We were both delighted by the arrival of this Desire Luxury Couples Kit. With its matched pairing of a pebble style clitoral vibrator and a vibrating 'love' ring, it seemed like the perfect combo. Also, being USB rechargeable is a massive bonus and is becoming a must-have feature for us. Here in part one of our review we'll look at the Desire Luxury Clitoral Vibrator. This is also a standalone item from Lovehoney, but for an additional £15 you can upgrade to this fun couples kit, and we promise you won't regret that decision.
The packaging of both items is basically identical and you really feel like there's been a lot of attention to the details. Inside the outer box you find a softly padded black case, about the size of a small makeup case, with a zipped fastening. You'll find that, a bit like a suitcase zip, you have the option to lock it with a padlock. I don't foresee us ever doing that, but the feature is there if you want it. Inside both sides of the case are slightly elasticated net pockets. One side holds the USB charging cable and a slender instruction guide. The other side contains the vibrator, protected by a plastic cover, but discard that and it sits very nicely under the elasticated pocket.
It's probably worth noting that it doesn't come with a mains adaptor plug, so we used the plug from an iPhone charger and it charged pretty fast. You can probably charge it off your laptop, although make sure you don't get it muddled up with your mouse, or you'll get some funny looks around the office!
The charging point is a socket that's concealed under a small indentation in the silicon. This would have to be our only criticism of the design. For a start it's slightly unnerving to have to 'puncture' the charger plug through the silicon outer, but it was also quite fiddly to find the socket. You obviously can't see where the opening actually is, and the plug won't go in until you get the angle of insertion just right. Having said that, it's easy once you know how.
According to the manual, 90 minutes of charge gives you 60 minutes of play. We haven't put that to the test, but after 15-20 minutes it certainly shows no sign of going flat, so hopefully you'll be exhausted long before the battery!
The instruction guide is brief and to the point, but it tells you all you need to know. In use it's really simple as there are just three buttons. There are "plus" and "minus" buttons that control the power level and a centre button that selects the vibration pattern. The photo below shows the guide open on the page that shows the various patterns. The power level is surprisingly good for a relatively small item, ranging from light and tingly to really quite intense. I know "power" is always going to be quite subjective... obviously it's less powerful than a mains wand, it's definitely noticeably more powerful that our WeVibe4+, and on its higher settings it's probably getting quite close to our Ultra Powerful Love Egg, but the vibration is somehow more refined and luxurious; maybe due to the shape, or the soft silicon covering.
And so, onto the nub of the matter, how does it actually perform down at ground zero?
The curved pebble shape of the vibrator nestles perfectly into the palm of your hand and the buttons are easily accessed on top. Your own button will be accessed by the perfectly curved tip, which feels nice and firm under a thin layer of pink silicon! ;-) I found the shape was perfect, it curves around your pubic bone and is really easy to keep in the perfect position.
I generally like a steady, well powered vibration, and it delivers on that front. It's not wand-level power, but certainly delivers delicious, shudderingly sexy tingles right where they're most needed! If you prefer more varied patterns the selection is pretty good, and feel great across the power levels. A word about that too, there's a good range of power, from gentle to intense, and it feels very controlled - so you can tweak it to just the right level.
Living up to its name as a Luxury Couples Kit the hubby found it very easy to take control. The inner curve of the vibe basically just rests on your pubic bone and with gentle pressure from his fingers on the back of the curved tip, it takes your lovemaking to another level. The shape makes it much easier to manage than a more slender bullet vibe, and we've tended to find that our past experiments with sex and magic wands have not been a great success either. They're just too bulky, the angles are difficult to manage, and the cable always gets in the way. For us, this has just the right amount of power, sits easily in the right spot, and is slimline enough so that it doesn't interfere with the action.
We've only been playing with it for a couple of weeks and there is certainly more to explore, but so far we're finding the best positions have been where there is some degree of separation between you and your partner. Him on top, kind of in a kneeling position, with one of your legs raised onto his shoulder was particularly good. Your man can easily steer the vibe while you are enveloped in waves of pleasure! It's a fab position for g-spot stimulation while this rumbles away on your clit.
Unlike the Luxury Cock Ring part of the set (that review is coming very soon!) it's great for doggy-style and reverse cowgirl positions too.
So all in all, our first impressions are really positive and this will be getting a lot more use in the future. We can confidently state it's an extremely welcome addition to the Steamybedtime toybox!
Summary
In summary, we are converts to this pebble shape of vibe. It's not a substitute for my favourite rabbit, or magic wand, but I think in most circumstances I'd definitely choose this over any of our bullet vibrators.
Do check out the details in the links above, and remember that for best value, choose the "kit" over the individual item.
