Ramblings of a Newbie

Nope, not the seafood. They’re made by Sportsheets and sold by Babeland Toys, awesome suppliers of toys that they are. The Scalloped Cuffs are quite lovely, actually.

I’ve had Sportsheets cuffs before, and while they’re very good, they’re velcro and fabric. These are a very nice upgrade from those. Nice black leather with a decorative lining of thin suede. Lining the entire inside of the cuff is thick, soft black (faux) fleece.

The strap goes around the entire cuff, and it makes for not only a very secure feel, but also an attractive look.

And they’re lockable. They don’t come with locks, but small padlocks will fit through the hole on the tongue of the buckle.

They are extremely comfortable and there’s no undue pressure on any one spot while straining against them. On New Year’s Eve CK connected me to a lovely St Andrew’s Cross in these, and they held beautifully. They left no marks on my wrists, either (a good thing, as I tend to wear short sleeves at work).

I had SC (my resident expert) look over these and she pronounced them quite good. The Scalloped Cuffs are sturdy, comfortable, pretty, and I recommend them highly. They looked really good with my black and red corset, too. Good gift idea for Valentine’s (it’s coming up soon, guys).

I finally had the chance to playtest the Under The Bed Restraints from Babeland.com.

Holy Hell. They looked really good, they installed easily; however I’m neither small nor weak, and I wasn’t sure if the lightweight nylon straps would actually hold me. The velcro cuffs that came with the set are the same as a set I’ve used in the past, and are quite stronger than they look.

For a proper test, I decided I wanted to use my own cuffs for my ankles and the included cuffs for my wrists. That’s another good point…you can change out the cuffs. One caveat: I used the spare link kind of connector, the c-shaped thing with the rotating closure. Don’t do that. Use double-ended spring clips instead. Easier to get your captive free in case of emergency. In my case, CK tightened one of the connectors a little too much and it was tough to get one of my ankles free. Fail, but not an epic fail as it wasn’t an emergency. I figured I’d pass on my learnin to you guys before it happens for real (for the sake of fairness, while he was connecting the ankle cuffs, he did say that I was using the wrong kind of connectors. I said bah! Now I know. *grin*).

So, sometime during the day, I was texting to the boy and said that if he was feeling up for it after dinner I wanted to playtest the restraints. “Think of something creative” I told him. I’ll have to remember that line…

CK came over, we ate dinner, we snuggled a little on the couch and shared clips we’d found on Youtube. Then, I said “So hey, you should tie me up now.”. He took the hint well.

When the boy was cuffing me, he quoted a video I’d made him watch Thanksgiving day, which made me giggle and helped me relax; I’d never actually been restrained to the point where I couldn’t get myself free, and was a little nervous. He tightened up the straps and then reached down to tickle my feet…and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

Five thin strips of nylon, very comfortable cuffs, and pretty silver metal connectors were holding me completely fast. I couldn’t lift my hands or feet from where they were cuffed to save my life. I was pretty surprised, actually. I pulled lightly at first, impressed by the strength of the structure.

CK then got up and started for the other room to get something. I had to call him back and get him to scratch my nose for me, which was amusing. When he finally got back from his rummaging through my bags, he was carrying something that I couldn’t quite see (the lights were dim and my glasses were off). He climbed onto the bed, knelt straddling my waist, and pulled up my shirt and bra. He then started in on my nipples, pinching, rolling, tugging, and otherwise making me whimper and struggle underneath him; I then found out the item he’d brought in was the set of clover clamps. I kept trying to get free, and simply couldn’t. The straps held.

Being restrained like that put me in an incredibly submissive frame of mind. CK was in a very dominant, sadistic mindset, so it worked out quite well for both of us. It should be noted that I struggled so much against the restraints that I’m sore (I feel like I had a good workout), that I’m covered in bruises from bites, and my nipples are _still_ supersensitive, tingling, and painful.

Without cluttering up the review with too many details, suffice it to say that the Bandito made a guest appearance, as did Mr Hitachi and another, smaller vibrator. A good time was had by all. Perhaps at some point I’ll write this up from a non-review perspective, focusing more on the activity than the toys.

Final thoughts: GET THIS. If you read this blog, you absolutely need the Under The Bed Restraint System. It’s strong as hell, easy to deal with, and oh, so versatile. Click on the previous link to go straight to this item, click on the banner below to go to the main site. Either way, enjoy.

Lube is good.

Let me repeat that: Lube is good. I cannot stress this enough, dear reader.

Yes, I know that many female-bodied people create sufficient natural lubrication of their own that they seem not to need lube. Y’know what? It’s still good!!

Sometimes you’re playing with a toy (or playmate) that’s bigger than you’re used to. The answer? Lube. Marathon session and your body’s given up on trying to keep up on the lubrication? Look, there’s lube! Quickie sex or masturbation session? Luuuube. And anal play? If there’s no lube, ur doin it rong (*ahem* Pardon the lolspeak).

I’ve used a few through the years, from the standard KY to the more modern silicone lubes. My most recent favorite has been the silicone.

Not anymore, however.

This is Sliquid Sassy Anal Lube from Babeland.com (and I love the subtitle: ‘Booty formula’). Funny story: When I first got this, I tilted the bottle to test the thickness as it moved. Nice and thick, it seemed. I pressed the cap to open (one-handed opening; this is a good thing for lube!) and tried to squeeze some out. Nothing! “Wow,” I thought, “this stuff really is thick.” Then I realized that I’m a moron and removed the safety seal from under the cap. *blush*

Anyway: This stuff is excellent. It’s glycerin-free, which means it’s less likely to irritate. It’s not silicone-based, which means it’s safe for silicone toys. It’s not oil-based, which means it’s safe for condoms. And it’s thick, which means it stays where you want it.

The feel of it is very much like natural female lubrication. It’s slick and not watery at all, and holds up well under use (ie, doesn’t dry out quickly. It can be brought back to life with a little moisture, as well). I used it when I tested the Sweet G and it did quite well by me.

There was no irritation as I’ve had with other lubes. There was no disturbing sticky feeling, and cleanup was quite easy. There was also no scent and almost no taste. And when I say no scent, I mean no scent, not what other lubes may claim is ’scent-free’.

Even though this particular formulation is for the anal area (booty formula! Booty is fun to say), I used it during vaginal play. It worked beautifully. When I end up trying it for its intended purpose I’ll do a followup post.

This product comes highly recommended by me. It works better than any other lube I’ve tried as of yet.

Click the pic below for Babeland!

So yes, I’m going to be reviewing for Babeland.com now. Funny how it happened: they called me up and simply begged me to do reviews. It was pitiful, they said their lives would be meaningless if I didn’t write for them…(okay, so that’s an exagerration. The reality: I contacted them and said I’d cry until they let me review stuff. They said “Okay, fine, just stop sobbing on our voicemail.”)

Last night after hearing the election results (woo, Obama!), I decided that there was no time like the present and started my playtesting.

This was my first package from Babeland, and I was impressed. Things were packed with care and arrived in excellent condition. There was an insert of a ‘tips and tricks’ flier…great idea! Not only was there care and cleaning tips for many different sex toy materials and tips to make your toys last longer, but there was also a section of ’safter sex tips’. Also, g-spot, prostate, and anal sex tips. Good stuff. I’m really impressed by it.

My first review is a neat little guy called the Sweet G. It’s a rabbit-style vibe.

It’s by a company called Vibratex. I have not as of this point used any of their products, so it was a completly new thing for me. The packaging was thin clear plastic with a vine-like design, and was somewhat attractive. It’s marketed as a G-spot vibe, and has dual controls for vibrating and…well, squirming is the only word that’s coming to mind. The shaft rotates very slightly. When the squirming is on, the shaft illuminates in red. It’s a little disturbing. *grin*

The vibe itself was wrapped in a cellophane-type bag. It had a mild odd scent when first removed from the package, but that faded quickly. It is pink; not my favorite color, but it’s a very common color for sex toys so I wasn’t surprised. It’s clear, rubbery, and flexible, which made me do a little research on the material it’s made of.

See, people have been talking about phthalates in sex toys, and I’ve actually tossed a couple of my older jelly toys after realizing I was actually feeling mild irritation after using ‘em. The Sweet G is made of elastomer, which is naturally soft and doesn’t contain phthalates. This is an excellent thing, because it means that I don’t mind it touching bare flesh without a condom. That said, if you’re going to be sharing this toy with others, use a condom every time. It’s porous and cannot be completely sterilized. Also, condoms are great for the lazy; cleanup’s a breeze. As I’m not planning on sharing this particular toy, I didn’t bother with a condom.

It is a little odd-looking; the shaft is slender and it has the typical rabbit-vibe tickler attached. The tickler:
It looks like some kind of weird nubbly bug, but turning on the vibration made me see why. The eight little ‘legs’, two ‘antennae’ and the ‘wings’ all vibrated. I have to admit to grinning when I saw that.

There was a bumpy patch on the shaft itself:

This intrigued me.

As for the test: All in all, a very pleasant toy. The vibration was actually very good; not as strong as the Hitachi of course, but nicely strong and the tickler caresses the clit and the inner lips beautifully. Love that part; it actually surprised me with how pleasant it was. The bumpy patch was extremely nice too; the placement was perfect for caressing the first couple of inches of the upper vaginal wall when thrusting.

There were only two things that didn’t quite do it for me. The tip was curved enough to hit the g-spot properly, but it wasn’t firm enough for me. My g-spot needs quite firm stimulation. Also, the rotating shaft wasn’t really that noticeable. When I worked my kegels and tightened up to feel it more, it actually seemed to slow up the motor somewhat.

Overall, the Sweet G is a very nice toy; the vibrations are excellent and I like the design of the shaft and the tickler quite a bit. As a G-spot vibe, I think a slightly firmer design would put more pleasant pressure on that particular area.

I’d recommend it for a first rabbit vibe. It has the Panthera Pardus seal of approval. *nods*

Coming up next: Another Babeland review!