Buyers Guide

The sex toy industry has heartily embraced unusual materials: glass, metal, ceramic, and more. Produced and used safely, these toys add the spice of variety to a masturbation lineup – like combining velvet, leather, and sequins in an outfit for a sassy night out. One such material is wood. Before you clamp your thighs shut in splinter-related horror, let me explain: reputable makers of wooden sex toys, like NobEssence, put their products through a rigorous process of smoothing, polishin...

Having been a sex toy reviewer for over five years, I’ve built up preferences for certain toy companies – and there are other companies I won’t touch with a ten-foot pole! One toymaker that’s been consistently great over the past few years is We-Vibe: they crank out above-average products a few times a year, listen to consumer feedback, and update their lineup accordingly. Here are a few standouts from the We-Vibe catalogue… We-Vibe Tango The We-Vibe Tango is a mega-powered v...

When I first started reading sex toy reviews online, I thought they would help me unlock the secrets of the sex toy industry. Which toys were good, and which were bad? Which would give me earth-shattering orgasms, and which would leave me grumbling and unsatisfied? Which were worth investing in, and which cost so much for so little payoff that I might as well throw my money into a bonfire? However, as I started writing sex toy reviews of my own, I quickly learned that it’s not that simp...

There are a few phrases that you see again and again when you look for body-safe toys. “Phthalate-free,” for example. “Non-toxic.” “Medical-grade.” One that comes up often is “non-porous” – and it’s just as important as the others listed here. Some common porous materials in the sex toy industry include jelly, rubber, elastomer, vinyl, PVC, and CyberSkin. These are best avoided, not only because they’re porous (the downsides of which are listed below) but also becaus...

The sex toy industry is full of gimmicky ideas, and only some of them are as effective as they claim. One such gizmo is the “panty vibe”: a genre of small vibrator you wear in your underwear. These have many fun potential applications. You could wear a vibe while you go grocery shopping, during your commute, or to other various boring day-to-day activities, as a way of making them more interesting. You could give your partner control of the vibrations while the two of you are out on a...

As we approach the holidays, I’m sure many of you are considering buying a sex toy for someone you love. It’s such an exciting thought: wrapping a vibrator, dildo, butt plug or paddle for your sweetheart, placing it under the tree with a knowing smile on your face, and going to bed with visions of your darling’s orgasms dancing in your head. How conscientious and thoughtful of you, right? While it’s very sweet to wish pleasure on those close to you, the truth is, most people are p...

Some people think that all vibrators are essentially the same: They might vary in shape and size, function and form, but the end result is ultimately just vibration, for better or for worse. But this isn’t so! Not all vibrators are created equal. It’s a little-known fact that vibrations can range from “buzzy” to “rumbly,” and that this vastly affects how they feel. Buzzy vibrations are high-pitched and shallow. They tend to stimulate the surface of the skin and not much ...

In a culture which shames sexual pleasure and “extravagant” expenditures (especially for women), it’s easy to feel like sex toys aren’t worth droppin’ dough on. Too often, pleasure objects fall to the bottom of our to-buy list, beneath other items both essential and non-essential. But if you’ve got some money burning a hole in your pocket (cash and gift cards from the holidays, anyone?), a top-quality sex toy is a worthy use for it, for so many reasons. Here are a few of them....

Despite having been popular for decades, sex toys still freak some people out. They’re viewed as intimidating, obtrusive, or even as a possible replacement for a human partner. While sex toys don’t have to be any of these things, this type of thinking has led to the development of a subcategory in the industry: “beginners’ toys.” Newbies to the sex toy world, it is thought, don’t want anything too big, too loud, or too strong. They’re supposed to want “tasteful”-looking ...

So you’ve discovered the fact that there are a lot of toxic sex toys out on the market. And you’ve learned that even some of the non-toxic sex toys can be made of porous materials that are also not safe. Now you’re thinking you’re gonna need to drop some mad coin just to get off. Wrong! Body safe sex toys don’t necessarily mean expensive sex toys. Take a look at just a few examples of quality vibrators, dildos, and anal toys that are all between a manageable $25-$45.   A...