Violet Blue - The adventurous couples guide to sex toys

Table of Contents

Thanks, love, and admiration as always go to Frdrique Delacoste and Felice Newman for making this book possible and for giving me their unending support in all my endeavors. My deepest feelings are reserved for my familySurvival Research Laboratories and Mark Pauline. My love always belongs to my close friends: Courtney, Thomas, Annalisa, Xeni, Simone, Chriso, and everyone else who touches my heart. You know who you are.

If we approached the world of sex toys as a scientist might, classifying toys by purpose, species, and effectiveness, we might go a very long time until our next orgasm. Sure, in its broadest definition, anything can be a sex toybecause any object, image, or thing used for erotic stimulation could legitimately be called a sex toy. But an objects erotic potential lies in the eye of the beholder. Toys and novelties made for the express purpose of sexual gratification are a wild and woolly category of creatures, ranging from the practical and reliable to the outrageous, silly, sometimes dangerous, and occasionally deliciously decadent.

While sex toys have been around for centuries, appreciating the modern selection of toys you can find online and in your local sex shops requires only a minimal understanding of recent developments in sex toy evolution.

Plainly put, there are noveltiesand then there are toys made for sex. Confused? Most sex toys that youll find in garden-variety retail sex toy stores are created, marketed, and sold for novelty use only, meaning that while the toy companies explicitly know that people are using their toys for sex, they sell them categorized as novelties. Why they do this is anyones guess; perhaps its so they can avoid responsibility for faulty merchandise, as many sex toys are made poorly (almost all novelty sex toys are made cheaply in Chinese factories), or perhaps its so they can make outrageous claims on the packaging and marketing materials; in some U.S. states where sex toys are against the law to sell, distribute, or own, this may also be a way to circumvent legalities about products intended for sexual gratification.

Novelty sex toys are the most widely available, as they have a virtual stranglehold on American distribution, and they are the least expensive. In practical terms, this is not such a bad thing. Youll find the widest selection and best prices in the novelty toy market, making these toys a great way to try new things without breaking the bank; to get a certain size, shape, or functionality you desire; or to find that exact shade of pink you prefer. Novelties often feature the latest innovations in design and usebut also tend to break easily. Some are made with noxious materials, and some are shipped already defective but with user-unfriendly return policies. Technically speaking, novelties arent made for sex, though they can conjure up an orgasm pretty well. Identifying these toys in stores is easy, as they have the most polished or garish (and sometimes offensive) packaging, the phrase for novelty use is printed somewhere on the package, and they typically come from companies such as Doc Johnson, Vibratex, Pipedream, or Adam and Eve. In any case, its always buyer beware when you purchase a sex toy, and nowhere else is it more essential for you as consumer to be prepared with knowledge about the products, even before plunking down a few bucks on a plastic discount vibrator.

Not all sex toys are sold as novelties. Toys marketed as sex toys come from independent manufacturers and are created with the consumers pleasure as their express purpose. A growing number of high-quality sex toy companies do business in the United States and in the U.K., and many seem to prize sexual health and pleasure as the key building blocks of both their businesses and their products. Many of these companies are women-owned, though many have not yet broken into the old boys network of distribution to novelty stores. You can find productsor rather, pleasure instrumentsfrom Tantus, Vixen Creations, Fun Factory, and Sportsheets mostly online and in women-friendly stores and sex toy boutiques that hand-pick their product selections. These companies have raised the bar on what people expect when they plunk down their hard-earned cash for something nice to shove up their asses.

So there are novelties, and there are sex toys, or pleasure instruments, and you can expect to find many of both types displayed side-by-side at reputable retailers. Sometimes youll even see novelty toy manufacturers making products that are similar to sex toys; the decision to buy a novelty (or not) is simply a question of quality, price, and convenience. Know what youre looking for, and what youll likely encounter online and in stores, and youll be a smart customerand, in the end, a satisfied one.

Nowhere is the world of sex toys more exciting and diverse than with vibrators. Its safe to say that if you can imagine it, someone somewhere has made a vibrator out of it. You can find vibrators that mount on your tongue or fit on the end of your finger, or resemble whimsical waterproof rubber duckies, and even penises.

Its safe to say that the most iconic vibrator is the rocket-shaped Slimline vibe. Its the model that most people imagine when they think of the word vibrator. Its been featured since the 1970s in magazine back page ads for massagers and in countless porn films. And its a classic for a reason: Its a really solid vibrator, still outselling its younger, more modern counterparts. The Slimline is a plastic cylinder with a narrow tip; it comes in a variety of sizes, from keychain-sized to 9 inches long, and it typically has a variable-speed dial. Made of hard plastic, its terrific for external stimulation or firm internal penetration, and it tends to have a healthy lifespan. Youll be glad to know that hard plastic vibes amplify vibration, making them stronger vibrators than their rubber- or silicone-encased counterparts, whose softer materials absorb vibration.

Another common vibrator is the egg, or bullet, vibe. These look just like their namesakes and usually have a cord trailing out of one end attached to a controller containing the batteries and the on/off (or adjustable) power switch. These are primarily vibes only for external use, meant for clitoral stimulation. Some people do insert these, though its not recommended because pulling on the cord (like a tampon) for retrieval is a shaky situation with these cheaply made vibes, since the cord may unexpectedly detach form the bullet, leaving it inside. Some bullet vibes have advanced controllers with programmable microchips, and, while on the pricey side, theyre worth it for the extremely arousing range of pulses, beats, variations, and roller-coaster effects that they deliver.