I took a trip over to Good for Her this week to have a look at some of this year’s hot items for Valentine’s Day. My fun and feisty exchange with employee Lorraine Hewitt really made my day, and also made me realize once again how vital local businesses are.
Shopping isn’t always just about getting the best deal. It’s about kind and knowledgeable service and the thrill of literally getting your hands on just the right thing for yourself or your partner.
It also got me to thinking that so many of the warm, flirtatious and occasionally controversial exchanges I have with shop owners, therapists, sex workers and other erotic service providers are lost when I edit my work, so I’ve decided to do a video column perhaps every month or so.
In the meantime, here are some of the items that Hewitt showed me that I found particularly crush-worthy.
The We-Vibe Thrill: We-Vibe made a splash a bunch of years back with its vibrator “designed to be worn while making love” and are now tackling the solo sex market with this insertable inverted G-shaped vibrator. The lower part of the inverted G is designed to go in the vagina and the upper part is designed to slide your fingers through (like a hand sander) and sit on the mons. Both sections vibrate while the upper part of the inverted G contains a control panel with a variety of settings. It’s very quiet, an important quality for those of us with roommates, children and paper-thin walls. Price: “You better not be breaking up any time soon,” $179.
The Minna Ola: Clearly this company is capitalizing on the craze for modular Scandinavian design initiated by Lelo. The Minna Ola looks like a gigantic tadpole and can be used internally or externally with either end insertable. The controls are on the tadpole’s head, and what makes it unique is that they respond to pressure – the more pressure you place on it, the more intense the vibration. You can squeeze it with your hand or with your vagina, which is, let’s face it, a much more inspirational way to do one’s Kegel exercises. You may also use the other end internally and just squeeze the push pad with your hand like it’s a stress ball. You can customize the vibration on a loop, which, for those who like a very specific set of sensorial cues to reach orgasm, is a dream. Price: “For the cash-strapped person who needs just one thing,” $180.
Don’t you worry. Since silicone’s become more widely requested, it’s also become more financially accessible. The Starlet is shaped like a large crochet hook and can be used internally and externally. The top of the hook has a nice little curve to help get access to the clitoris, and it has a simple operation: no fiddling with buttons you just press the button on the base and you can access a variety of vibrations. It’s battery-operated, which is one reason why the price ($39) is lower.
Hand Solo: I don’t even have a penis and I got hot pants over this, a silicone sleeve that has a rocket vibrator inserted between the sleeve and the handle. (The best way to describe how it looks: a cross between a hand sander and one of those mini silicone oven mitts.)
“This is really great because somebody doesn’t have to fit perfectly into it, and it’s a lot easier to clean than some of the sleeve toys out there,” Lorraine says. Price: $45 bucks and can also be used by people with vaginas as a vulva massager.
The Fun Factory Cobra Libre: This toy is, quite frankly, next-level shit in the sleeved toy department. The linked video lays out its features really well, but Lorraine and I also had a good laugh about it looking like a mini race car that you can use to drive your penis around in. Price: $150.
These movies generally run around the $30 mark. Infidelity hasn’t drawn stellar reviews, but Lorraine recommends it for people who come in saying they want something classy that has a story, “like 912 Weeks.” The review implies that you’ll be getting precisely that, actually.
Buck Angel’s latest offering, Sexing The Transman, Volume Two, has a lot more action than his first film, according to Lorraine, including couple sex and even some group scenes. Torontonians might recognize the ridiculously handsome Tom Bruise pictured prominently on the box. As Lorraine says, regarding some of our fine XXXports, “Toronto people get out.”
“Hella Brown is a really awesome movie that features people of colour,” says Lorraine. No plot, just pussy and really good-looking people getting it on. I’ll say. Is there anything finer than a woman just barely holding a bikini together beside a fine butch in a tank top? No, obviously.
Lorraine also highly recommends Cabaret Desire by Erika Lust, with a cast of real-life couples.
Good for Her carries some selections that make nice gifts because not only are they essential, but also contribute to bedside beautification. Uberlube ($28) is a light, silicone-based lubricant that comes in a really pretty clear glass bottle. Lelo’s water-based lube ($13-$25) comes in a black bottle that calls to mind the wonderful Louis Archambault sculpture Man And Woman right here in -Toronto.
And finally, we’ve all been to those apartments in the village where someone has mounted a sex sling and it’s come ripping out of the drywall, leaving huge gaping holes in the ceiling and the mental image of someone curled in a ball on the ground in not the kind of pain they were anticipating. Sportsheets makes a sex sling (think a jolly jumper for adults) that fixes to a doorframe and can be neatly tucked away when the folks come to visit.
