I’ve spoken here about the need for a greater emphasis on sustainability within the sex toy industry quite a few times. It’s something I’ve been passionate about for as long as I can remember (I was one of three members of the sustainability council in primary school), and as I’ve gotten older this has only increased. Plus, when you receive as many sex toys as I do, you quickly realise the sheer level of waste they create, from the oversized packaging, huge instruction manuals, unnecessary plastics, and more, and that’s before you even begin think about the toys themselves and the vast amount that must be sitting in landfill right now. Typically though when I address it here it’s because of steps a small business is taking, from the eco-conscious creation of Deeper Blue Ceramic’s gorgeous pieces, to the low-waste packaging of Geeky Sex Toy’s orders, but this year for the first time I’m starting to see bigger brands consider changing things up too. Recently at the blog we’ve seen a lot of Lora DiCarlo’s beautiful storage bags that are proudly made from 100% recycled plastic found in the ocean, and now with announcements from more major brands about their commitment to sustainability, such as Womanizer’s new PREMIUMeco, I think we’re finally on the right track. So today we’re taking a closer look at one of the products that’s got me so excited for the future of this industry and finding out if Lovehoney’s latest collaboration with sustainable brand Love Not War feels as good to use as it does to support.
Review: Lora DiCarlo Carezza
Often times the sex toy industry feels like something of a close knit community. So when big new Silicon Valley-style companies launch with their ignorant yet sweeping assumptions about sex tech and big claims about how they’re going to “reinvent” it… it’s easy to dismiss them. After all, considering the rapidly increasing worth of this industry, which has only skyrocketed since we all collectively spent more time at home than ever before in 2020, tech companies would be foolish not to look into it, even if their obliviousness usually ends up being their downfall. One of the companies that I felt this way about until not so long ago was Lora DiCarlo, a new brand that looks more tech than sex, calls their products “robotics”, and recently appointed actress and model Cara Delevingne as co-owner. But after trying their unique oral sex stimulator Filare in January, thanks to For Her Box, I couldn’t deny that it was indeed the closest replication of those sensations I’ve ever experienced from a sex toy. So for today’s review we’re taking a look at another new innovative toy from Lora DiCarlo, the Carezza, to find out if this brand is really worth your time or just a one hit wonder.
Review: Bestvibe Beinlove Tongue Rabbit
There is one big problem with buying sex toys, or really anything, online. As an anxiety-driven person, I am 100% here for the comfort and luxury of shopping from my own home, and this has never felt so important as when I started buying adult products. But as with clothes, shoes, glasses, and anything else where a “fit” really matters, looking at toys such as vibrators and dildos online, versus in person, can be a bit misleading. I’ve made plenty of mistakes over the years due to incorrect assumptions of how large or soft an item would be (always read the description and measurements carefully, folks!), with some notable errors being when I thought the Tantus Splish would be a fully-sized dildo (rather than the size of my finger) or when I assumed for years that the Uberrime Tentare Tentacle was too thick for me to insert (despite it being a small bullet vibrator cover the whole time). But even after almost six years of doing this professionally, it seems I still haven’t learned. So today we’re taking a look at the Bestvibe Beinlove Tongue Rabbit, a product I thought would be a clitoral suction toy, but is instead a fully blown clitoral pump.
Review: Faux Phallus Agapanthus
I love being a sex toy reviewer more than anything. But there are some obvious downsides to doing it in Australia. There’s no major manufacturers located here, popular toys aren’t always stocked by local stores, shipping prices from everywhere else are ridiculously high, and in terms of a blogging community… well most of the time it’s just me. There is one thing, however, that has disappointed me most over the years though, and that’s the lack of independent makers. Overseas, but particularly in the USA, there seems to be an abundance of people creating silicone toys from their very own homes and selling them places like Etsy, allowing them to push the limits of what is considered a sex toy by producing imaginative designs in a kaleidoscope of colours that would have never been able to occur within a larger mass-producing company. I could browse these stores all day, and often do, but with shipping typically costing far more than the products themselves, actually making a purchase is sadly not an option for me. It’s because of this that I have spent a good part of the last six years wishing and hoping someone would kick off a similar community here (and making my own plans if I were to ever move to a bigger apartment), and now in 2021 it finally seems my cries have been answered.
Review: Hot Octopuss KURVE
If I had to choose just one company that I get most excited for new releases from, it think I would have to be Hot Octopuss. Unlike most other brands who are pumping out new toy ranges all the time, this award-winning UK team only announces a few select products a year, and you can always tell that each piece has been carefully designed to not only provide immense pleasure, but also to stand out and bring something new to the table, whether it’s just to their brand or the industry as a whole. Starting out in the world of penis and couples toys, their masturbators are the only solo sex toys my partner uses, and they make up some of our favourite dual devices too. As for me, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying watching Hot Octopuss slowly expand to produce a small range of clitoral toys over the past few years, starting with the now discontinued Queen Bee, and more recently with the DiGiT and AMO, which is one of my all-time favourite bullets, placing in my Top 10 Sex Toys of 2020. But the G-Spot is one area I’ve still been eagerly awaiting to see them tackle, and now with the release of the KURVE it seems it is finally happening!
Review: Irresistible Mythical
Last week’s review was full of firsts. It was my first time reviewing a suction toy outside of those from the major brands, such as Satisfyer and We-Vibe, which was surprising considering they’re my favourite type of sex toy. Plus, it was my first real look at the suction rabbit trend, which has recently risen out of the brilliant success of the Womanizer DUO. So it must be fate, because entirely by coincidence it just so happens that this week’s review item from For Her Box is an almost identical product (I did say it was a big trend, after all!). But while the Sohimi Suction Vibrator offered four different forms of stimulation all within its small little body for the ridiculously low price of $38, the Irresistible Mythical is significantly more simplified yet much more costly, coming in at $165. Still, this is far from the beloved DUO’s $330, making the Mythical a perfect middle ground between the two toys. Whether that actually stays true during testing however… we’re about to find out!