This Dominix leather strap has had quite an impact on our sexy spanking fun over the last couple of weeks, you could say it's been a big hit, and it's certainly made its mark! ;-) I'll admit that its size was a little intimidating at first, and the leather felt hard and heavy to my touch. The reality was that the size and broadness of the surface creates a delightfully thuddy sting and after a few whacks I was a firm convert.
So, let's have one more action photo before we get on with our review! This previously unpublished image (below) comes from the set that we took for our submission to Sinful Sunday 333. Finally, in case you missed it, we also featured this strap in our spanking photo-story, Judy and the Forgotten PE Kit, which contains nine additional images.
First Impressions
On taking it from the box, the first thing we noticed was the size and weight of the Dominix strap. It's big, measuring around 41.5 cm (16 inches) when you hold it in it's normal folded-over shape. At the dangerous end, the width is 7.5 cm (3 inches) and the handle tapers off to 4 cm (1.5 inches). The hubby says it's very comfortable to wield and felt easy to control, despite its size and flexibility. While we're still knee deep in all these measurements, it weighs in at 210 grams!
The second thing we noticed is the fabulous smell of real leather. This might be an issue for some, so it is worth bearing in mind that this is not a vegan friendly toy; the leather is very much real. If you're OK with that, it really is gorgeous. When it comes to spanking toys, I find there's an exquisite quality to the impact of leather that sets it apart from the harsher feel of wood or plastic. It's not easy to define, but somehow it stings in a much nicer way, and leather toys carry on getting better and better as they're worn in over the course of time. You might just have to try it for yourself to really understand what I mean!
Looking in more detail, in the photo below you can see that there is some kind of insert in the handle that extends into the lower part of strap itself. This helps avoid drooping (because nobody likes drooping!) and will assist your partner's aim. More subtly, I think it perhaps contributes to the whippy flick that you get from the doubled over centre part of the strap.
The quality of the Dominix Deluxe Leather Multipurpose Spanking Strap was obvious from the outset and it legitimately earns its "Deluxe" label. Not only the feel and smell of the leather, but the clean, straight cut of the edges and the quality of the stitching. It's robust and solid, and although we've only had four sessions with it during the two week review period, I have no doubt it will serve us very well for a long time to come.
It's probably worth mentioning here that it is quite a noisy implement. Not only do you get the crisp smack of leather against your bottom, you also have an accompanying slap as the inner surfaces of the strap strike against each other. I enjoyed the loudness, finding that it really contributed to our naughty schoolgirl roleplays, and in other scenes it created additional emphasis to every spank - something that we both found very exciting.
In summary, our first impressions of the product were excellent, and so let's move on to how it actually feels when used as nature intended...
As a Spanking Implement
If you've read our blog you will certainly be aware of how much I love a good spanking, but on first seeing the strap I'll admit I had some concerns it might be a little too harsh and that we'd ultimately end up reserving it for realistic discipline fantasies, rather than being able to use it for long, erotic spankings. Our first playtime with it is shown in the photos where I'm wearing a light, ivory coloured chemise (see also Sinful Sunday 333) and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it felt very different to how I'd expected.
I tend to think of the sting from our paddles as having an instant, crisp sharpness that spreads into quite a localised prickly sting. The sting of this strap is weightier, but far more dispersed, lacking that momentary flare of local sting on impact - apart from occasionally when the end of the strap catches you with a stingy, whippy flick! It's a sting that embraces your whole bottom, rather that simply whacking against it.
We tried a more intimate bedroom scene a few days later that worked very well too; no photos this time - sorry! ;-)
Having my hips raised by a couple of pillows, and hands and feet cuffed to the bed-frame, has long been a favourite position. The strap is great for that type of lying down flat scenario and its size and chunky looking black leather give it a really nice BDSM-scene look, even though I suspect it probably looks more intimidating than it really is.
However, one of the other sessions where we did take some photographs formed the basis of our Judy and the Forgotten PE Kit spanking photo-story. Here we launched straight in with the strap, no gentle hand spanking warm-up this time, and the sensation was definitely stronger. By the end there were the beginnings of some mild bruising in the centre of my right cheek. We don't go in for the kind of super-heavy scenes that you often see online, but so far as we took this naughty schoolgirl roleplay, I have little doubt that if you wanted to use the strap quite aggressively, it would be more than capable of delivering an absolute bottom roasting spanking!
We recently featured this Dominix strap in a spanking photo-story: Judy and the Forgotten PE Kit. Naughty schoolgirl Judy has forgotten her PE kit, again, and her teacher has run out of patience...
In this scene we began by trying out the strap in an over-the-knee position. We suspected it might be too large to be truly suited to this position and admittedly it was a little cumbersome, but it worked better than we had expected. However, fairly quickly we moved to a kneeling position on a dining chair with the hubby standing beside me. This turned out to be much better position, giving him more control and aim, and it felt better for me too. In this position it's easier for your partner to distribute the spanks around your bottom, so for me this is very much a toy for standing, bending, lying down positions, and where there's just a little distance between your partner and your target - err, I mean, bottom! ;-)
To keep with the plot of our photo-story we finished the scene with a nude, hands on knees position. The additional tightening of your skin and leg muscles alters the sensation again, and in a very, very good way. At the risk of sounding crude, we literally had to stop at one point so that I could mop my inner thighs with some kitchen towels! I don't think I've ever been so aroused by a spanking without the help of additional stimulation from a vibrator or the hubby's free hand. It was glorious, and such a beautiful sensation that I felt I could have gone on for ever, were it not for my other half clearly bulging at the seams and eager to try out the strap's bonus functionality: the doggy-style position enhancer...
Multipurpose Position Enhancer
An added bonus of this strap's design is that it can quickly be transformed into a doggy-style position enhancer. I don't know how popular this technique is, but for whatever reason we had honestly never tried it before. Immediately after one of our roleplays we quite spontaneously gave it a try and it was fab - it's something I really wish we'd tried before. In summary, you simply unfold the strap and have your partner pass it around the front of your upper thighs so that he holds each end of the strap, which are now extending around the sides of your (sore!) bottom.
The timing in which you introduce it is going to be a matter for personal preference, but we picked it up after five minutes or so of regular doggy-style and found it gave an added thrill to one of our most frequent and favourite positions. The sensation is compounded both by the added depth and power of penetration, but also from a harder to define sense of being held into position and dominantly taken.
It's not something I would have personally thought of trying, but there was a raw physicality about the position that was exciting and very pleasurable. I don't think this alone would justify the price-tag, but it's a wonderful added bonus on top of its already great performance as a spanking toy. On which note, lets see how it compares to a couple of other popular items from our toy-box...
Side by Side Comparison
By a fairly clear margin, the Dominix Deluxe Leather Multipurpose Spanking Strap is our largest spanking implement to date. In the photo below we show it alongside (from top to bottom!) the Lovehoney Tease Spanking Paddle and the discontinued Bondage Boutique Leather Suede Paddle. Coco de Mer have their Brown Leather Paddle, which looks very similar, but admittedly it's rather more of a luxury item. Inevitably any description I can give is going to be quite subjective, but I'll try my best to summarise each toy below the photo.
The real beauty of the Tease Spanking Paddle lies in its versatility. The cushioned satin side doesn't sting very much and so you can enjoy it as a warm-up for lots of impact and minimal sting. Or, you have the flexibility to strike other body areas where you probably don't normally enjoy being spanked - go carefully though! It's also great for smoothly stroking and teasing. The leather side is very different however, and I find it to be quite deceptively stingy. Its lightness and small size means your partner can indulge in rapid light flicks all around your bum and that really works up to a hot, stinging tingle. At the same time it's a relatively stiff toy, and used more firmly it takes on a much more dramatic sting, almost akin to a light hairbrush; it's a very crisp, sharp sting, and without very much thud.
With our Bondage Boutique Leather/Suede Paddle (and I'm speculating the Coco de Mer Brown Leather Paddle will be quite similar) there is less of a difference between the two sides. The suede side does have a dramatically reduced sting, but less so than a padded surface like the Tease paddle. You can definitely still feel it and it does build up quite nicely over time. Being a heavier implement you also experience more of a deeper thud sensation. This paddle is another quite stiff, springy toy, and the smooth leather side retains the thud while bringing back the sharp sting. For maximum pleasure I find it's best used after a long warm up. Or, used vigorously without a warm-up, it's elevated into the realms of a very realistic discipline fantasy. Your bum will most definitely be sore!!
I had anticipated that the Dominix Deluxe Strap would be very much akin to the leather side of our Bondage Boutique paddle, but I have to admit now that I was quite wrong in that assumption. Without the paddle-like stiffness, the strap wraps itself evenly around the curves of your bottom and you are left with that indefinably heavy but pleasantly intense sting that I struggled to describe earlier. Perhaps the best way to think of it is that you have the impact and the thud and the sting, but it's dispersed over a broader area, and so you're left with the arousing excitement of your spanking, but a less focused sting.
Our Conclusions
In wrapping all this up, the biggest learning point that I'd like to highlight is please do not be discouraged by the intimidating size and appearance of this strap. Let the supple flexibility embrace your bottom and hopefully, like me, you'll be delighted by the sheer arousing hotness of its exquisite sting. The position enhancer aspect of the toy was another unexpected bonus, and one that has very quickly become a recurring theme!
You can easily spend well over £20 on a small, basic paddle, and in my opinion the Dominix Deluxe Strap's £29 price-tag (at the time of writing) represents excellent value for money. Highly recommended. :-)
Summary and Links
We've been reviewing the Dominix Deluxe Leather Multipurpose Spanking Strap and have mentioned and shown a number of other items in the course of our review. We've created the convenient quick set of links below.
- Dominix Deluxe Leather Multipurpose Spanking Strap
- Coco de Mer Brown Leather Paddle
- Lovehoney Tease Spanking Paddle
- Fifty Shades Twitchy Palm Paddle
- Lovehoney Spanking Paddles (category)
- Fifty Shades Soothe Me After Spanking Cream
- Classified Schoolgirl Set
The Bondage Boutique leather/suede paddle that we show in our side by side comparison is discontinued, but the Coco de Mer Brown Leather Paddle looks like a beautifully up-market version, and is the closest alternative we could find. We have both the Lovehoney Tease and the Fifty Shades Twitchy Palm paddles, but find them a little too compact and they haven't had an awful lot of use lately. However, as an introductory spanking toy they are both very non-intimidating and in our opinion the Tease version is slightly nicer. If you are looking to try one, feel reassured that the silky side totally doesn't hurt very much at all, whereas the leather side can be extremely stingy, so you have a good, comprehensive range of sensation available.
The uniform outfit I'm wearing in the top photos is the Classified Schoolgirl Set and it's one of my favourite dressing up sets, probably for fairly obvious reasons!
If you want some soothing aftercare, we can highly recommend the Fifty Shades Soothe Me After Spanking Cream, which really does the job nicely and has a lovely, musky smell.
