LELO Mona: Elegant Instrument of Pleasure!

By Joan Price | June 12, 2010 |
LELO sex toys are beautifully made, both functional and artistic in design, and absolutely made for pleasure. The LELO Mona  is curvy, sleek and sexy, and practically silent. Thank you, Tabu Toys, provider of sex toys, for sending me the beautiful and elegant LELO Mona for review.

The Mona can be used as either a clitoral vibrator or a G-spot seeking insertable vibrator. For clitoral stimulation, either touch the tip to your sweet spot, or position the whole curve over your vulva–the vibrations seem to make the whole vulva sing, with of course a special focus on the clitoris. I didn’t find the vibrations quite strong enough to take me to the finish line this way, but I enjoyed it as a most pleasurable warmup.
The Mona shines — or should I say glows? — as an insertable vibrator. It has an unusual shape: a tapered tip that bulges to about 1.5″ in diameter, then thins considerably. Besides being pretty, that shape let’s you insert it, then let go and use it hands-free (or practically — you may need to touch it lightly to keep it from turning). Once inserted, it’s not likely to pop out at inopportune moments. If you prefer thrusting, the shape gives surprising sensations–its curvy bits are not at all penile, which you might like or not. It feels really good, just not like a penis, if that’s your shape of choice.
It’s rechargeable, which means you plug it in for a while to charge the toy, then it will go unassisted for hours. No cords or batteries to fuss with while you’re concentrating on your sensations. 
For those of us older folks with arthritis, the ergonomic design makes it easy to hold comfortably, no gripping, no weird angles. The only problem is that it’s easy to accidentally press a control button, changing mode or intensity.
The Mona is a mid-sized vibrator, larger than my favorite LELO toy, the Gigi. Here they are side by side for comparison.

Yes, the Mona is expensive. It’s a luxury toy: beautifully designed, easy to hold and a pleasure to use, made of medical-grade materials, velvety smooth, quiet, with six modes of stimulation and a variety of intensities. If you can afford to give yourself a special gift of pleasure, go fot it. Or direct a generous friend to this review!

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Little Chroma: tiny, elegant, and waterproof

By Joan Price | May 25, 2010 |
The Little Chroma is an elegant vibrator from Jimmyjane. The shape may make you think it’s supposed to be inserted vaginally, but although it can be used that way, it is best used on the clitoris where it can touch, rub, or roll against your sweet spot.
This lovely toy is really small — 5-1/4″ long and just 5/8″ in diameter. See how nicely it fits in my tiny hand? If you do want to use it vaginally, the cap has two small holes where you can thread a string to pull it out, just in case you can’t get a grip on it later on.

The Little Chroma claims that although it has only one vibrational intensity, it’s the only one you need. I don’t go along with “one speed fits all” any more than “one size fits all,” but it is a very nice intensity, despite being powered by just one AA battery. I’m spoiled by my super-strong vibrators, but this one is stronger than I expected — maybe a 4 out of 5. The motor is replaceable should it give out after many uses, so although the price is hefty, you’ll get a lifetime of pleasure from it.

Here’s what I expecially like about my Little Chroma:

  • It’s beautiful. It’s slim, designed to please the eye and hand as much as the pleasure spots it touches.
  • It’s made of aluminum and holds temperature well. So if you like it cold, as I do (is that weird?), or hot, you can warm or cool it first under running water.
  • It’s very smooth, feels splendid against tender tissues.
  • If you want to use it in your vagina and you are one of the many women our age who experience vaginal tightness, this can be a lovely way to re-open up an arena of pleasure. 
  • The slim design makes it perfect for clitoral stimulation during partner intercourse — it won’t get in the way.
  • It’s small enough to travel with you, even in a purse.
  • It’s waterproof!
 

Although other reviewers have said this toy is silent, I didn’t find it so. It’s much quieter than most vibrators, yes–just a subdued hum–but it would probably wake up a lightly sleeping partner, if that’s your concern.

It’s always recommended to remove batteries when a toy isn’t in use, to prevent the toy from accidentally turning on and wearing itself out. I don’t usually bother to do that, but I certainly have to remove the battery from this one, because the vibrator turns on just by closing the cap. There’s no on-off switch — no controls at all, in fact. Open is off; closed is on. (That’s why the cap is partially unscrewed in the photos; otherwise it would be buzzing away.) That’s not a bad thing —  the tight seal and lack of seams make it waterproof.

It’s also sturdy, despite its delicate look. I was testing it in the shower, and accidentally dropped it. It buzzed away on the floor until I picked it up without missing a beat. Of course I don’t recommend dropping it on a hard surface, but I was pleased that I did no damange.

Many thanks to Eden Fantasys for sending me this lovely toy to review.

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G-Swirl: If you can get it open!

By Joan Price | April 10, 2010 |
[This vibrator is no longer available, but I thought you’d still enjoy reading about my trials and tribulations trying to use it.]
I’m no vibrator novice, and I’ve opened many a toy to insert batteries. I have never had the trouble I did with the G-Swirl.
I do understand how this is supposed to work. I read the directions. You squeeze the indentations, you hear a click from each side, and the top pops off. I reviewed a similar toy — the G-Twist — and had no problem popping its cap with one hand.
But I couldn’t open my purple G-Swirl with one hand, two hands, or even a jar opener. There were no clicks, nothing loosened.
Thank goodness, the good folks at Good Vibrations agreed that my product must be defective. They quickly replaced it with a new G-Swirl — this one bubblegum pink.
Hurray, this one opened. But it still took both hands squeezing the indentations (I couldn’t photograph that endeavor because I had no hand left to work the camera). Even with both hands, it took several tries.
For that reason alone, I hesitate to recommend the G-Swirl to women my age who may have arthritic or weak wrists. I type all day and lift weights, so you’d think I’d have found this task easier. If you’re young — maybe you wring diapers on a regular basis or build houses– and have the hand strength, maybe it won’t be an issue.
Good Vibrations, to their credit, sprang into action. They wrote me, “We put up a video on Youtube about changing the batteries of the G-Swirl here — while filming it we definitely saw how tricky it can be for a first time user.” (That’s okay, I’m not bristling at the “first time user reference.) You’ll notice that even in the demo (no longer available, sorry), she has to use both hands.
I apologize for taking this long to get past my tale of trying to open the cap to arrive at my actual review of the G-Swirl in operation. I’m happy to tell you that this internal vibrator is designed very well. The silicone is velvety smooth and just soft enough to give a little. The shape conforms to the vagina, with the curved bulb at the end just right for g-spotting.
The size starts small at the tip and increases with each new ridge, so you can decide how deep and full you want it. Holding the G-Swirl is comfortable, and the flared ridge is a good place to rest your hand. I read another review call it “hands-free,” but I didn’t find that to be true for me.
The vibrations are controlled by a daisy-shaped dial — you dial until you find the intensity (light to medium-strong) you want. I didn’t love that if you dial past the highest intensity, it decreases again, but I got used to making sure I didn’t do that.

Thank you, Good Vibrations, for sending me the G-Swirl.

Read all my vibrator reviews here. There are many, so click “older posts when you’ve scrolled to the bottom.
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ViboKit: Build your own rabbit

By Joan Price | March 30, 2010 |

[10/18/12 update: I learned that this product has been discontinued
(sorry!), but I thought you’d get a kick out of this review anyway,
so I didn’t remove it. Enjoy!]

 I love the idea of a “rabbit” vibrator that operates vaginally and clitorally at the same time. But if you’re like me, getting a vibrator designed for dual-action is hit or miss. If it hits the g-spot right, it misses the clitoris altogether. If it hits the clitoris just right, the vaginal action is all wrong. We’re all built differently. Wouldn’t it nice if you could build your own “rabbit” to your own dimensions?

With the ViboKit Upgrade Kit from Babeland, you can! This genius idea consists of a bullet (small, compact vibrator) in a rubbery home attached to a stretchable ring that fits around your dildo of choice. So you take the innie that works best for you, attach this outie, and voila — you have a rabbit vibrator that fits you. So cool!

That’s the idea of the Upgrade Kit, and it mostly works.

This isn’t in the instruction sheet — oh wait, there is no instruction sheet, just a diagram on the side of the box — but before use, you have to remove the bullet from its snug home (just twist and pull a bit), open it, and remove the little paper over the watch batteries that is keeping it from vibrating in the UPS truck during shipping. The first time, I got a faulty bullet which wouldn’t turn on, whatever I did, and then when I left it alone for a while, it turned itself on and wouldn’t turn off. It just skittered around the room on its own. I had to unscrew it it to make it stop.

The sign of a great sex toy retailer is its customer service. The moment I reported the problem to Babeland, a new one was on its way to me. The new one works perfectly — it turns on when I press the button, stays on if I hold it down for a few seconds, and turns off the moment I press it again. So that first one was indeed defective and a fluke. I include this not to embarrass Babeland or ViboKit, but to assure you that the retailers I recommend stand behind their products 100%.

The kit has more than the bullet attachment, though that’s the whole reason I wanted it. It also has a nubby ring to put around your dildo for more sensation, and a suction cup (!) so you can attach the whole business to the bathtub or to a wall (I suppose) for hands-free operation for a photo op or to delight a partner. (“Honey, open the door verrrry slowly!”)

I didn’t trust the suction cup — I didn’t want it to come loose and break either the mood or my toys. So I tested it attaching my newly created rabbit to the shower wall with my hands ready underneath. It stayed on the wall. I turned on the bullet — it stayed on the wall. I turned on the dildo also — it stayed on the wall! I truly expected that it would shake loose and fall, and I would scoff at the whole idea — but it actually stuck. Hmmm! I have no wish to make love to the shower wall, so now all I need is some reason that I’d want to stick it to the wall.

“Forget the shower wall!” I hear you shout. “How did your homemade rabbit work?” It worked fine for what it was — a bullet attached to a favorite vibrator. It was easily adjustable and stayed where I wanted it. But the bullet itself just isn’t strong enough for me. It might be for you, though.

Thank you, Babeland, for helping me build my own rabbit. And at only $28 for the whole kit (as long as you already have a favorite dildo), how can you go wrong?

See all Joan Price’s vibrator reviews here.
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