November 2013 - Skinny Dip

It’s funny – I never woke up one day and said, “Someday I will have my face on a box of condoms!” but low and behold, it’s happened anyways.

I know from experience that finding condoms and lubes that actually work for you can be a challenge. I also know that having access to really awesome, body-safe products can make you feel even more empowered & sexy in the bedroom. That’s why I am RIDICULOUSLY EXCITED to partner with one of my favourite companies, Lucky Bloke, to bring you the limited edition Skinny Dip “Her Pleasure” lube and condom sampler. Curious to know what products I like to use in the bedroom? Now you can find out!

Remember those awesome Strawberry Flavoured condoms (aka the “Skinny Dip Condoms“) I was raving about last year?! Well, the sampler kit includes those (because they’re amazing) plus 10 of my other favourite condoms and lubes.

Inside each package you’ll get:

A selection of some of my favourite condoms like GLYDE Strawberry (2), ONE Bubblegum, ONE Tantric Pleasures, Okamoto 004 & Tryst Feel Me (quite possibly the sexiest condom wrapper ever) Plus you’ll also receive a bunch of my favourite lubes for your pleasure: Blossoms Organics (one of my favourite lubes ever!), Good Clean Love, Sliquid “Sassy“, Sweet Cherry (flavoured!) & a packet of the very sexy überlube. You’ll also find a package of Swipes unscented wipes for ahem, easy clean-up.

Not to mention, you’ll also get a nice note of encouragement from yours truly –

If you’ve never tried lube or haven’t found one you absolutely LOVE, this sampler is a great place to start. Same goes for the condoms – this sampler pack includes some of my tried and tested favourites (I’ve had several penises report back that they love the Glyde Strawberry condoms – just saying.)

The Skinny Dip “Her Pleasure” condom and lube sampler is part of a series featuring a handful of other awesome, sexy bloggers and sex ed superstars like Lady Cheeky, Redhead Bedhead and Charlie Glickman. I’m really honoured to be in such good company and love all the other samplers in the collection.

Not only am I proud to be working with a company like Lucky Bloke whose values are very much in line with my own, I’m also super excited that portion of all proceeds will go to support the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre. Located in Vancouver, BC, the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre facilitates positive change by providing support, basic necessities and hot, nutritious meals for to over 300 women and children on a daily basis. I couldn’t think of a better non-profit to support, especially during the holiday season.

We all deserve to feel good – whether we’re playing alone or with a partner. With this sampler you get to have great sex and feel empowered in the bedroom while also helping others. Plus, you’re sure to get major cool points from whoever receives a Skinny Dip Sampler pack in their stocking this year.

Grab one for yourself or for the sexiest person you know.

Have more sex. Save the world.

I think that’s what you call a WIN/WIN.

Thank you for your support!

xox Simone

If you’ve read some of my reviews of sex toys and lingerie, you’ve probably noticed that the majority of them are overwhelmingly positive. This is no coincidence. Although I’m always honest with my reviews, I try to only review products that I know I’ll enjoy or that will be value to you guys. This year I’ve reviewed lots of toys that I have really enjoyed like the Lovehoney Happy Rabbit and the Nick Hawk Gigolo Dildo. I’ve also reviewed some that I’ve absolutely fallen in LOVE with – like the Body & Soul Lover and the Crave Duet. Although I enjoy most of the products I get to review, occasionally I’ll come across a toy that just doesn’t work for me. The Body and Soul Bliss vibrator by California Exotics is one of those toys.

The Body & Soul Bliss is a sleek dual stimulation “rabbit” style vibrator designed to stimulate both your clitoris and g-spot at the same time. The toy features two independent motors and 10 different vibration modes both in the shaft & the clitoral stimulator. For a rabbit vibrator, this toy is definitely on the smaller side. The total length of the toy is about 7 inches, but only 3.5 inches of that is actually insertable. The clitoral arm is also quite small at only 1 inch in length.

The Body & Soul Bliss definitely has some good things going for it:

1) It’s fully rechargeable by USB. No batteries required! Just plug it into your computer or another USB port like this and it charges completely within 8 hours.

2) It’s light weight and super easy to use. The toy weighs almost nothing, has a one touch on/off button and a flexible shaft.

3) The smaller size of the toy is great for beginners. There’s nothing overwhelming about this toy. It also is relatively neutral looking so it would work well for anyone who doesn’t want anything that looks too anatomically correct.

4) It’s pretty. The design is really sleek and it has a nicely raised bump at the tip of the toy designed to stimulate the G-Spot.

I was really excited to try this toy because I love me a good rabbit vibrator, plus one of my favourite toys, the Body & Soul Lover vibrator, is from the same line. In theory this toy should also be super awesome. However, unfortunately my experience with the Body & Soul Bliss was anything but blissful.

Everyone’s bodies are shaped differently, so there’s always the chance that what’s one person’s favourite sex toy is another person’s worst nightmare & vice versa. The Body & Soul Bliss didn’t work with my body at all. Here’s why –

1) The clitoral arm is way too short. At one inch in length, this clitoral stimulator doesn’t come anywhere close to reaching my clit, which kind of defeats the purpose of being a dual stimulator toy. Instead, the clitoral arm hovers in a weird limbo area, almost reaching my clit but not really, which is totally frustrating. At 3.5 inches the insertable portion also doesn’t do much for me either – length or girth wise. I tried thrusting this toy, I tried contorting my body into weird positions, but at the end of the day it took me forever to have an orgasm with this toy.

To give you a better idea of how the toy is shaped compared to the other toy I own from the Body & Soul line, here they are right next to each other.

As you can see, the Body & Soul Bliss has a much shorter clitoral arm and overall length.

2) High pitched, buzzy vibrations – I love deep, rumbly, powerful vibrations. However, unlike the Body & Soul Lover which I love for it’s intense, body quaking vibrations, the “Bliss” is much less powerful. Instead of a deep, rumbly sensation, the vibrations feel very high pitched and buzzy.

3) Texture – Instead of a silky smooth silicone body, the Bliss feels very rubbery and has a lot of drag. If you’re going to use this toy, you’re going to need lots of lube because it doesn’t slide in easily.

: I’m not sure I have enough rabbit vibrators (ha!) Notice how the “lineup” gets bigger every time I write one of these posts?! When it comes to size, the Body & Soul Lover (far right) is definitely on the smaller end of the spectrum compared to the other rabbit toys that I own.

4) It makes me feel like I’m burning up (& not in a good way) – When I initially inserted the toy, I was overcome with a strong stinging sensation. It was really uncomfortable and only eased up slightly after using the toy for a few minutes. The worst part was I couldn’t figure out why I was having any kind of reaction. Almost all of my toys are silicone, so why was I reacting to this one in particular?! I found my answer when I re-read the information on the box and noticed that the “Bliss” isn’t made of silicone, it’s made of TPR. Although sex toys made of TPR are considered body-safe, I’ve had the same kind of reaction before to toys made of this material.

For those of you who aren’t familiar, TPR (Thermoplastic rubber) is hypoallergenic, nontoxic and phthalate free. According to Discreet Sensuality’s Sex Toy Materials Guide, TPR is less porous than toys made of jelly- like materials (which usually aren’t body safe – read why here) but way more porous than Silicone. Therefore, it’s recommended that condoms be used with sex toys made of TPR to prevent the spread of bacteria and other infectious agents – something I only learned after reading up on TPR as a sex toy material.

Joe the Intern, once again being a good sport & standing next to the "Bliss" so that you can see the scale of the toy.

In theory, if I was able to overlook the other challenges with this toy, I could put a condom on it and use it anyways (therefore, avoiding the irritation issue), however in the words of Sweet Brown…

Using sex toys should be fun, easy and most of all, pleasurable. The lesson here: if a sex toy causes you this much grief, it might be that it’s just the wrong toy for you.

California Exotics makes some truly awesome products, I just don’t think this is one of their best. Although this toy might work nicely for someone who isn’t sensitive to TPR and requires a very short clitoral arm, I would still recommend their Body & Soul Lover vibrator over this one hands down – especially if you’re looking to buy your first rabbit vibrator. It’s a similar size and price point, but it’s made of silicone & packs a lot more punch vibration wise. Plus I think the shape is more likely to fit different bodies.

Both the Body & Soul Bliss ($41.95) and Body & Soul Lover ($76.99) are available at PinkCherry Sex Toys

So, there you have it. Have you ever tried a toy that didn’t work for you?

This review was made possible thanks to the Cal Exotics Sexpert Program. Thank you Cal Exotics for sending me this toy! I received the toy free of charge in exchange for my honest review of the product. All opinions are my own because that’s how I roll.

Going from a long-term relationship to being single again is an adjustment process. When you’re with the same person for a really long time and then suddenly you’re not, it’s like you have to re-learn how to be single. In my case, the last time I was single for an extended period of time was when I was in my early 20’s and as I’ve learned, being single as a 30-something is a completely different ball-game. I’ve been single for two years now, but there are still things I’m getting used to. From having feelings for people to being rejected, emotions and situations will present themselves, catching you off guard.

Recently I found out that a guy I was into is now dating someone. Really, it shouldn’t be that big a deal. Although this person and I have hooked up in the past, we never made any promises to each other and I knew in the back of my head that the likelihood of anything more happening between us was slim. I knew this was always a possibility, it’s just the news hit me harder than I expected. It left me with this sinking feeling in my stomach that I’ve had a hard time shaking. As a so-called bad-ass sex and relationship blogger I’m supposed to have thicker skin than this, so why do I feel so…well, uncomfortable?

I read an interesting post a while back by Shannon of Frugal Beautiful about how her journey becoming a long distance runner has taught her to become more “comfortable with being uncomfortable.” This is exactly how I feel about the “gladiator” fitness classes I’ve been taking. When I’m at the gym early in the morning trying to hold a one-armed plank, you better believe it’s uncomfortable. Your whole body is straining, often times shaking, and all you can do is breathe through it. It fucking sucks, but you do it anyways because the hard parts are what make it good. Thanks to years of ballet training, I’m no stranger to physical discomfort or pushing my body to the max but I’m not use to this emotional stuff.

In the past these kinds of feelings would have sent me off on a tailspin of vodka, impulse shopping, more vodka and bad decisions, however this time around I haven’t done any of those things. Last weekend I went out for drinks and politely declined several rounds of shots that were offered to me. Although I drank steadily throughout the evening, I failed to get drunk or do anything I’d regret later. I guess making myself numb isn’t as appealing as it used to be.

Instead, I’ve been working out like a beast, perfecting my roundhouse punch-kick-combo at the gym and being super productive at work. I haven’t even tried to eat my feelings and my carb intake is shockingly low this week. In other words, despite some emotional discomfort I’m actually doing really great.

I’ve realized that without the haze of vodka or acute anxiety to cover them up, I have a lot of feelings. I’m way more sensitive than I like to admit and when I like someone, I get attached (which has made me re-evaluate how I feel about casual sex in the first place.) It takes me a while to process all the feelings, but once I do I’m fine.

And that’s the thing – sometimes being single feels like you’re doing a one-armed plank with your heart. You’re out there, you’re vulnerable and sometimes it’s really, really uncomfortable, but unless you’re willing to become a hermit (which I’m not), there’s no way around it. You have to forge ahead.

So, here I am. Getting more comfortable with the uncomfortable. Breathing. Waiting for things to shift. Because I know they will. They always do.

If you’ve been following my Instagram, you have probably noticed that for the past few weekends I’ve been attending Sleepytown’s local flea market, helping my Mom with her vintage clothing and jewelry business. The flea market is an interesting place full of bizarre finds and quirky, colourful characters selling their wares. One of my favourite sellers is an older lady who sells vintage toys. Thanks to her, Joe the Intern with has had new “friends” arriving at Skinny Dip headquarters on a weekly basis.

I was purchasing this guy from her last week when she said to me, “You know, I’ve always thought Ken was kind of gay.” Considering this was coming from a white haired, 70-something grandma type, I had to laugh. I agreed with her and we spent the next 10 minutes having a very frank and hilarious conversation about men, sexuality and Ken dolls…at the flea market.

When I came home, I told the story to my Mom. A few days later she called me to tell me about this article that she’d stumbled across in the Georgia Straight, our local alternative newspaper.

Vancouver based photographer extraordinaire Dina Goldstein – the artist behind 2009’s Fallen Princesses series (Snow White as weary housewife or Pocahontas as lonely cat lady, anyone?) has turned her skewed lens on iconic couple, Barbie and Ken, in a collection of 10 images titled In the Dollhouse.

Inspired by the traditional gender rolls she saw her daughters reproduce while playing with the dolls, Goldstein decided to take a closer look at the famous dolls, and became convinced that Ken was definitely not a ladies’ man. As she told the Georgia Straight, “Mattel has totally, I think, emasculated him. It’s like, come on… I started playing with dolls in my head, and started thinking that this marriage [with Barbie] has been imposed on him, and now he’s just breaking free and breaking loose, and finding his authentic self.”

Created over 30 days and shot in a purpose built set located in a former art gallery, the series follows the marital breakdown of the world’s most famous set of dolls, depicted by human models. The photos are pretty amazing, which is why I’m sharing them with you today.

Ken and Barbie reading in Bed. It’s OK Ken, those “O” relationship stories get to me too.

Barbie, I feel you. It’s never a good feeling when you’re half naked and your partner is more interested in his hair dryer than what’s under your monogrammed towel.

The subconscious is a murky place. Both Ken and Barbie dream of a moustachioed GI Joe.

Tea time is totally awkward when your beloved insists on wearing your favourite pair of bright pink pumps. The look on Barbie’s face says it all.

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Red has been one of my favourite colours for a long time. When I was a tween I was super obsessed with this Canadian TV show called Street Legal – Canada’s answer the LA Law. My favourite character was Olivia Novak – a whip smart, tough as nails, young attorney with a penchant for red power suits. I was mildly obsessed with Olivia, because here was a female character who not only had brains and sex appeal, but refused to take BS from anyone – something I had never seen on TV before. Those red power suits must have made an impression on me because, since then I’ve associated the colour red with sex appeal and power. Red is bold in it’s simplicity. It speaks for it’s self.

So, it’s probably not surprising that I’ve been looking to add a really nice red bustier to my lingerie collection for a while. I’ve had my eyes on the Some Like it Hot Bustier and Thong set by Seven Til Midnight for over a year. When the lovely people at Lovehoney offered to send me one to try I was so excited!

The Some Like it Hot Bustier & Thong Set has all the appeal of a corset without the potential discomfort. Made with bright red stretch lace, this set features lightly padded underwire cups and plastic boning to give the illusion of a more defined hourglass shape without manipulating your body with uncomfortable waist reduction. Instead of straps, the bustier has a flirty halter necktie which gives you a slight push-up effect in the boob area. The bustier features ruffle trim, detachable bow detailed garters and a hook & eye closure at the back. There’s also a little diamond studded detail on the bust (something that could easily be removed if diamonds aren’t your jam.) It also comes in a plus sizes.

Tow things really surprised me about this piece. First of all, it’s a bit more ruffly than I expected from the photo. This doesn’t bother me, however if you don’t like ruffles it might be an issue for you. Secondly, it’s incredibly soft. As I’ve mentioned before, when you’re ordering lingerie online you never quite know exactly what you’ll get. I’d prepared myself for the fact that this might be one of those pieces that looks gorgeous in the photos but is super stiff & itchy in person. However, in reality the red lace is really stretchy and extremely soft to the touch, making for a very comfortable fit.

Although the Some Like it Hot Bustier & Thong Set exceeded my expectations upon arrival, I found the hook and eye closure at the back a little awkward to do up solo. I flipped the bustier around and did up as much of the bustier as I could from the back, however I had to ask my Mom to help me do up the last few hooks & eyes. Yes, my Mom. Nothing kills the sexy vibe like having your Mom help you into your lingerie. It’s times like these when I really appreciate lingerie with zippers.

Awkward hooks & eyes aside, this piece has something that many lingerie sets don’t: a decent pair of panties. No weird cloth triangle & glorified dental floss here folks. The Some Like it Hot Bustier Set comes with a normal looking thong that is ultra soft, covers your lady bits and is comfortable to boot. I actually like the thong so much that I’ve worn it a couple of times on it’s own.

Also, I should probably mention that the bow details on the detachable garters are really, really pretty. The set doesn’t come with stockings, but you could easily match most stockings to this set.

Now for the moment of truth! What does it actually look like on?!

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Introducing the Skinny Dip Condom & Lube Sampler by Lucky Bloke

“Bliss” is Not the Right Word

Getting Comfortable with the Uncomfortable

Nobody is Perfect. Not Even Barbie & Ken.

Show & Tell | Some Like it Hot

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