BashfulBabe's review of Icicles No 9 Realistic 6 Inch Glass Dildo

Clearly Fabulous

Reviewed: 10 Nov 2011 by BashfulBabe, a Going Steady Straight Female

I'd not really used glass before, but had been keen on the idea for a while, and do love temperature play and solid toys, with my aluminium dildo being a firm favourite. This is certainly a good introduction to glass dildos, or any solid toys in general, as it's relatively slim, very gently curved, and with minimal texturing. The flat base also means it's suitable for vaginal or anal play, so it's a lot more versatile than some.

I must say, of the time I've spent playing with this, a sizeable portion has been me swirling it around in the light. I know I must have some magpie DNA in there somewhere, but this really is just so pretty that it's hard to stop! The product photo really does not do justice to the "pearlescent Aurora Borealis sheen". You know that dark-rainbow that you see in pools of oily water? Every time the light catches the edge of this thing, the crystal clear glass magically shimmers in exactly the same way. It is gorgeous, and no matter how much I twist and turn it, I can never catch the "sheen" that makes such a beautiful swirly pattern, it always vanishes back into translucence as soon as I move. Aside from my insane cat-chasing-a-laser-pointer style antics, I was also impressed by the "simple" blue spiral design. I used to be fascinated by glass-blowing and similar crafts when I was a wee thing, and it always blew my mind seeing some guy flick something here, spin something there, prod, twist, and press, without even a furrow of the brow, and suddenly an intricate pattern of colour was captured, like an insect in amber, in a piece of glass that would go on to sell for hundreds. The craftsmanship, and sheer talent and skill that go into even the simplest of patterns, is something that still has me in awe. My scrutiny did reveal four separate pinprick-sized air bubbles within the dildo, but they're too small and too deep to be of any concern, either safety-wise or from an aesthetic point of view, and since such hand-blown crafts can never be 100% free of flaws, I see them more as a hallmark of sorts, proof that some incredibly skilled artist personally created this piece, and, while they all follow the same mould, mine is unique, ever so slightly different to ever other No 9 in the world. This is a piece of art, and it hurts my soul to lock it away from prying eyes.

Much as I would love to rave about its comeliness all day, it is its cum-liness (sorry, too easy!) that should interest most people. As is mentioned in the blurb, it's slimmer than most glass dildos. If you're not used to solid-material insertables, it is much better to err on the side of skinny. I would usually be comfortable taking a regular dildo of close on 2" in diameter, but when it comes to metal - and now glass - I feel anything much greater than 1.3" would be just too uncomfortable for me to enjoy. There are slimmer glass dildos out there, but many of them are excessively textured, and I do find that smooth-girth is much easier to accommodate than ridges and nodules and bobbley bits. Aside from the ease of taking it, it just looks so small and innocuous that it's hard to be as intimidated as I would have been had some giant brick of unyielding dong. The gentle upward curve of it also makes it easier to take, as it slips more comfortably into my not-so-poker-straight orifices. I did love that the base is asymmetrical, having the main "blob" pointing down away from the curve. It made it much easier to hold it so that it was pressing against the right bits, as I've experienced more often than I'd like the frustration as my almost-there contractions squeeze a curved toy around just enough to stop the delicious pressure, and the fiddling and swivelling trying to get it back in position takes just long enough to lose the momentum.

I did find the ridges to be very pronounced. Since they also aren't as squishy as the average dildo's protrusions, the ridges are exceptionally noticeable. I found at first they were a little uncomfortable to try and fit in, especially when I was playing anally and my sphincter clenched around the "foreskin". But, putting it down for a moment, warming up with another toy, and adding yet more lube had them slipping in easily, although not as surreptitiously as I would have expected by that stage. Even once inside, I could feel them all the time. I really did enjoy them once I got used to them, but it was a little worrying the first time, as I kept thinking I was damaging something: normally, feeling a sticky-outy bit grinding against your inner walls is a Bad Thing, so it's hard to get past that mental block if you're like me and not used to knobby bits of glass in your vagina being considered a bonus. Once I managed to relax and stop taking it out every twelve seconds to check for blood (never was any, I'm just paranoid), I found they were fantastic for massaging my G-spot, and for stimulating all those lovely nerves that usually only get flat pressure. It's still quite pronounced, so I'd say anyone who's not a fan of textures, especially of the glass or solid material kind, would find the ridges exceptionally off-putting. But for the rest of us, it's just a bit of a mental hurdle to overcome and then it's a heavenly treat. I will say I'm still not keen on using it hard 'n' fast, as the ridges are just too extreme like that, but for slow thrusting, and rocking massage, they're delicious.

Obviously, one of the main attractions of glass is its role in temperature play. This stays naturally cold, and takes quite a while to warm up through handling and play. I've been able to enjoy rolling it over my body to elicit little shivers and flinches and still find it icy when I move to insert it. It also warms up nicely, as I found when taking it into a hot bath: just ten minutes in the water, and I found it had warmed to just enough above body temperature to really stimulate my sensitive parts. It does specifically state that it's safe to be used in the microwave or freezer, but personally I'm happy with the room-temperature chill and toasty-bath heat. I would say anyone going more extreme than that should be careful about how far they go, as even if the dildo is unharmed, freezer-burn on your lips would not be something I'd like to experience! Take your time and test as you go, don't jump straight to shoving ice-encrusted glass into yourself!

I do love how easy it is to clean this thing. Any goo just splashes straight off, and with glass not being all that good at absorbing bacteria, it's a simple job to keep it sterilised. I did notice that a part of one of the ridges was a pain for getting that last scraping of gunk out from under, but I think that's just down to how the individually-blown glass ends up shaping the ridges of each piece. I'd advise anyone cleaning theirs for the first time to be sure to run a fingernail around the ridges to check for any creases that would be keen to cling on to any residue, and take note of any for special attention. Oh, and try not to get hypnotised when the water glistens and brings out a whole new version of the colour-fest that is the outer sheen...

For the packaging, I was a little surprised. The other box is very classy, embossed and combining glossy and matte aspects to appear really high quality. But the front flap is misleading: to actually access the dildo, I had to open the top and pull out the cheap, white packing foam that held it. This, while clearly practical, and housing the dildo so securely that it took me several minutes to winkle it out, was the same kind of packing that I've bought computing component in, just several layers stacked and stuck together, and the shape carved out of the foam block. There was even a piece just wedged in to make the dildo sit more prettily, since the carving was so simplistic. It is definitely a safe way to store it, but it's just very underwhelming considering the awe-inspiring artistry of the dildo itself; I'd love to have something of equal quality to keep it in (and something that won't take me ten minutes to get it out of every time I want to use it!).