Posts Tagged ‘vibrator review’
Siime Eye: vibrator + camera for vagina selfies
Reviewing sex toys is tough work, but somebody’s got to do it. Usually I say that as a joke — the “work” involved is almost always joyful. However, at times I have to work pretty hard for you, dear reader, such as this review of the Siime Eye.The Siime (pronounced “SEE-ME”) Eye from Svakom is a very slim vibrator, 1-inch in diameter, designed for internal stimulation, and it has a special attribute: a camera!
Yes, at the tip of the vibrator is a camera which is designed to let you take a photo or video of what’s going on inside your own or a partner’s vagina. I could, I fantasized, see what my vagina looked like relaxed, aroused, and during orgasm. I could see what my cervix did. Knowledge is power!First things first. You need to download the Siime app onto a smart phone, tablet, or laptop. The app sets up its own wi-fi network. Once the camera and the app are both turned on, you pair them using the password you’re given (you can change it, but why bother?).
Easy peasy following the instructions in the app. Now everything the camera sees is viewable on your device. You can snap photos or record videos of the inner workings of your vaginal canal to export to your personal photo gallery or, I suppose, to YouTube. (No, dear reader, I did not upload mine to YouTube because… just no.)
The truth is that it didn’t quite work that way. Truth #1: I discovered that vaginal secretions do not make for a clear camera lens. In fact, all I saw was a coated, cloudy, pinkish blur.
Aha, now I understood why several other reviewers, such as Emmeline Peaches, Penny for Your (Dirty) Thoughts, and Carnal Queen, said that a clear speculum was a necessary add-on purchase before being able to use this product as intended. The nice folks at Siime Eye told me that there’s no need for a speculum, but I don’t know where they found clear, non-coating vaginas.
So I ordered a clear speculum, size small, from Amazon. I wasn’t sure how I’d work the two together, but it turns out that the opening between the two arms of the speculum can be adjusted to make room for the Siime Eye. So far so good.
But then I discovered Truth #2: There’s nothing about an inserted speculum that is sexy or even allows for the possibility of arousal. I got a clear view, yay, but there was no way that an orgasm would happen with that thing in me. Truth #3: Although the Siime Eye is a vibrator, that’s meaningless when it’s inside a speculum. It would only vibrate the plastic of the speculum. Still, it was interesting to see what was going on in there.
Truth #4: Older vaginal tissues are thin and fragile. (I knew that.) As I wiggled the speculum and the Siime Eye around trying to make them fit right and show what I wanted (much like robotic surgery, I’d guess), I felt enough discomfort after a few minutes to abort the operation. The discomfort persisted, and I discovered some light bleeding. That was from the plastic speculum, not the Siime Eye — which is smooth silicone, slender, and perfectly comfortable on its own. My first attempts at a vaginal selfie failed.
With the camera turned off and the speculum banished to another room, the Siime Eye becomes a slim, buzzy, penetrative vibrator. For women who have discomfort during insertion of a normal-size penis or dildo, this body-safe silicone vibrator might be a pleasant alternative. The shape is straight and narrow, not designed for G-spot stimulation.
In case you want to play with the Siime Eye camera for other uses, it doesn’t give a sharp image unless you’re right up against your subject. Compare the photo of my face from just inches away (blurry) with that of my eye, close enough that a sneeze would poke it out. I wasn’t expecting the camera quality of a medical-grade endoscope, so that wasn’t a big surprise.
I wanted to like the Siime Eye, really I did. It’s such a cool idea, and my Svakom contact person was very helpful and patient. Playing with a partner would likely give you better results than I had solo. And if you’re into doctor play, this will be your tool of choice! I’d love to know your experiences with it.
The nice Svakom people also sent me the Keri, a spoon-shaped clitoral vibrator that’s small, ergonomic, and light enough for travel. The design keeps it out of the way during partner sex — very handy when you need an assist during partner penetration. However, I’m lukewarm about the Keri because it’s buzzy, not super strong, and the handle vibrates almost as much as the working end, which can irritate your hand and wrist and get in the way of pleasure.
If you’d like to try Siime Eye, it’s available on Amazon through an authorized distributor at this link or on Svakom’s own website.
The Pulse, the King of Penis Vibrators
12/18/16 update: Read about the new Pulse III on my 2016 Holiday Gift Guide for Seniors!
6/30/15 update: There is an even newer version of this product — The Pulse II — which David Pittle reviewed. See his update below. Enjoy!
Presenting… The Pulse, a pulsing, oscillating, amazing vibrator for penises that does not require an erection for his pleasure!
That’s right — unlike other vibrating “sleeves,” the penis does not have to be hard to start enjoying it. Spread open the flexible flaps, rest your penis in it, turn it on, and enjoy the sensations.
The fabulous folks at Smitten Kitten first showed me this vibrator, praising its qualities. The Pulse penis vibrator works for men of all ages, and it’s especially splendid for pleasuring an older man. If you get erections erratically, this toy will make you hard. If erections are not in the picture, you’ll still feel tremendous sexual pleasure.
Of course I had to get some men of our age to test the Pulse for us. You can imagine how easy it was to get three volunteers! These men all live in different places, and I wanted to give them each plenty of time to play and experiment, so I arranged with Hot Octopuss, the British manufacturer of the Pulse, to send one product, and the dear folks at Smitten Kitten sent two more.
Here’s what my Pulse-pleasured guys told me:
Richard:
I’m a man, almost 58, who has had a number of sexual issues going back more than 8 years. Most of my issues — temporary impotence, lack of sensation, pain with orgasm — are because I’m a prostate cancer survivor who was treated surgically. Recently I’ve been able to resolve many of these issues.
Given my past challenges, I’ve haven’t taken a lot of time to explore penile sex toys beyond cock rings and therapeutic penis pumps. I wasn’t sure what a toy could do for me anyway. But that changed with the Pulse! While not a traditional sleeve toy, it does deliver vibratory sensations to the penis. It has a number of speeds and intensities that are easily set by a lighted button.
It has a unique feature where some of the vibrations are concentrated in a circular section that delivers an extra boost to the highly sensitive underside of the head of the penis. For me, it’s been a great erection builder. I’ve enjoyed taking the time to play and experiment with the various settings of intensity.
Because I still have some limited sensation, I’ve not been able to reach orgasm using the Pulse exclusively. But it is a very pleasurable toy and has warmed me up to some very nice plateaus. It’s made of hard plastic and high-grade non-toxic silicone. It can be used with or without lubricant, but is more effective as a “stroker” toy when used with lubricant. It’s easily cleaned with a damp cloth.
Paul:
The Pulse is one toy that’s worth the money! It has easy-to-use controls, fits nicely in the hand and has a coin-like, raised bump inside at just the right place. It feels wonderful!
On the low setting, with a little water-based lube, this thing got me hard in no time. And this was after I’d had sex and a great orgasm earlier in the day. I’m over 50, so that’s saying a lot. The next day, this thing had me orgasming in minutes.
Watch out if you get lube on the hand you’re holding it with though — it can get slippery. It performs well, but does take a couple minutes to clean due to the ribs inside. A quick wipe with soap and water does the trick — it can’t be submerged.
This is the only criticism I have: It comes with a USB charger cord but without an adapter to plug into a wall outlet. Fortunately I had one, and you can pick one up cheap.
David M. Pittle, Ph.D (age 70+):
Most men’s sex toys seem to be some form of sleeve to simulate a vagina. The Pulse is different. Like the sleeves, it is a tube for the penis to enter, but it is open at the top with wings that bend out, so the penis can be simply laid into the tube on top of the strongest point of vibration. This creates the greatest sensations on the most sensitive part of the penis, the frenulum.
This is an amazingly versatile sex toy. My experience with it was “five stars.” That puts it right up there with the Hitachi Magic Wand.
I was skeptical about the battery because battery toys that are powerful run down fairly rapidly. Ten or fifteen minutes of use and they need recharging. Not the case with the Pulse. In a tribute to battery engineers, the Pulse ran for four sessions of 15 to 20 minutes and was still going strong.
This is a great product. The only criticism I have is that it can’t be immersed in water. The water will get into the battery compartment. That is somewhat minor, but given the price, a waterproof charging system would have been nice.
Update: David received a sample of the new Pulse II Solo and had this to add:
There is a new king in town: The Pulse II Solo. First, the new model’s vibrations are not only stronger, but also feel more effective and include programmed patterns. Second, the vibrations come from a piston mechanism designed for penile stimulation. Third, it works longer per charge. There are many other improvements, but these are the most apparent.
The Pulse II Solo maintains the open top with expanding wings. A flaccid penis can easily be inserted. As it responds to the vibratory stimulation, it becomes as hard as it can and continues to increase sensitivity. As this happens, those wings spread to accommodate the growth in girth.
The vibratory plate, located under the penis glans at its most sensitive area, is large enough to continue to make contact during the expansion. There are many nerve endings at the base of the penis. The Pulse II Solo is able to simultaneously excite these nerves without losing touch with the nerves in the glans.
As you can tell, I was excited by the original Pulse, but I’m an out and out fan of the Pulse II. It is without doubt the best vibrator sex toy for men with erectile challenges that I have seen. As a sex therapist often dealing with older men with erectile dysfunction, this is very important to me. I will certainly be recommending this product.
I applaud the Hot Octopuss company which has taken pro-sex political stances and is promoting improved sex for seniors. Their blog entry, “Coming Of Age: Over-55s Most Sexually Satisfied” is worth reading.
(I am sad to tell you that sex therapist David Pittle died December 2017. We value his sex toy reviews. Read his other reviews here.)
Note from Joan:
The Pulse is amazing for men. It claims that the outer part also pleasures a woman partner for use by a couple together.
In my case, not so. The inside part that holds the penis is comfortable and stimulating for him, but the outside part that supposedly can stimulate the clitoris is mostly hard plastic and doesn’t vibrate much, not the least bit sexy for me. Of course, your experience may vary, and another woman reported getting plenty of pleasure from it. [Note: This comment was based on testing the original Pulse. I’ll update it when I’ve tested the Pulse II Duo, which I understand is greatly improved.]
My recommendation is to let the man use this on his own — he’ll love it, and he deserves a superb sex toy of his own!
Check out Shamus McDuff’s review of the Pocket Pulse.
I hope you’ll join me in thanking Smitten Kitten and Hot Octopuss for the sample products and for continuing to support my senior sex education work by ordering from them directly.
Womanizer W500: Outstanding Clitoral Suction Vibrator!
2/12/22: This Womanizer model is no longer available. Please check out LoveHoney’s current array of Womanizers. I deleted the dead links but didn’t delete the review because, hey, Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
If you read my review of the original Womanizer, you may remember that the clitoral suction made my world rock and roll, but I had to keep my eyes closed to keep from being distracted by the tacky design. This new version is better than the original for all these reasons:
2. There are two sizes of clitoral cup to envelope clitorises of different sizes and varied states of protrusion or retraction. |
| controls on back |
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| Jeffrey Dean Morgan |
FYI, yes, I dislike the name “Womanizer.” So I renamed mine Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Thank you, LoveHoney.com, for arranging for me to test the Womanizer W500.
Sybian Update: New Silicone Attachments!
Sybian goes silicone! The wonderful folks at Sybian have been tirelessly working on how they can increase our pleasure and our orgasms, and use body-safe, easy-to-clean silicone. They’ve just created two beautiful silicone attachments that are rocking my world.If you’re saying, “What’s a Sybian?” please read my original review first. Then return here to learn what’s new.
If your preference is vibration to your clitoris and vulva without penetration, the unique design of the Orb is my dream vibrator. It consists of an orb (hence the name) at the top of a ramp-like structure, and all of it vibrates powerfully.
This is perfect for those of us who like stimulation to a large area — not just the clitoral glans, but the whole vulva. It can be used in several ways, depending on how you position yourself and it:
1. You can press the ramp part against your labia with the orb at your clitoris.
2. Turning the Sybian around, you can press the orb against your vaginal opening and the ramp slides over your labia and clitoris. You may find it challenging to get into position if you’re straddling the Sybian for this position — see the alternative “Recline and Tilt” described below.
3. If you just want the orb against your clitoris, you can turn it around so that the ramp doesn’t contact anything — you just feel the orb part.
Experiment — there’s no way to use it “wrong.”
If you like penetration and you prefer a slender width, the G-Wave stimulates your G-spot with a smooth bulb that’s only 1.27″ in diameter, atop a stem that’s even more slender: 1.1″ in diameter. Sybian really listened to me when I told them that many of us in our later years prefer — even require — a slender toy for penetration.
Because the penetrating part rotates rather than thrusts, it can feel much fuller than the measurements indicate, depending on how high you dial the rotation. Slick the G-Wave with lubricant, and it inserts smoothly and gently or strongly (your choice) rotates in your vagina, stimulating your G-spot. It doesn’t feel like a penis — it feels more like a lover inserting a couple of well-placed fingers and moving them around. Delicious.
The “wave” part (see the wavy lines?) rests against your labia and clitoris and vibrates you to paradise. I like the width of the wave section — it vibrates against your whole vulva. The vibration control is separate from the rotation, so you can dial it to vibrate to any intensity from light to rumbly strong to I-can’t-believe-I’m-experiencing-this — you’ll decide what your limit is.
Suggestion: Start with a low vibration and no rotation. As you become aroused, dial up the vibration a little at a time, and add the rotation if you like it.
If you look up other reviews of the Sybian, especially the videos on YouTube, you’ll think that the only way to use this phenomenal sex machine is by mounting it. You can do that — either on your knees (yeah, like we can get on these old knees at our age?) or with the Sybian on a platform and your feet on the floor. However, there’s a much easier and more comfortable way to use it. I’ve nicknamed it “Recline and Tilt.”
As I suggested in my earlier review of the Sybian:
If straddling is uncomfortable for your hips, or if you can’t relax that way, you can lie down on your bed with the Sybian between your legs on its power-cord end. Then tilt it forward so that the attachment contacts your genitals without putting weight on you. It’s fine to use it this way — it won’t harm the Sybian or you.
Once I discovered how well that position works, I never went back to mounting my Sybian. Both of these new attachments are particularly fabulous if you’re reclining, relaxed, and tilting the Sybian onto you or into you.
If you already own a Sybian, these attachments will add tremendously to your pleasure. If you don’t already own a Sybian, Bunny Lampert, daughter of the inventor, is offering my readers a $75 discount with the code “JOAN75“!
Order the Orb, the G-Wave, or both attachments here. Learn more about the Sybian here.
Bonus: These silicone attachments also come with pretty, satin storage bags.