Friday 27 November 2009

Life etc...

Ok then. So, I've toyed with the idea of this post for a few days now and decided to go ahead with it. I guess some of that deliberation is about where my boundaries lie on here, and whether anyone cares about my personal life. Still though, I decided to procede on the basis that what's going on right now affects my life fairly significantly and can also affect my blogging up to a point. (Enough rambling, yes?) Basically, I've had depression problems since my teens at least, if not 11/12, and now I'm at Uni they have returned again. I'm finding myself extremely anxious, paranoid about people around me, and a whole host of other depressive stuff too. This came to a head a few weeks back when I had a group presentation to do at Uni and I just couldn't speak no matter how hard I tried. I'm also aware there are times when I'm a really shitty girlfriend (though I know my boyfriend says I'm not) and a really shitty housemate. I did go see my doctor, though I felt bad for wasting her time, I didn't think she could do much etc. I was expecting the same as I got a couple years back with my old doc, a laminated tick sheet to almost self-diagnose, and a promise of some CBT with what was probably the worlds crappiest CPN ever that never did materialise. I actually feel guilty for underestimating my GP now, she was wonderful. We had a really good talk, she takes my problems seriously and is referring me for therapy, and I've been started on some antidepressant/anti-anxiety meds too. Probably overdue by all accounts. Now, how this ties into the blog, aside from the fact that there is a person (me!) writing it, and this is happening to me, is the fact of side effects of ADs. Now, like most ADs, there are a list of possible side effects about as long as my arm. I'm being affected by a few, most notable is the nausea which happens most days at the moment, but with extra tiredness in there somewhere, oh, and... increased difficulty in achieving orgasm. Now this last one I'll admit I've taken kinda hard. Don't get me wrong, I'm sticking with the meds, it's not really an option to ditch them cold turkey anyway, and I think long term this is the best way to go, but this one side effect is probably the one that's getting to me the most. Being a girl who, since I started self-pleasuring some 10 or more years ago, has never had trouble getting off, to have to work so hard is sort of alien to me. On the bright side, I guess it gives me a chance to really road-test the Tracey Cox Orgasm Arousal Gel I have and already really like. Clouds and silver linings and all that! Anyway, I really hope I haven't bored you or annoyed you too much. I'll keep this kind of boring crap to a minimum, I promise.

NK x

Thursday 5 November 2009

Review: California Exotics - iTap "G" Vibe

The uber-observant types out there may have noticed a rather pink box that appeared to the right recently; yes, the gorgeous guys & girls at CalExotics added me to their ever growing band of Sexperts! Yesterday I got my first toy from them to review, and I was pretty pleased to have been sent the iTap™ "G" Vibe (in white).

I'd had my eye on the iTap range for a little while; the standout feature (as may be given away by the name) is the way in which they're operated - there are no buttons on this baby! No dials or rocker switches, or anything similar.

The base is touch sensitive, so you just "tap" and go, so to speak! I liked this idea when I first heard about it, as in the heat of the moment a lot of buttons can be fiddly, and I don't have much luck with dials to be honest. The iTap range has other styles of vibe in it, such as eggs, wands and bullets (Click to see the entire iTap range) but in all honesty, I was glad to get the G vibe. I'm on a bit of an ongoing quest to find the perfect G spot vibe and I'm always up for trying another one!

When I first took it out of the box, I noticed the angle the G spot curve is at feels a lot more dramatic than many others, which I took to be a positive thing, I've not had much success with some other 'gspot' toys so I don't think the 'softly softly' approach works with me! The vibe itself feels velvety soft, thanks apparently to CalExotics "Velvet Cote" er... coating! Anyway, it feels really silky, just gorgeous. It's average length at 6" and fairly slim at 1", which is a reasonable size given that it feels more due to the curvature. Cycling through the options, I found 5 settings that can be ran through, though I must admit I spent more time on the first, lowest setting, than any other.

On the lowest setting it's fairly quiet, but as it gets to the higher setting or pulsing/escalating settings it's more noticable. I'd say the volume's about average though, and nothing a TV/radio couldn't drown out - but perhaps not one for times when you need to be very discrete. Given that though, it probably wouldn't matter if it was the quietest vibe in the world, I still wouldn't use this if I had to be very quiet... I don't think I could keep quiet if I tried!

My initial thoughts on the angle of the head proved fairly accurate - that feels divine rubbing against the gspot, and I really noticed the difference the coating made. Considering it only takes 2 AA batteries, it really packs a punch! Like I said, I spent a great deal of time on the mildest setting, and found that plenty strong enough. It has a great deal of versatility too, I used it for clit stimulation and found it worked brilliantly for that too.

My only major gripe with the iTap "G" Vibe is that in order to turn it off, you have to cycle through all the 5 settings. Not so bad if you're on the last, or second-to-last one, but if you've been hovering around the first one, that takes some tapping! Another small potential issue I considered was the probability of accidentally 'tapping' to the next setting when you didn't mean to, as the touch sensitive pad on the base is quite sensitive (about as sensitive as my phone's touch screen, if that contextualises what I mean?) - however I think both these issues are a small trade off for doing away with dials and buttons, and for gaining such simplicity.

  • Excellent G-Spot stimulation from the angled head
  • Velvety-soft feel
  • Runs on widely available AAs
  • Good strong vibrations
  • Much less fiddly than other vibes; touch sensitive base

  • Having to cycle through all settings to switch off
  • Potential to slip and skip through settings
The issues are small enough to easily overlooked, and the returns ROCK. Easily the best G-Spot vibe I've enjoyed, and one I will be using time and time again. P.S. It's just technical-sounding enough to make any guy want to have a go ("touch sensitive pad you say, oh... interesting" will be the words you'll likely hear) - and if there is one thing better than a damn good vibrator, it's a damn good vibrator in the hands of someone else, doing the work!

 
A single point lost due to minor 'cons' - otherwise outstanding!
 
View all the info for the "G" vibe or the entire iTap Range @ CalExotics' website, UK readers may wish to buy @ Lovehoney for £22.99 (price correct as of writing)

NK x