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Lelo Ida
Reviewed By: Jenne
First Impressions:
I knew very little about the Lelo Ida when I was first offered it for review from the great girls over at Good Vibrations and I tend to like to review that way. I can go into a review with no preconceived ideas of what to expect from a toy.
So my Ida arrived just before Christmas and like every other toy I receive I can’t resist opening it and exploring. I love the packaging that this toy arrives in, it has an air of quality about it and I for one appreciate that, it always makes me excited to explore further.
The trouble was that my excitement quickly turned to confusion as I looked at the contents of the box. I was presented with a pink disc and what I assumed at this point was the actual toy and to be honest it didn’t seem to make much sense to me. Add to this the charger, a soft carrying bag, 2 AAA batteries, and a strange piece of plastic that I had no idea what to do with at that point and my confusion only grew. This seemed like it might be a lot more work than I was used to when using a toy. At this point I put the Ida to one side and decided to come back to it when, my head was clearer, or I was in the mood to figure out the puzzle it seemed to present.
Fast forward a couple of days and I decided to dive back into my Ida box once more. This time, I read the instructions (Note to self: Read the bloody instructions) Well, I use the words loosely as although they made things clearer I would still hazard a guess that a Rubic cube would be easier to solve. After some playing around, I managed to figure out that the batteries were supposed to fit into the pink disk, which is actually a remote control and the piece of plastic was the key to turn the battery compartment that made it waterproof. Now I had to charge the toy itself, which was easy enough. Simply plug the charger into the toy base and let it charge. It has the usual handy-dandy flashing light that lets you know it’s charging.
When I came back later in the day, I now have two pieces of toy and I’m still not completely sure what to do with it. I start by turning on the remote, which has somewhat confusing controls. Three small depressed buttons, one to turn it on, one to turn it off and the other one to well, I’m still not entirely sure what that one does, but I played for more than a few minutes and kinda figured out what it did. It does have a lock on it that I like as a feature, if one it could easily be found. The remote buzzes and vibrates and has different pulses but I still wasn’t sure whether I was supposed to be using this thing on any part of my body or not at this point. I decided to turn on the fully charged toy itself and was met by the strangest sight. The pink thing that reminds me of some weird elephants truck both rotated and vibrated at the same time. It was then it sort of dawned on me, what this was supposed to do, insert said toy into self and hope it feels good.
Solo Test
Without further ado, I set about getting in the mood for this review, and once warmed up, inserted the elephant trunk and hoped for the best. I’m not sure what I was expecting as a sensation, but the one I got was not it. As the trunk rotated it felt kind of good, for about a minute, and then it became annoying. After 5 minutes it was plain and simply put frustrating. It just rotated and did nothing, and when I say nothing, I mean nothing for me. It simply wasn’t long enough to reach, the right spot.
I’ve never been one to be defeated easily, so at this point I tried all manner of things. I applied pressure to the top of the top and tried to push it into my clit, I tried different angles, I tried different positions but all to no avail. I might as well of just used my fingers as at least I know how to make them do the talking. This was just like asking my Hubby to wash the dishes when he’s in the middle of a major work project, frustrating to the max, and you get to the point where you simply know it’s never gonna happen.
I played around with the remote hoping that might add some extra sensations into the mix. I loved the idea of a remote control toy, the idea always fascinate me and the remote worked well once I had figured it all out and played for a while. That said, I was now over half an hour into this session and my frustration was rising to boiling point. I wondered if adding some water into the mix would help, after all this was a waterproof toy.
I calmed down, filled the tub, and relaxed again. Again I inserted the Ida and turned it on, and again nothing, Nada zip after the first minute of sensations. It’s rare I’ve had what I can describe as a frustrating bubble bath but this was one such time, but at least I did prove that the Ida lived up to it’s claim of being waterproof.
Partnered Test
I put the Ida away for a few more days, before broaching the subject of toy reviews with Hubby and showing his the Ida. Like I had been he was intrigued and liked the idea of the remote. I was less enthusiastic as I knew what he had in mind. I talked him out of trying it solo and we set about testing what the Ida was designed to do, offer both partners duel stimulation whilst having sex.
Now came the first real test, and after inserted the Ida’s trunk, Hubby set about sinking his own pole in the same hole. This proved more uncomfortable than I thought it would, for both of us, and Hubby complained the entire time. We used copious amounts of lube at this point, and while this made insertion easier, it wasn’t any more comfortable for either of us. The disk sat on top of my vulva and kinda turned around. As much as I enjoy sex with Hubby, this was simply not comfortable for either of us.
So we decided to change positions, doggie style seemed like it might work better and to some degree it did. The problem was thrusting was all but impossible, and things seemed even tighter in this position. We tried everything we could think of to get off in this position, but try as we might, nothing worked. All that was getting worked up was our frustration levels, which were quickly approaching 10+ at this point. We simply gave up, pulled the Ida out and took matters into our own hands.
I’ve never had Hubby ask me never to try a toy for a second time, just to make sure the first try was not a fluke, but the Ida has that dubious distinction. He will NOT try the thing again, and I have to say, I’m with him on that one.
What’s It All Add up To?
Please DON’T waste your hard-earned money on the Ida. That is unless you are a masochist with money to burn I can think of no good reason why this toy would or should be in nobodies toy arsenal. I could find not one redeeming feature for this toy and it has a pretty hefty price tag at $200. Even if it was $20 it would be money wasted in my opinion. There are better options out there in that price range and that actually work, such as the Stronic Range from Fun Factory.
In summary, and in case I didn’t make myself clear enough the first time. Please DON’T buy this toy.
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Has anyone actually HAD a positive experience with this thing? Ugh! I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you either!