Australia

Review: Midnight Menagerie Teufl

Midnight Menagerie Teufl

It’s been well over a year now since I last reviewed for an Australian independent maker, and oh how things have changed in that time! It feels like just yesterday I was introducing Darque Path and Faux Phallus at the blog, two of the very first local stores to pop up, and now all my dreams have finally come true, with a thriving community of small businesses being located right here down under. One of these such brands is Midnight Menagerie, a Queensland-based shop very much after my own heart. With a range of fantasy designs available in a range of beautiful colours, they also offer TTRPG dice for games such as Dungeons & Dragons, which I’m more than a little partial to. But the thing that most excites me is the variety of size options they offer their toys in, and so when they recently suggested sending me their latest design, the Teufl, I knew it would suit me perfectly.

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Review: Wands of Lust Co Hercules

Wands of Lust Co Hercules

The world of crystals and harnessing their energy for healing and meditation is a truly fascinating one. I’ve tried a few sex toys now that make use of this unique material, and learning about their different properties and how they can bring positive change to your life is just as mesmerising as actually using them. But alas, despite my interest and efforts, I don’t know how much I find myself truly understanding these things beyond reading about them. Instead, I mostly just think crystals look pretty, and that’s okay too. So when Wands of Lust Co recently approached me about sending another of their products, I knew I wanted to go in a totally different direction visually than my previous review on their Aphrodite. And what’s more different from the translucent pink of rose quartz, than the endless black of pure obsidian?

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Review: Wands of Lust Co Aphrodite

Wands of Lust Co Aphrodite

Sex toys are a unique product in that, as something that is generally seen as risqué and not socially acceptable, people tend to find ways to categorise them so that they become acceptable. It means that rather than just being seen as a plain old vibrator or dildo, with nothing to offer but pleasure (so scary), alternative uses are found that can help take some of that edge off and make them more approachable. There are the geeks and fantasy lovers, who create toys based around pop culture for the ultimate roleplay experience, the artists and design lovers who see toys more like sculptures to be admired, and the nerds and tech lovers who want to innovate sex by connecting toys to our smartphones. But the type I want to talk about today is the wellness and spirituality lovers, who see sex toys as a way to deeply connect with your body and soul. And no product is more popular with this crowd than the iconic rose quartz wand. 

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Review Round-Up: Grinders

Grinders Review Round-Up

Like many people, grinding was my entry point into the world of masturbation. Whether it meant rubbing at my vulva by hand or going on top of my pillows at night, I was doing it long before I even knew what a vibrator was. But now, after seven years of testing hundreds of sex toys, it’s not often I find myself resorting to this kind of “acoustic” play anymore. After all, I have all kinds of gadgets that can achieve the same thing for far less effort, and thus grinding had become but a distant memory. So, you can imagine my surprise when in 2021 a new toy trend seemingly emerged out of nowhere: grinders. From indie makers releasing a wave of textured non-insertables, to retailers relabelling old favourites like the We-Vibe Touch and Tenga Iroha+ Kushi as grindable toys, clearly something was going on, and I wanted in. Which is why I sought out six of the best for today’s very special grinder review round-up!

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Review: Closetplay Speedster

Closetplay Speedster

In October 2021 the sex toy world suffered a huge loss. Geeky Sex Toys, Australia’s first (and, for a long time, only) independent maker of silicone toys, closed their virtual doors. Pioneers of the fantasy genre, they introduced the idea of mixing pop culture with sex toys for all us “naughty nerds” out there, and as it turned out, there were a lot of us. But while they might have been the first to bring us the lightsaber dildo and Pikachu butt plug, they certainly won’t be the last. Many retailers, from other indie makers such as Deep N’ Geek to big brands like The Realm by Blush Novelties, have taken inspiration from Geeky Sex Toys over the years. However, I don’t think any have quite captured their almost chaotic creativity quite like newcomer Closetplay Sex Toys.

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Review Round-Up: Australian-Made Lube

Australian-Made Lube of 2021I’ve always been a big supporter of buying local. After all, one of the reasons I started my blog was to help support Australian adult retailers and businesses. But over the course of the last two years, shopping local has felt less like the right thing to do, and more like a necessity. As what was once “unexpected” shipping delays becomes the norm, and more and more international retailers remove Australia from their standard shipping lists, purchasing goods from overseas no longer feels like an option for me, especially with the holiday season fast approaching. That’s part of why the opening of Faux Phallus and Darque Path, some of Australia’s first proper fantasy makers, earlier this year was so exciting. But in addition to this, there has been another, and perhaps even more vital, area of the industry that has recently saw local growth for the first time in a long time, and that is Australian-made lube. Within just the last year, four new brands have popped up around the country to ensure Australian’s aren’t without this pleasure essential, and today I’m going to be having a closer look at each of them.

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