nightstand.

Another aesthetic thing I like about the Lily Allen Womanizer is that it comes with a matching “travel cover,” a piece of curvy hard plastic that the Womanizer slots into perfectly, so that it’ll be protected from dirt, dust and damage in your purse or suitcase, and also won’t be immediately recognizable as a sex toy to any nosy relative or TSA agent who happens to spot it.

In terms of what the toy actually does, though… This Womanizer has six intensity levels and no patterns, which I respect. I’m not a patterns person, but if you are, this isn’t the toy for you.

I don’t always love reviewing pressure-wave toys, because I find the differences between them more subtle and difficult to discern than the differences between vibrators or dildos. But this Womanizer actually feels markedly different from most other pressure-wave toys I’ve tried. It feels… thumpier? Stronger? Sharper? More aggressive? There’s an intensity to the sensation that I don’t often run across in these toys. It feels like someone is firmly tapping against my clit.

I imagine that this intensity is what makes the Womanizer Liberty such a hit with so many online reviewers. For me, it’s a bit hit-or-miss. My clit enjoys the first couple of modes, but after that, the jumps between settings start to feel a bit wide for my preferences. Things’ll be feeling good, and then I’ll hit the “+” button and be jarred out of the moment a little bit by how much more insistent the stimulation suddenly gets.

The thing is, sometimes that’s an unwelcome sensation for me, but other times, there’s a bit of forced-orgasm hotness to it – like a dom is holding a slightly-too-strong vibrator against my bits and trying to (consensually) induce a climax in me whether I like it or not.

And indeed, I have orgasmed several times with this toy. I will say, it’s a bit more hard-won than with some other toys, because I’m constantly engaged in a dance of turning up the toy when I want more and then turning it back down when I want less, until I finally reach orgasm. But frankly, I prefer that over some other pressure-wave toys that are so depressingly weak that they have no hope of getting me off. There’s never any doubt in my mind that the Womanizer Liberty by Lily Allen is gonna get me there, although it might take a while.

Perhaps my favorite feature of this toy is the buttons. There was a night recently when I was trying to sleep but kept having intrusive sexual fantasies about receiving oral (what else is new), so I decided to quickly jerk off so that hopefully I could get some shut-eye. Literally without removing my eye mask, I was able to reach over, grab this Womanizer, position it on my bits and turn it on. It only has two buttons, a “plus” one and a “minus” one, and the “plus” one is significantly larger. This makes it shockingly easy to operate this toy in the dark, even while half-asleep or intoxicated (trust me, I’d know).

This Womanizer is one of the more powerful pressure-wave toys I’ve tried, despite its small size. It’s also definitely the most travel-friendly of any I’ve used. It doesn’t stimulate as much of my clitoral shaft as the Lelo Sila – so if you have a larger clit, or are a transmasculine person with bottom growth, this may not be the one for you. It doesn’t have fancy patterns and modes, like the Womanizer Premium does.

But it’s probably the prettiest pressure-wave toy I own, at least for my particular aesthetic tastes, and it’s also one of the quietest and most discreet toys in their lineup. Whether or not you’re a Lily Allen fan, I think you stand a good chance of enjoying the Womanizer Liberty by Lily Allen. This sex toy company has had some failures and some successes, and I think this toy is firmly in the “successes” pile, even if it’s not my favorite ever.

 

Thanks to the folks at XOXTOYS for sending me this toy! 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: Bombex Butterfly Desire Vibe Pro

Kate Sloan

Does anyone else remember when butterflies were all the rage in the sex toy industry, circa 2008-2009? First there were rabbits; then, suddenly, everyone was talking about butterflies.

The main one I remember was a wearable, remote-control butterfly-shaped vibrator that my friend-with-benefits owned around that time, but there were also dual-stimulation vibes and even cock rings made to look like butterflies. Not really sure what made this particular insect a sudden sex symbol. I do know that Jason Mraz has a whole song where he keeps referring to a vulva as a butterfly, though, and that my own vulva kinda resembles one when my labia are spread apart, so maybe that has something to do with it…

Anyway, today I’m reviewing the Bombex Butterfly Desire Vibe Pro, another beautiful butterfly-shaped product. It’s a dual-stimulation toy: the outer portion (the “butterfly” itself) uses pressure-wave technology to stimulate your clit, while the inner arm, when inserted vaginally, transmits vibration into your G-spot. Let’s talk about some of the benefits and drawbacks of this little bug…

 

Things I like about this toy:

  • The vibration of the internal arm is decently rumbly and strong, even on the first setting. There are three steady speeds and I’ve gotten off on the first one before, which is pretty impressive. The vibrations stay rumbly through all three speeds. I feel like I should have more to say about this, because it’s one of the most important qualities of any vibrator and Bombex got it very right here – but all I really have to say is that it’s rumbly and good and I like it!
  • The shape of the internal arm is such that it can hit my G-spot fairly easily, and feels great doing so. I love that it’s got a swollen head and a slightly slimmer shaft, because this makes its sensations more discernible to my G-spot and also makes it so that I can sort of fuck myself hands-free with the toy by clenching and unclenching my PC muscles rhythmically.
  • That last point is worth expounding upon more: this is a toy that stays inside me pretty well, even when I’m using it hands-free, but nonetheless will gently move back and forth against my body if I rhythmically squeeze my pelvic muscles. For me, this quality makes it way easier for me to orgasm with a dual-stimulation toy, because the additional motion on top of the vibration (+ in this case, pressure waves) makes the whole toy feel more stimulating.
  • The shape and size of the clitoral stimulator work well for me. It can’t stimulate as much of my clit as the large-mouthed Lelo Sila, but at least it doesn’t focus uncomfortably on the exposed tip of my clit like so many other toys of this kind. There’s a soft rim of silicone around the opening that makes the sensation feel gentler but no less pleasurable.
  • It’s made of body-safe silicone and ABS plastic!
  • It’s waterproof!
  • It has a remote control! Unfortunately I could not test this component because I had to fly to New York midway through working on this review and forgot the remote at home, but in theory I think it’s a great idea for a toy like this to have a remote. It makes it so that you can control the intensity without needing to reach into your pants/underwear every time (should you be wearing any), which could make this toy useful for public play.

Things I don’t like about this toy:

  • You can’t control the toy’s two functions separately. I know I complain about this in almost every dual-stimulation toy review I write, but if a toy does two different things to two different body parts, you should really be able to control each component individually, since different body parts don’t always want the same kinds of stimulation at the same time. On this toy, both functions are controlled in tandem by one button.
  • The outer portion of the toy has very little flexibility, which makes it so that if you have a particularly long or particularly short distance between your clit and vaginal opening, you might not be able to comfortably use both parts of the toy at the same time. (The distance from the middle of the clit stimulator to the top of the vaginal shaft is about 1.25″.)
  • Three steady speeds is not really enough. Granted, I’m generally not a fan of vibration patterns – but setting that aside, the fewer steady speeds a toy has, the bigger the jumps between each speed are likelier to be. Moving up to the next speed often feels jarring and takes me out of the moment a little, rather than encouraging higher and higher levels of arousal.
  • Having only one button means you have to scroll through all 10 settings to get back to a previous one. This is bad news for anyone who, like me, tends to turn the vibrations up and down a lot during any given session to help prevent overstimulation.
  • The vibrations feel stronger/rumblier/more impactful than the clitoral pressure waves, so sometimes all I can really feel is the vibration. However, I still get enough clit stimulation that I can come with this toy easily if I’m watching porn or otherwise engaging my brain in some sexy stuff.
  • As with most other pressure-wave toys, this one can make me orgasm easily but the orgasms aren’t always the most satisfying, and are sometimes immediately overtaken by discomfort as the toy keeps sucking my clit while I get hypersensitive post-orgasm.

Final thoughts:

There’s a lot I don’t understand about this toy. Why is it a butterfly? What are the wings and antennae supposed to do?* Why is there an illustration in the instructions that seems to indicate you can use the pressure-wave component on a partner’s penis while they’re fucking you?!

Overall though, I think the Bombex Butterfly Desire Vibe Pro is a good value for its price point ($60), assuming you want a dual-stimulation toy with pressure waves and the distance between your clit and vaginal opening is in range for this one to work for you.

 

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.

*When reached for comment, a representative at Bombex told me, in response to these questions: “Women are like butterflies, representing beauty, freedom, rebirth and goddess. Women are like a butterfly, her wings unfolded. Sucking and vibrating at the same time. Stimulating the clitoris and G-spot to give you out-of-this-world orgasms. Women like butterflies. The color of the red rose symbolizes romance, love, beauty and courage. The antenna flirts with your secret desire. The two eyes turn into usb port for long-lasting pleasure and can be quickly recharged. They shimmer and glow in the moonlight and almost seem to come alive. Women are like butterflies. People say a butterfly cannot see the color of its own wings. Cannot see how beautiful they really are. We are butterflies. Even if you can not see it. Even if you can not see how beautiful you really are. Just know that BOMBEX MAKES YOU FEEL BOMB AF!” [sic]

The Lelo Sila is My Favorite Clit Pulsator Toy; the Lelo Sila Cruise is Not

Kate Sloan

I’m enamored with the Lelo Sila. It bears the label of “my favorite clit pulsator toy,” which is a tough label to earn. It’s also earned a spot in the top drawer of my nightstand. I mentioned it in an interview just today, actually, when someone asked me what toys I’ve been loving lately. This luxe stimulator is top-tier, as far as I’m concerned.

But Lelo is a company known for their terrible, gimmicky “innovations,” and in keeping with that, they recently introduced a new version of the Sila called the Sila Cruise. I dislike it so much that I’m not even gonna link to it. Buy the original Sila instead.

What’s so great about the Lelo Sila?

Most clit pulsators – think Womanizers and Satisfyers – focus predominantly on the tip of the clit. The Sila is the only one I’ve found that stimulates my entire external clit: the tip, the shaft, and the hood. This makes it an especially good pick for folks with larger clits and/or transmasculine folks with bottom growth, or just folks who like a roomier fit.

The Sila’s wide, flat “lips” help create a better seal around the clit than almost any other pressure-wave stimulator I’ve tried. They also conduct the Sila’s sensations through the skin and into the buried “legs” of the internal clit.

As a result of all this, the Sila provides more full-bodied clitoral sensations than any other toy I’ve tried of this type. It is a toy that puts all of its focus – and it has a lot of focus – on the clit. So, as a big fan of clitoral stimulation – especially the kinds that go past just the sensitive tip of my clit – I love this toy.

It also has a “rumblier” feel than many other pressure-wave toys, meaning each little airwave feels lower-pitched and more impactful. This significantly reduces any numbness or desensitization I might experience from using a clitoral toy for a while. Its stimulation is so rumbly, and yet so indirect, that I can have multiple orgasms with this toy – not something I’m usually capable of, at least not this easily.

The quality of the orgasms is much improved for me as well, because this toy stimulates much more of my clit than any other pressure-wave toy. Other toys of this type have sometimes given me ruined half-orgasms, or have stimulated me so intensely during orgasm that the experience was more painful than pleasurable; not so with this toy. The Lelo Sila gives me deep, intense, long-lasting, and often quite sudden orgasms that leave me speechless and panting.

What’s the difference between the Sila and the Sila Cruise?

So far as I can tell, the only addition to the Cruise is a “feature” known as Cruise Control. Lelo says that Cruise Control “reserves 20% of SILA™ Cruise’s full power during normal use, so that when SILA™ Cruise is pressed hard against the body and the motor begins to drop power, that extra 20% is unleashed so that there’s no reduction of intensity” before and during your orgasm.

There are… multiple issues with this. One is that I have never personally experienced my Sila slowing down or fading in power from the amount of pressure I’ve applied to it. It’s just not an issue I’ve encountered. So it’s kind of confusing that Lelo went to the trouble of launching a new version of their own toy, to solve a problem that (in my experience, anyway) the toy doesn’t even have.

Another issue is that not everyone wants maximal power right before or during their orgasm, and it’s weird to assume that they would. One of the beautiful things about Lelo toys is that they always have at least 8 different speeds, so they can satisfy a broad range of users, from super-sensitive folks to those who need more stimulation to get them off. The freedom to adjust sex toys to my own preferred intensity at any given moment is key to my pleasure. In fact, I would say it’s a mandatory feature of any vibe I’ll enjoy, and certainly a standard feature to expect on any toy that costs more than $15. Lelo has taken that freedom away from me with the Cruise – as they say, “it’s not a setting, it’s completely automatic,” so I can’t even turn it off and use the Sila Cruise normally without Cruise Control.

The third and most pressing issue I have with Cruise Control is that it doesn’t even do what it’s supposed to do. The boost in intensity doesn’t kick in when I press the toy harder against my body. No, instead it kicks in… whenever the hell it wants to. Often at a moment in my arousal process when I really, really wish my clit stimulator would stay at the exact same intensity so that I can, y’know, continue to feel good and build toward an orgasm, rather than having said orgasm be thwarted by an inconsistent toy.

It’s really a boner-killer when this happens, because the intensity that Cruise Control brings to the table is aggressive, especially if you’re accustomed to a lower speed – so my clit can get overstimulated to the point that a bruisey, ouchy sensation will linger for several minutes afterward. This is antithetical to the gentle, slow build that I appreciated about the original Sila.

The Sila Cruise is $189, whereas the original Lelo Sila is $169. They’re both definitely in the “luxury sex toy” price range, but the Sila Cruise is absolutely not worth that amount of money, because you can’t even control the damn intensity of it. It just jumps around randomly. It might as well be a poorly-wired $6.99 body massager from the Walmart bargain bin for how unreliable it is. I truly have no idea what on earth made Lelo think it was a good idea to not only make this toy but also to charge twenty extra dollars for it.

Final words

If you want full-bodied clitoral sensations that encompass your entire external clit and even stimulate some of the inner portions, you want the Lelo Sila. But you do not want the Lelo Sila Cruise, because you, presumably, do not want your orgasms ruined or your clit pummelled.

The Sila Cruise is not a “new and improved” version of the Sila. If anything, it is a “new and worsened” version of the Sila. It is “new and useless.” It is “new and painful.” It is “new and what the actual fuck.” But it is certainly not “new and improved.”

 

Thanks to Lelo for sending me these products to try! I really do mean it when I say that I love the original Sila and highly recommend it. But don’t get the Cruise. Just don’t.

Review: We-Vibe Melt

Kate Sloan

I’ve been hearing about the We-Vibe Melt for years, and recently finally got to try one, thanks to my pals at Honeysx. Read on for my thoughts!

 

What is the We-Vibe Melt?

The We-Vibe Melt is a pressure-wave clitoral stimulator, meaning that it encloses the clitoris in its little mouth and uses pulses of air to “touchlessly” stimulate the clitoral head and shaft. Some people report that pressure waves feel like oral sex; for me, they certainly feel more similar to oral than vibration does, but overall the sensation is more like rhythmic tapping, or like getting head from a robot.

As with most We-Vibe products, this one is specifically designed to be useable during penetrative partnered sex. It has a slim profile and an ergonomic shape that allows it to slip between bodies fairly easily, even in (a slightly adjusted version of) missionary position. This is a big benefit of this toy for me, because my all-time favorite pressure-wave stimulator, the Lelo Sila, is way too bulky and awkward to use in this way.

Also as with most We-Vibe products, this one is rechargeable, waterproof, can be controlled via a smartphone app or its built-in buttons, and has a 2-year warranty. Score.

 

How does it feel?

I am always pretty skeptical about trying new pressure-wave toys, because I have to put them on the most sensitive part of my entire body without first knowing if they’re going to be massively overstimulating, which they often are. In general I would recommend getting yourself turned on before using a toy like this, for the same reason that it can be nice for a partner to kiss your thighs, lick around your genitals, etc. before going for the gold.

Warm-up is especially recommended because this toy is quite a bit rumblier/”thumpier” than most other toys of its type. This is great news overall but can make the toy feel somewhat jarring if you try to use it before you’re turned on. That said, because of its deep rumbliness, I find that this toy works better than most for teasing myself through my clitoral hood or inner labia. By holding the toy’s “mouth” against either of those areas, I can still feel the rhythmic thumping being transmitted to my clit, but it’s not as direct and intense as it would be if I put it directly on the tip of my clit.

Another thing that sets this toy apart from others is its oval-shaped mouth. Of course, all clits are different, but some people might find that this oval shape helps them get a better seal around their clit, allowing for better, stronger stimulation. It’s got a little flexibility to it, so you could even manually pinch it closed with the hand that’s not holding the toy, if you wanted firmer pressure and a tighter seal, though that’s not necessary.

The first day that I tested this toy, I got off with it 3 times over the course of the day, which is highly unusual for me. A lot of people say they’re more able to have multiple orgasms with pressure-wave toys because the stimulation is gentle/indirect enough that it doesn’t leave them feeling oversensitized after climax. I can see how this would be an advantage for some people, but for myself personally, I find that orgasms from pressure-wave toys don’t tend to be as satisfying as other types of orgasms, which is why I end up going for multiples a lot of the time. I just don’t get off as hard with these as I do when there’s a great vibrator or oscillator pressed against my clitoral hood. Adding penetration helps, but still, I would never grab this type of toy if I wanted a world-destroying, “what the fuck just happened?!” kind of orgasm. For me, these toys are more suitable for mid-day wank breaks, when I want to release some tension and some endorphins without necessarily derailing my whole day.

That said, just because the orgasms aren’t terribly satisfying doesn’t mean the toy isn’t pleasurable. It definitely is. This is one of the more pleasurable pressure-wave toys I’ve tried – certainly in my top 3 – because of how rumbly it is. It stimulates the entire visible portion of the clitoris and some of the non-visible portion as well. Paired with porn, erotica, or fantasies, it can take me from zero to orgasm in a matter of minutes. And while the orgasms aren’t satisfying, they are still enjoyable and often intense, particularly when I incorporate penetration.

 

Mouth size comparison: Lelo Sila (purple), We-Vibe Melt (coral), and Satisfyer Curvy 2+ (pale peach)

Useability & things to keep in mind

As the Dildoodler points out in their excellent Melt review, there just isn’t nearly as much info out there about clitoral size as there is about penis size. (I just looked it up, and the search terms “clit size,” “clitoral size” and “clitoris size” bring up a collective 462,000 results; meanwhile, “penis size” and “dick size” bring up a total of 15 MILLION results. That’s roughly a 32-to-1 ratio in terms of the amount of information that’s out there.) As a result of this info gap, a lot of people with clits would have no idea how to rank their own clit size in relation to the average. Hell, it’s hard to even measure a clit, especially since there’s so little education out there about the clitoral shaft and the fact that the clitoris swells with arousal like the penis does.

All this to say, it can be difficult to choose a pressure wave toy that will fit your clit the way you want it to, both because most of us don’t know our clit size off the top of our head and because most sex toy companies are not advertising their clitoral toys on the basis of what sizes they will fit. So let’s envision a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is the smallest “mouth” I’ve ever seen on this type of toy, and 10 is the large mouth of the Lelo Sila, which can fit my ring finger and pinky finger simultaneously up to the first knuckle. On that scale, I’d put the We-Vibe Melt at a 6 or so. Its oval shape and the softly rounded edges of its mouth make it feel more accommodating than tiny toys that focus only on the very very tip of my clit (which I hate), but it’s definitely not big enough to surround my entire fully-aroused clitoral shaft like the Sila is. For this reason, I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone who knows they have a large clit (which I imagine would include most folks who’ve been on testosterone long enough to experience bottom growth). The Sila or Satisfyer Curvy 2+ are still my top recommendations for larger clits.

The Melt is quiet compared to almost all the other pressure-wave toys I’ve tried. I didn’t worry about my roommate or neighbors hearing me when I used it at 2 a.m. one night, for example. It’s not silent – none of these toys really are, because of their suction-inspired mechanism – but if you put on some music or white noise in the background, or use it in the bath with the water running, no one should be able to hear you in other rooms.

The buttons are placed exactly where I would want them to be for this type of toy; they’re located where my fingers naturally end up when I hold the toy in the comfiest way for my hand. They click and light up when pressed, so you always know when you’ve hit a button successfully – and they’re marked with raised “plus” and “minus” signs so you can find them quickly in the dark and likely won’t press them by accident.

The Melt is currently available in two colors, an orangey-pinky-coral shade (pictured) and a deep, sexy midnight blue. I appreciate these because neither shade feels especially gendered to me. I have heard many transmasculine folks mention that they like using pressure-wave toys as blowjob simulators, so it’s nice when companies offer colorways that don’t scream femininity. I also, in researching this review, stumbled across at least one trans woman who mentioned she enjoyed this toy; not quite sure what her preferred technique was but I think this toy could potentially feel nice against the frenulum of the penis.

Oh yeah, there’s an app

The We-Vibe app can be used to wirelessly control most We-Vibe toys, including this one. It gives you more detailed control over the toy’s intensity at any given moment, and allows you to create your own pressure-wave patterns to try out. It also lets your long-distance sweetie take over control of the toy from afar if they are so inclined.

The reason I’m mentioning this only as an afterthought is that We-Vibe toys’ connectivity still isn’t where I’d like it to be. Compared to other Bluetooth-focused companies like Lovense and Satisfyer, We-Vibe still struggles to make toys that 1) connect easily to their app, 2) stay connected for the entire duration of the session, and 3) respond to changes made in the app within a reasonable timeframe. For this reason, I almost never use We-Vibe’s Bluetooth functionality anymore when I use their toys; it usually ends up being more annoying than pleasurable.

 

Final thoughts

Having tried as many pressure-wave toys as I have, I can almost always perceive big differences between cheap ones and premium ones. High-quality stimulators tend to feel pleasurable right off the bat (if I’m turned on), instead of requiring that I acclimatize myself to intense surface-level tapping on the very tip of my clit. They tend to feel nicer in my hand and on my bits. They tend to be quieter, sleeker, and more durable. The We-Vibe Melt performs like a high-end pressure-wave toy, because, at $122, it is.

If you’re curious about this type of toy and have that kind of cash to burn, I think you’d likely be very happy with the Melt, provided that it fits your clit (and it should fit most of them). But if $122 is a bit of a stretch for you, I’d suggest trying a less expensive pressure-wave toy first to see whether you even like the sensation, and then upgrading when and if you want to and are able to.

If, on the other hand, you already know you like pressure-wave sensations and you want to upgrade to a high-quality product, I think the We-Vibe Melt is a wonderful contender for people whose clits are medium-sized or smaller. And if you know you want oral-like sensations on your clit while a partner is fucking you with their dick or strap-on, this is probably the best one you’re gonna find for that purpose.

I’ve loved We-Vibe for many years, and once again, they have exceeded my expectations.

 

Thanks to Honeysx for sending me this product to review! This post was sponsored, meaning I was paid to write an honest and fair review of the product. As always, all writing and opinions are my own.