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Review: Bubblefunny Bubble Flower Beauty

Kate Sloan

As a big fan of receiving cunnilingus (what a great way to start a blog post), I have tried many an oral sex simulator in my time.

They have licked and flapped and sucked, some skilfully, some less so. But I never give up hope that the next one will be the one that really does feel like getting head from a talented and enthusiastic lover. It hasn’t happened yet, but hey, tomorrow is a new day.

That said, this latest addition to my collection of cunnilingus simulators – the Bubblefunny Bubble Flower Beauty – actually surprised me with how close it got to feeling like the real thing.

(There’s a coupon code at the end of this post incase you want to buy your own, FYI!)

 

What is the Bubble Flower Beauty and what does it do?

The whimsically-named Bubble Flower Beauty is a dual-stimulation toy: there’s a mechanized silicone tongue on one end, and a phallus on the other end that thrusts and vibrates; between the two is a flexible silicone cord.

Bubblefunny recommends various different uses for it, including slipping the thruster into your vag while the tongue teases your butthole, but I think the main usage the toy designers had in mind was probably having the tongue stimulate the user’s clit while the thruster pleasures their G-spot. (That’s the only way I chose to test this toy, anyway. I’ve got nothing against rimjobs, I just didn’t want one from a robot.)

 

Things I like about this toy:

  • Firstly and most importantly, I actually love the tongue. It’s made of soft silicone with just enough flexibility to feel comfortable and just enough firmness to feel impactful. (Cunnilinguists-in-training, take note.) I won’t say it feels like a real human’s tongue, both texturally and size-wise, but it is in that general neighborhood of sensations. It starts at a pretty fast speed – like, way faster than any partner of mine would ever start licking me – but it slows down slightly with pressure, which I found actually felt better for me.
  • The design of the toy allows you to move the tongue around your clit while you’re using it, so you can stimulate the tip, the sides, the hood, etc. as your whims dictate. I strongly prefer indirect clitoral stimulation, so I love being able to switch up the toy’s location, turn it upside-down, and so on, to get the type of stimulation I’m craving. In some ways, I think that more advanced cunnilingus simulators have failed by trying to replicate the dynamic motions of a human; being able to hit the exact right spots yourself, exactly when you need to, can be better than having a machine try to guess where they are.
  • The orgasms actually remind me a lot of the orgasms I have from real oral sex. There’s a similar slow build, and a similar sense of teetering on the precipice of coming for longer than usual before going over the edge. However, as with real cunnilingus, I find that this toy works best if I maximize my sensitivity before I use it, by taking a break from vibrators and/or orgasms for at least a day, shaving my pubes, holding my outer labia open, smoking weed, or some combination thereof. It’s not quite enough to get me off if I’ve had an orgasm recently or if I’ve used strong vibes in the past day or so.
  • Although there are only three steady speeds (more on that below), the tongue’s motions do get noticeably faster and harder when I click up to the next speed.
  • This toy is waterproof! Hooray!
  • It comes with a cute black velvet storage bag that doesn’t shed lint all over the toy, like cheap storage bags tend to do. Nice touch.

 

Things I don’t like about this toy:

  • The tongue often doesn’t quite feel powerful enough to get me off, especially since it slows down when pressure is applied to it. I find that I always have to either thrust against the toy or rub it up and down or in circles against my clit, or I won’t be able to get off. That said, sometimes I thrust my hips during actual cunnilingus for the same reason, so maybe it’s just authentic like that.
  • Both the tongue and the thruster only have three steady speeds, followed by seven patterns. As someone who uses steady speeds almost exclusively, I find this disappointing. And sometimes orgasm-ruining, if I hit a button by accident while already on the third steady speed.
  • Speaking of buttons, there are only two of them. Two is better than one in this case, certainly, but it’d be really great if it had four: an “increase intensity” button and a “decrease intensity” button for each part of the toy. I hate having to cycle through all the patterns to get back to the speed I was using before.
  • My preferred way to use the tongue is upside-down, because that way it’s licking downward on my clitoral hood, rather than flicking upward against the hypersensitive head of my clit. However, when used this way, the buttons are on the opposite side of the toy from you, which makes it tricky to hit the right one in the heat of the moment.
  • The thruster tends to slip out of me during use, especially if things are especially lubed-up down there. I would actually recommend using less lube than you normally would, or perhaps even none at all, on the thruster part of the toy, to give it a better shot at staying inside you.
  • The cord is just slightly too short (for my anatomy, anyway), so I often find myself accidentally tugging the thruster out of my vag while I’m adjusting the tongue.
  • The vibration of the thruster is pretty damn buzzy. I actually think I’d like the thruster better if it was just thrusting and not vibrating, since the buzzy-as-fuck vibration kind of mutes the sensation of thrusting. But you can’t separate the two in this toy; they’re a package deal.
  • So far as I can tell, once you’ve activated either part of the toy, there’s no way to turn it off without turning off the whole toy, which takes a few seconds. So, for example, if you decided mid-session that you wanted to shut off the thruster and just focus on the tongue, there would be no quick and easy way to do that.
  • You have to put a fuckton of lube on your vulva before you use the tongue, or it’ll feel like receiving head from a Tinder boy who’s baffled by vulvas and has a dry mouth from smoking too much weed. (Can neither confirm nor deny that this has happened to me.) When testing this toy, I’ve mostly used a coconut oil-based lube I’ve been loving lately, and I actually think natural oil-based lubes (if you’re not too prone to getting infections from them) are the best pick for this type of toy, because they won’t react poorly with silicone toys like silicone-based lubes do, and they won’t dry up every few minutes like water-based lubes do.
  • The product page says that this toy sucks and licks, but there is no sucking to speak of. I tried pressing the toy firmly enough against my vulva that it would have created a seal if any suction was indeed happening, and all it did was slow down the tongue enormously.

 

Final thoughts:

I know I had a lot of critical things to say about the Bubblefunny Bubble Flower Beauty, but it actually is one of the better oral sex simulators I’ve tried. It gets me off (usually), and the orgasms feel, if not as good as those that happen in my partner’s mouth, at least somewhere in that direction.

I wish the thruster portion of the toy had been executed better – it feels like an afterthought, with its buzzy vibrations and tendency to shimmy out of my vagina – but the tongue part of this toy is really the star of the show anyway. I would happily use a version of this toy that was just the tongue. Sometimes you just need a little oral action, and head from a silicone gadget is better than no head at all.

 

Thanks to Bubblefunny for sending me this toy to review! You can use the code “GJ20” to get 20% off anything on their website. Maybe you want a wand vibrator shaped like a person? Or perhaps a clitoral stimulator that looks like a moon? 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.

Busting 5 Common Myths About the G-Spot

Kate Sloan

The G-spot is one of the most misunderstood parts of sexual anatomy, so let’s dive into some of the most common G-spot myths and why they’re total garbage!

 

Myth #1: G-spot stimulation is always pleasurable for everybody who has a G-spot.

Here’s a pro tip when it comes to sex: literally any sentence that begins with “everyone likes…” or “no one likes…” is false. So, although the G-spot is often framed as this holy grail of pleasure for many people with vulvas, it’s important to know that it’s not a magic button that you can just press and expect fireworks.

Many people – including me, at one point – find G-spot stimulation uncomfortable, annoying, or even painful. This doesn’t automatically mean they won’t find penetration pleasurable at all, though; there are other internal erogenous zones worth exploring, such as the A-spot and the posterior fornix.

 

Myth #2: It’ll feel good from the get-go.

I especially need cis men to understand this: please do not start poking ‘n’ stroking the G-spot of someone who is not already turned on, unless you know for a fact that they want you to do so.

Like many other erogenous zones, the G-spot typically responds best to stimulation that happens once you’re already aroused, both physically and mentally. For me personally, it really is the difference between “ow ow ow stop that right now” and “oh my god please never stop.”

Get turned on (or get your partner turned on) using whatever methods reliably work for you. For most vulva-owners, this will involve some amount of clitoral stimulation – and in many cases it can feel good to continue stimulating the clit while you start to touch the G-spot. I would also suggest using a lot of lube and starting slowly, like with just one finger and minimal pressure against the spot, until you’re ready for more.

 

Myth #3: G-spot orgasms are superior to clitoral orgasms.

Remember that time a cis male neurologist from 19th-century Austria theorized that clitoral orgasms were “immature” and that becoming an adult meant getting off from vaginal penetration alone? And remember how this crackpot theory has continued to shape present-day sexual discourse, leading millions of women to feel like they’re broken because their bodies work in completely normal ways? Cool cool cool. Thanks, Freud, that’s super helpful of you. 😬

What we know now, based on modern science (including the practice of, y’know, actually listening to the stories and experiences of people with vulvas, rather than making up psychoanalytic lore about how their genitals are wrong), that the clitoris is the anatomical equivalent of the penis. The two structures literally develop from the same tissues in utero, and share some commonalities, namely: they both provide the majority of sexual pleasure for the majority of people who have them.

While we’re on the subject, let’s clear up a few more misconceptions about G-spot stimulation vs. clitoral stimulation. First of all, you can combine the two, and many people have their best G-spot experiences when the two are paired. Secondly, not everyone can have G-spot orgasms, and there is nothing wrong with you if you can’t. And thirdly, researchers have yet to firmly conclude whether the G-spot is its own structure or is in fact part of the internal clitoral network, but ultimately it doesn’t really matter because it’s still a spot that feels good for many people to touch. Let’s focus less on pedantic semantics and more on pleasure, mmkay?

 

Myth #4: G-spot stimulation always results in squirting, or squirting only happens from G-spot stimulation.

Nope and nope. Not everyone can squirt, either because they just haven’t stumbled upon the right technique to make it happen for them yet, or because they’re simply not set up for it anatomically. (For example, I once heard the porn star Nina Hartley, who used to be a nurse, saying that she believes the reason she can’t squirt is that her urethra is located too close to her vagina, so whatever’s stimulating her G-spot gets in the way of the spray and stops it from coming out.)

If you want to squirt, or to help somebody else squirt, typically the best thing to do is to build a lot of arousal beforehand and then stimulate the G-spot really hard and fast for long enough to induce squirting. The ejaculation itself does not automatically coincide with orgasm; I tend to squirt the most after I’ve orgasmed, for instance.

Some people are able to squirt without G-spot stimulation being involved at all – such as from touching their clit, A-spot, or perineum. This may have something to do with the G-spot’s aforementioned integration in the internal clitoral network.

 

Myth #5: You have to have a big dick to hit the G-spot.

This one really depends on anatomy. I’m not going to lie to you and say that nobody will require a dick to be big in order for it to hit their spot the way they like.

That said, the G-spot is only about 2-3 inches inside the vagina, so you don’t have to have a long dick to hit it – and in fact, I’ve often found that short-to-average-length dicks hit mine the best, because the head of their cock strokes over that spot without much effort on every thrust, whereas longer dicks tend to hit my A-spot instead.

A penis also does not necessarily need to be thick to stimulate the G-spot. Angles that tilt your dick toward the front wall of the vagina can achieve a lot. Not to mention – say it with me now – fingers and sex toys exist! If you’re thinking of your cock as the only sexual tool you have at your disposal, you’re limiting your partner’s pleasure, and your own, a great deal.

 

What G-spot myths have you heard?

 

This post was sponsored by the folks at Honey Play Box, who are offering Girly Juice readers 20% off all products right now with the coupon code JUICE20. As always, all writing and opinions here are my own.

What a Trip to Italy Taught Me About Pleasure, Purpose, & Power

Kate Sloan

It has been more than five years since my first (and, so far, only) trip to Italy, and I still think about it pretty often.

It was a glorious few days that my mum generously tacked onto the end of a trip we were taking to Malta for a cousin’s wedding. We figured, “when in Rome” (or, more accurately, “when in the Mediterranean”), might as well splurge on ourselves as a fun, once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. We stayed in the gorgeously ornate Bernini Bristol hotel. Our room overlooked the Piazza Barberini, which contains the famous Fontana del Tritone (Triton Fountain). At night, after luxuriant dinners of rich pasta and fine wine, we’d visit the fountain, throw coins in, and make wishes.

Once, I wished for romance, but it was already all around me; the city itself was romance. Earlier that evening, we’d been winked at by a waiter, who’d asked us after our meals if we wanted “dessert, or anything else.” We’d strolled down the street to a gelateria and had a wine-flirty conversation with the nervous employee behind the counter as he scooped up our treats. And now, at the fountain, as I breathed in the cool night air and contemplated my wish for romance, a dark-haired man approached us and handed me two red roses. He said something in Italian that I didn’t understand, but I think I heard bella somewhere in there. I said Grazie, grazie! and wished I knew more words to thank him as he walked away.

Everything in Rome seemed sensual and quasi-sexual to me in a way I rarely felt at home. Maybe it was just the excesses of vacation, but it felt woven into the fabric of the city, too. The resplendent meals. The ambient chatter of people passing you in a piazza. The click of cobblestones against your heels.

There was a slick salesman at a leather goods shop who sweet-talked us into buying leather jackets. I know his flirtation was a sales technique, but it felt more like seduction or sex giochi (that’s Italian for “sex games,” mio caro!). Our interaction lasted at least an hour, and was far longer and more relaxed than any sales transaction I’d ever experienced – he made us feel like we were visiting his home. He pulled jackets and skirts and boots in our sizes from the racks all around us, and implored us in his elegant accent, “Just try it on.” And every time we emerged from the dressing room, he’d make us feel like runway models, with the intensity of his gaze and the specificity of his compliments.

We wore those leather jackets the day we sprinted to catch up with our tour group so we could traverse the Roman Forum, explore the Colosseum. The chill in the air wasn’t depressing, like on dark Toronto nights that portended cold Toronto winters; the crisp breeze in Rome actually felt flirtatious, caressing our skin, reminding us we were lucky to be able to feel such things, lucky just to be alive in this world.

Our lunches and dinners were so obscenely pleasurable that I still think about them five years later, like the indelible look in a long-lost lover’s eyes that you still recall fondly after they’ve gone. The endless embrace of butter and cheese. The free-flowing wine, encouraging us to laugh, light up, and look around with gratitude at our lovely lives. The waitstaff, who acted as though any kind of restraint or self-flagellation related to food would be not only misguided but in fact not worth talking about at all.

I remember the day we planned to go to the Vatican; I realized in horror that the clothes I’d packed were deeply ill-suited for the hallowed institution’s conservative dress code. Pants and long sleeves were required, but these were rare in my relaxed hyper-femme aesthetic, so instead I wore a prim cardigan buttoned up to the top, and loud floral-print leggings under my black dress.

Perusing the statues, paintings, and altars, I felt bowled over by all that history – like time itself was topping me in a hardcore kink scene and the only thing to do was surrender.

When we filed into the Sistine Chapel and gazed up at the ceiling, I felt a peacefulness and rapture I’d previously only ever experienced after taking a lot of pain in a scene. The stillness and reverence in the room were overwhelming. I barely dared to move or even breathe. The art had a message for me: that I should appreciate the present moment, drink in beauty wherever it shows up, savor every second of precious life. I felt humbled by the holiness of the chapel, rendered more whole by its wholeness.

Sometimes I watch media set in Italy and feel, once again, that creepy and comforting feeling of being in a place so old and well-worn that it takes on a godly quality. I look at the red lipstick adorning so many Italian women’s faces and think of the Armani lipstick I bought in the Sephora opposite the Spanish Steps, and the way applying it felt like casting a magic spell. I flip through my photos of lush countrysides and ornate architecture, longing to live that life again.

Someday I’ll go to Italy with my spouse, I suspect, and we’ll make new memories every bit as juicy and jubilant as these. But until then, I’ll keep visiting Rome in my daydreams, learning its lessons again and again: to enjoy the here and now, to revel in pleasure without guilt, and to view myself always as a powerful temptress capable of anything, even summoning red roses with the toss of a coin and the whisper of a wish.

This post contains a sponsored link. As always, all writing and opinions are my own.

How to Tell Whether a Luxury Sex Toy is Worth the Money

Kate Sloan
Pictured: the Fucking Sculptures Double Trouble, the Désirables Dalia, and a Canadian $50 bill. Yes, our money really does look like that.

A lot of people ask me whether my pricier sex toys are worth the money. The answer depends vastly on what you’re looking for, and there are certainly many affordable toys that are perfectly decent (that’s a whole ‘nother blog post). But if you’ve got some cash burning a hole in your pocket and a high-end sex toy on the brain, here’s some advice on how to ensure it’s worth the dough.

 

Check the material first

For cost-cutting purposes, a lot of sex toy companies use materials that are porous, toxic, or both. This is made possible by the lack of regulation in the sex toy industry, and is one of the biggest hurdles sex toy shoppers face, especially first-time users who don’t know what to look for and what to avoid.

Unsafe materials, such as PVC and TPR, are usually found in toys that cost say, $40 or less – but there’s a surprising number of pricier toys that use these materials too. (For example, the phthalate-ridden jelly rabbit vibe that gave me a chemical burn inside my vagina when I was a teenager is still being made, and currently retails for $47.96. YIKES. They should have to pay you to use that thing, if just to cover your medical bills!)

Here’s a short version of my material safety shpiel: only buy toys that are made of 100% silicone, hard plastic, glass, metal, lucite/acrylic, sealed ceramic, or food-safe lacquered wood. (Some combination of these materials is okay too; for example, some toys have a 100% silicone shaft and a hard plastic handle.)

Some specialized types of toys are okay to buy in porous materials – for instance, many strokers, such as Fleshlights, are made of porous materials like TPR and TPE, but in that case it’s considered more acceptable because penises are less prone to the types of infections that vaginas can easily get from using porous toys. Phthalates are still a no-no for everybody, though. Unfortunately, sex toy companies aren’t always honest about what’s in their toys, which is why you should do the next thing on this list…

 

Read reviews from various different sources

There are many sex toy reviews in various places around the internet – including over 300 on this blog! – and it would behoove you to read several reviews of any toy you’re planning on purchasing, before you purchase it. I think it’s best to read a mix of sex toy bloggers’ reviews, reviews on mainstream sites like Self and Insider (both of which I’ve written for, FYI), and laypeople’s reviews on sites like Amazon. This’ll give you an overall picture of what people think of the toy.

For a vibrator, check to see whether reviews say it’s rumbly, powerful enough, and has variable speeds/settings (plus whatever other criteria you want to prioritize, like waterproofness or USB-rechargeability). For a non-vibrating toy, seek out reviewers’ thoughts on whether its shape and size are comfortable, how easy it is to use, and how well it hits whatever erogenous zone(s) you’re looking to target.

It’s especially useful if you can find, and follow the work of, sex toy critics whose tastes seem fairly close to your own. That way, you can more safely assume that their recommendations will work for you and your body. For example, if you and your favorite toy reviewer previously agreed on how great the Satisfyer Pro 2 felt, and the reviewer posts a glowing new review of the Lora DiCarlo Osé 2, it’s quite possible that you would like the Osé as well (or at least its clitoral portion).

 

Think about the “cost-per-use”

By far, clitoral vibrators are the type of toy I use most often, since I need clitoral stimulation to reach orgasm. So it makes sense that I’ve happily spent hundreds of dollars on great clitoral toys in the past: I use one nearly every time I masturbate or have sex. It’s easy to see how a $300 vibrator can be a good investment if you use it, say, 300 times in the first year that you own it. (In love with a vibrator?! Who, ME?!)

By contrast, something like the MotorBunny Buck Thrusting Sex Machine would be more of a “special occasion” toy for many people. That’s not to say you shouldn’t buy it, if you’ve got the funds – but it’s worth considering whether you’d rather spend that money on something you’d use regularly instead.

 

Touch it in-person

If you have the opportunity to see and touch a toy in real life, you can get a better idea of how well it’s constructed, how rumbly the vibrations are, how squishy the material is, etc., which is useful information when debating a purchase.

The most common way to do this is to visit a brick-and-mortar sex shop and check out their floor models, but if you happen to have a friend or partner who owns the sex toy you want, you could also ask them if you could come over to take a look and give it a squeeze. (Obviously it would be nice if they washed it first…)

 

Look for sales, deals, ‘n’ bundles

I really lucked out when I bought my Njoy Eleven. As of 2022, it retails for $360 in Canada – but when I bought it in 2015, it was selling for $200 and the retailer was having a “20% off everything” sale, so I ended up only paying $181 including tax. Not sure I’ll ever feel a rush quite like that again…

In addition to the periodic sales that many retailers run, you could also look for toy bundles, like the We-Vibe Date Night special edition kit, which contains my beloved We-Vibe Nova 2 along with one of We-Vibe’s super-rumbly vibrating cock rings. To buy these toys separately at full price would cost $288, whereas the bundle is only $217 right now. Wow!

If you see a toy bundle that contains some stuff you want and some stuff you don’t, you could ask a friend or partner if they want to chip in, in exchange for the toy(s) you’re not interested in. Teamwork makes the dream work!

 

Thanks to the folks at LuxuryVibrators.ca for sponsoring this post! As always, all writing and opinions are my own.

Review: CalExotics Red Hot Flare

Kate Sloan

I am a big fan of clitoral pleasure, so I’m always thrilled when I see sex toy companies taking novel approaches to clitoral stimulation.

There are so many different ways toys can touch this long-underestimated organ: they can vibrate it, suck it, blow rhythmic airwaves at it, massage it with a rotating wheel of tongues, and so much more. It’s a part of the body that, as far as we know, exists only to make us feel good – so why not try out as many different avenues of pleasure as possible?

That’s why I like clitoral vibrators that have two “prongs” or “ears,” so as to surround the clit on both sides, the way a partner’s lips can. They just feel different from any other type of toy, and help me discover wonderful new sensations within my own body. The one I’m reviewing today is the Red Hot Flare vibrator from CalExotics, sent to me by my pals at Mindful. Let’s talk about it.

What is the Red Hot Flare?

The Red Hot Flare is a USB-rechargeable, silicone clitoral vibrator made by CalExotics. Formerly known as California Exotic Novelties, this company was once infamous among sex toy reviewers for pumping out toxic, low-quality toys for ultra-low prices – and, while they still do their fair share of that, they have significantly stepped things up over the past decade and now make many body-safe, decent-quality products.

As I mentioned, this vibe is unlike most clit vibes in that it has two little “bunny ears” that its vibration transmits into. I think there are a few main reasons someone might prefer a two-pronged vibe over a more traditional clitoral vibe:

  1. If you are transmasculine or have feelings in that direction and would like a clitoral toy that feels gender-affirming, this type of toy might be a good pick. You can stroke the ears up and down on either side of your shaft for a BJ- or HJ-esque feeling. (I will say, however, that this particular vibe may not work as well for someone who has experienced much bottom growth on testosterone, because the distance between the ears is pretty minimal. They’re flexible, so you could make it work, but I think this toy is better suited for people with small- to medium-sized clits.)
  2. If your clit is very sensitive and/or you just prefer indirect clitoral stimulation (like me!), you might enjoy the way these vibrators can stimulate your clitoral shaft through your inner labia and clitoral hood, rather than stimulating the tip of your clit directly, which can be painful for some people. These vibes also stimulate deeper parts of the internal clit than most toys do – most notably, the clitoral bulbs, which are located inside the body on either side of the vaginal opening.
  3. If you’re very sensitive and enjoy light, fluttery sensations on your clit, like very gentle tongue-flicking, you might like this type of vibe because the ears (especially if quite thin and flexible) may sort of flutter back and forth when they vibrate. You can position them wherever feels best: the tip of your clit, the side of the shaft, the top through the clitoral hood, etc.

No matter how you’re using this toy, make sure to use a good water-based lube with it. This is especially important if you’ll be stroking it up and down or otherwise moving it around in any way, but the fluttery motion of the ears feels better with lube even when I’m holding it totally still.

 

Things I like about this vibrator

  • It is surprisingly powerful and respectably rumbly. This, as I’ve ranted about before, is the most important quality of any vibrator: its motor. The strength and rumbliness of this toy are such that I can orgasm from it easily and hardly experience any desensitization with it. Good job, CalEx!!
  • There are a lot of different potential ways to use this toy. I love that it invites exploration and experimentation. For example, sometimes I will tease my clitoral shaft through my hood with the tips of the ears, massage each side of it through my inner labia, and then eventually switch to the position that generally makes me come: one ear on either side of my clit, with the top of my clit nestled into the crook between the two ears. Full surround-sound stimulation, baybee.
  • This toy stimulates the sides and base of my clitoral shaft in a way that almost no toys do (at least not without some creative positioning), which, for me, makes orgasms feel more intense and full-bodied, and less overstimulating. For my particular clitoral preferences, I’d much rather use a toy shaped like this than a standard bullet vibe on most occasions.
  • The ears are very flexible – way moreso than those of similar toys I’ve tried, like the Jimmyjane Form 2 and We-Vibe Gala – which makes it easy for me to position them on either side of my clit, even as it swells with arousal.
  • The toy is quite petite, which makes it great for travel/transport (especially since it has a travel lock function) and also means it would be useable during PIV in pretty much any position.

 

Things I don’t like about this vibrator

  • The main issue is the battery life. The instruction manual for this toy says that a fully charged battery will last up to 30 minutes on the highest speed; in my experience, that is a generous estimate. I use the toy at various different speeds throughout a session, not just the highest one, and I typically have to charge this one after every 30-40 minutes of use. There’s also no visible indicator that the battery is close to dying, which is why one day the toy unfortunately shut off when I was about 5 seconds away from orgasm. Sigh. (Don’t worry, I grabbed my Eroscillator to finish the job.)
  • This toy only has 3 steady speeds, followed by 7 patterns, and you have to scroll through each setting one at a time using its one button. Fortunately, if you just want to get back to the first steady speed, you can achieve that more quickly by turning the vibe off and then on again. As always with toys that work this way, I wish this one had more steady speeds, fewer patterns, and even just one more button to help me navigate to whatever setting I’m looking for more easily.
  • The space between the ears is so slim that I always end up having to manually reposition each “ear” on either side of my clit whenever I move the vibe or take a break. It would be way better if the ears would just spread open when I push my clit between them, but that would require more space between the ears to begin with. I feel like most toys of this type are made with the assumption that all clits are small and that none of them get larger when aroused, which is… not the case.
  • While the motor and bendiness of this toy feel better than those of the Jimmyjane Form 2, I miss the thickness and firmness of the Form 2’s ears, because of the way they stimulated the spots between my inner labia and outer labia. That’s one of the best/easiest ways to stimulate the clitoral bulbs, but it requires that the ears have a little more heft to them so you can press them into the flesh there, and this toy does not have that ability.
  • The silicone is highly prone to collecting lint/hairs/dust (as you can see in the photos in this post, sigh), and is also pretty draggy. Lube is imperative.

 

Final thoughts

The CalExotics Red Hot Flare is, in many ways, a fantastic vibrator. It stimulates my clit in a pretty unique manner, has a delightfully rumbly and powerful motor, and is discreet and travel-friendly enough for long-distance sexy adventures. It gives me intense orgasms with ease.

But it won’t work for everyone’s anatomy, and frankly, for $100, I expect better battery life than what this one offers. If CalExotics fixed that issue, this would become a top-drawer favorite of mine, but I’m just not willing to charge a vibrator after literally every use.

If you love clitoral stimulation, particularly the kind that is indirect and focuses mostly on your clitoral shaft, you’d probably dig the Red Hot Flare. As long as you don’t mind keeping its charger by the bed forever.

 

Thanks to the folks at Mindful for sending me this product to review! 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.