What we used: Shimmy mini pleasure wand and Drive Me Balmy arousal balm gift set
From: Swoon (part of the Lovehoney group)
Price: £14.99
Material(s) & Ingredients: Shimmy mini pleasure wand – soft-touch plastic (latex and phthalate free) • Drive Me Balmy arousal balm – (99% natural): Cocos Nucifera Oil (Coconut Oil), Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Olea Europa Fruit Oil (Olive Oil), Simmondsia Chinensis Oil (Jojoba Oil), Glycine Soja Oil (Soya Oil), Camellia Sinensis Leaf Oil (Camellia Oil), Butyrospermum Parkii Fruit (Shea Butter), Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Parfum, Menthol, Brassica Napus Seed Oil (Rapeseed Oil), Crambe Abyssinica Seed Oil (Crambe Oil), Borago Officinalis Seed Oil (Starfower Oil), Camelina Sativa Seed Oil (Camelina Oil), Ribes Nigrum Seed Oil (Blackcurrant Oil), Echium Plantagineum Seed Oil (Echium Oil), Bisabolol, Benzyl Alcohol, Coumarin, Amyl Cinnamate
Reviewer: Lizzie

 

The Swoon Shimmy. Nope, it’s not a new Strictly Come Dancing routine but a little bullet vibrator from the folks over at Lovehoney. The question is, did it make Lizzie want to tango? And was she Driven Balmy?

 

First thoughts
The Shimmy is the first new vibrator that I’ve tried out in what seems like ages (we’re talking calendar months!) and, I have to say, I was quite looking forward to putting it through its paces. That said, I haven’t come across a vibrator that’s really knocked my socks off for quite some time, big or small, so wasn’t getting my hopes up too high for the size and the price of this one. I do have a bit of a thing for lotions and potions that stimulate the clitoris, though, so was very interested to see how the Swoon formulation compared against my current favourite, Durex O.

 

The packaging
Nice colourways – mint green and black, with flapper-esque photos of the greyscale variety. You can’t really tell that there’s a sex toy inside the box unless you read the copy, which speaks to Lovehoney’s intent to sell the Swoon products through pharmacies such as Boots. Inside the main box, a glossy little tin (featuring identical branding), which opens to reveal the white Shimmy (although it’s billed as a pleasure wand, it’s really a bullet vibrator), a small (7 gram) tub of Drive me Balmy arousal balm, and a spare AAA alkaline battery (there’s one already contained within the Shimmy) – all encased in moulded foam. Very cute, really, and highly reminiscent of the beauty brand Soap and Glory.

 

The vibrator and balm
Emergency memo to Swoon design department! Who on earth thought that white was a good colour for the Shimmy?! At this size, with the little green waterproof seal stripe, this bullet looks exactly like a tampon.

You even twist it to get to the battery chamber in the same way you would a tampon wrapper. Don’t get me wrong, tampons are great and all, but they don’t scream sexy. They scream personal hygiene. And cramps. Lest you think I’m being overly critical and that I was the only one who made the sanitary product connection, Thomas’s first words to me as he watched me turning the Shimmy over in my hands were ‘That looks like a tampon’. Myself? I would’ve gone for black or green and avoided the whole product confusion issue entirely.

 

In use

Drive Me Balmy*
So, when I finally got the chance to apply this to myself, I opened the tin up to find that Thomas had already beaten me to it and taken out a sneaky dab to rub on himself during a session we’d had the previous night. (I wasn’t in a position to see him do it but I did recall thinking things seemed to be, er, progressing a little more quickly than usual at the time.) When questioned, he confirmed that he had, indeed, had his fingers in the balm jar and the sensations it created when applied to his penis had been rather pleasant. Naturally, I was keen to see if it would have the same effect on me.

To start with, I applied a little balm to my clitoris with my fingers and then used the Shimmy to spread it around the vulva; it melted very nicely with my body heat and a little seemed to go a reasonably long way. However, I did notice that the Drive me Balmy had a slightly oily texture and thus began to wonder whether it was safe to use with latex condoms – extremely important information if, like Thomas and I, you use them as your main form of contraception. After scouring the paper instructions (no joy) I finally found the following notice in very small print on the bottom of the Shimmy’s exterior box and the Drive me Balmy tin: ‘Not for use with latex condoms’.

The effects? Pleasant. I experienced a mild to moderate cooling sensation (the ‘toothpaste effect’, as I like to call it), which seemed to increase bloodflow and make my clitoris slightly more engorged. As a result, it was easier to stimulate myself with the Shimmy pleasure wand.  To be clear, the sensations the balm produced weren’t overly drastic but I could definitely feel something going on down there! Did I prefer it to Durex O? No. But I certainly wouldn’t object to having Drive me Balmy applied to my girly parts in the future.

 

The Shimmy
When I first switched it on I thought I’d unleashed an angry mosquito. The Shimmy isn’t exactly loud, but neither is it particularly quiet. It has three speed settings – all controlled by a small button at the base – and, at the highest one, it really gets quite a buzz going on.

I started with the Shimmy on the lowest notch but, as soon as I became aroused, dialled things up to the highest. At full power, the vibrations were pleasantly strong – certainly enough to stimulate without vaginal penetration – and I was pleased to find that, in conjunction with the Drive me Balmy, I was having a very enjoyable clitoral orgasm within the space of ten minutes (from a cold start, that’s pretty quick for me). The Shimmy’s size made it particularly manoeuvrable, too, which meant I could get it in just the right places (you can easily run it around the entrance of the vagina, over and around the clitoral hood). Even better, it was the perfect size to stimulate Thomas’s testicles and perineum – which meant I was able to give him a very lovely buzzy hand-job once I’d finished dealing with myself.

Clean-up was short and sweet – because the Shimmy is waterproof, it was the work of a minute to wash it in warm water and antibacterial soap – although I did pay extra attention to the tip of the bullet as there is a moulding notch there that could very easily attract build up.

 

The verdict?
Because it’s so small and the packaging so inoffensive, I think the Shimmy is perfect for beginners or those looking for something super discrete (this is an excellent travel vibrator) and I had more fun with it than some of the bigger, more expensive vibes I’ve tried over the past year. It’s not super cheap – I think the RRP of £14.99 is a little steep for what you get – but this little bullet is certainly powerful enough to get the job done, especially when coupled with the Drive me Balmy arousal balm. And I loved that both Thomas and I could both use the contents of the Shimmy tin. It would make a lovely, saucy little gift, too.

 

In summary

Things I liked:

• The strength of the Shimmy’s vibrations. It’s small but mighty!
• The discrete packaging. No one’s going to glance at the Shimmy tin and think ‘vibrator’.
• The fact that both Thomas and I were able to benefit from the vibrator and balm – the size of the former is perfect for man parts and the balm seems to work just as well on men as it does on women.

Things I wasn’t so keen on:

• The colour of the Shimmy. The white plastic body really does make it look like a tampon.
• The size of the Drive me Balmy tin. Seven grams isn’t a lot and, depending on how much of the balm you apply, I’d say you’re looking at two to five uses, max.
• The very small latex condom warning. This needs to be far, far more prominent.
• The price. Buying the Shimmy isn’t going to break the bank but, equally, there are some good bullets out there for less than a ten pounds. You’re paying for the packaging with this one.

*Drive me Balmy pleasure balm can be purchased separately from the Shimmy in 20 gram pots.

Tickle your fancy? Click on the following links to purchase:

Lovehoney

• Swoon Shimmy mini pleasure wand and Drive Me Balmy arousal balm set
• Drive me Balmy pleasure balm – 20 grams

Boots

• Swoon Shimmy mini pleasure wand and Drive Me Balmy arousal balm set
• Drive me Balmy pleasure balm – 20 grams

 

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