Fun Factory LAYAspot Clitoral Massager

First impressions:

The LAYAspot comes in a box with one side moulded plastic, and the other side magnetic closure with instructions and information. The box is reasonably sturdy but quite easy to collapse from the bottom.

On the box it suggests that the owner should "love yourself!", and in diagram form tells us not to put the vibrator in ears or up noses. I don't know if that's a common problem in Germany, but I can't say I've heard of anyone doing either!

On the magnetic closure side there is a little sales blurb about FUNFACTORY products in four languages (you too can learn to say hypo-allergenic in Spanish), and a brief description of the vibrator itself.

It describes the LAYAspot as "the perfect Vibe!", which is confident if nothing else.

On the other side of the gate fold there is a diagram of the vibrator and a key for where everything goes, along with some general descriptions such as "extremely quiet", and "skin friendly".

The only picture on the box is a line drawing of the vibe itself. The box is cream, grey and red in colour. There are no naked people, no pouting and no claims of use by pornstars. It is simple, reasonably well styled and would make a great gift for someone who is put off by the usual packaging styles.

Getting it out of the box is simple. Pull open card box and pull out the plastic tray.

The vibe is sat inside a moulded plastic tray which just pings open upon removal from the box.

Also inside the box is the instruction leaflet which although short is pretty informative, and a sachet of lube called "Bodyfluid Lovegel". Probably not a name I'd have chosen, but perhaps that doesn't sound quite as much like an embarrassed euphemism in German.

The vibe:

It comfortably fits in my hand, the curve midway along means that each side fits easily in my palm.

It looks to me vaguely like a small phaser (and I'll admit to having a few moments pretending to zap the cat while examining it).

The colours are really nice. Mine is the blue, and it is somewhere between baby blue and sky blue. It does look quite arty, and if you have quite naive housemates/parents you could probably get away with leaving it on the side. The blue parts are 'elastomed' bits, and the vanilla bits are plastic.

On the top it has a plus and a minus, which I'm very pleased about having had a massager before that I had to go all the way to the fastest before being able to switch off. The buttons are almost flush against the body, and though they don't make any discernible click you can certainly feel them depress, and a light behind them comes on (though presumably in use you're unlikely to see this).

The end of the vibe is where the batteries go. You twist one way to open and the opposite to close. Unlike most vibe battery bits it doesn't close with a screw thread. I cannot express how happy I am about this in mere words. Seriously. I hate screw threads. They are *the* single most annoying thing on anything that requires opening and closing. So yay for the FUNFACTORY people for realising that the last thing you want to be doing when your batteries inconveniently run out midway through is fighting with a screw thread.

Inside it marks which way up each battery should sit.The fit though is snug, and although it says that it takes rechargeable I honestly wouldn't unless you're willing to spend the next three days wiggling them out again. It took me several tries to get the ordinary batteries in.

The vibe is a comfortable weight for holding for a fair period of time, and the end with the battery compartment is slightly tapered to make for easier grip.

In use:

It has eight speeds. Eight! I sat there pushing the plus button thinking, "this'll be the last one" each time. There are three patterns; two of which are essentially the same pattern faster and slower.

First use I find the disadvantage/advantage of the lack of screw thread. Namely if you hold it at the end you undo it and it stops. This doubles as an advantage because it means if you need to stop it suddenly because say your 'phone keeps persistently ringing as if it were an emergency (though it turns out to be your mother asking if you want some veet), you can stop quickly.

It took me a while to get into the right sort of position with it. The lower end of power is about right for me, although the very lowest is a bit too slow. The patterns though are fabulous. I've never really been a pattern person, prefering just as fast as possible. However, fast as possible on this would probably numb me for a week. The patterns are gorgeous though, and though it takes a while it gives me a really lovely achey orgasm.

For using during penetrative sex we found that chair based was the best. Because of the shape in missionary it is a sure route to having it squished against your pelvic bone (unless the other person has very strong arms and can stay upward for the whole time), and in on top positions it means having to stay lifted. However, we used it with me sat in chair and him kneeling in front, this gave plenty of space for the vibe, and also the chance for him to get a bit buzzed occasionally.

Though alone I have had some great clitoral orgasms, used in conjunction with penetration (person or toy) it is fabulous. So fabulous that I should probably apologise to most of my street.

My wife and I have always had an active sex life but, as we got into our fifties, it started taking her longer to reach orgasm. She still wanted sex, but she was having to work so long at it that she was often making herself sore and sometimes triggering cystitis. She was beginning to get scared of the after effects and often going without.

The LAYAspot has made an incredible difference. She reaches orgasm as quickly now as she did twenty years ago and it seems to last longer and be stronger. We're back to multiple times per week and she's even managing multiple orgasms in a single session.

The great thing about the LAYAspot is that it fits in well with shared lovemaking in ways that a more conventional dildo type vibrator might not. She can use it while I'm inside her and the vibrations make it right through to me - my orgasms are stronger too!

We all get slower as we get older - but that doesn't have to mean that we give up! We would recommend the LAYAspot to anyone that needs a little extra help to get the motor running!