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So there’s been a very interesting discussion I’ve been following on a community forum about female ejaculation (sometimes referred to as ‘squirting’), and the name Jason Julius came up. Apparently, this man makes his living creating ‘how to’ guides on female orgasms, with a particular focus on G-Spot stimulation and female ejaculation. Of course, my curiosity immediately got the better of me and I did a quick search on Google to see who this guy was and if the praise being heaped upon him was justified. (He had a very enthusiastic supporter in the discussion group!) Continue reading

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I had a bit of a disaster with my original Toy with me Tuesday shot for today. Turns out, it’s not that easy to create fake frost. Who’d have thought? (I’ll just have to wait ‘til winter is in full swing before trying that one again, I think …)

So, instead of ice crystals, I’ve gone for electronics. This shot is actually inspired by a friend’s comments regarding a shot I did of the LELO Gigi back in September. She thought it looked like a remote for the T.V. or a videogame controller. And I have to agree, when you put the Gigi in a gadget line-up, she doesn’t look out of place! Hey, we all have buttons we like pushed. Continue reading

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Sex education – and not the kind they teach in schools. I’m a big fan of it and have a fair number of non-fiction books devoted to various sex-related subjects: sexual psychology (Dirty Minds by Kayt Sukel), oral sex (Masterclass: Going Down by Ian Cameron), and sadomasochism (SM 101: A Realistic Introduction by Jay Wiseman) to name just a few. But, sometimes, there’s no substitute for practical experience.

Just over a year ago, I attended an adult sex education class for the first time with my other half and, hands down, it was probably one of the most interesting and liberating things we’ve done as a couple. Being able to talk to someone with the experience to answer topical sex questions in a practical and non-judgemental way and having the opportunity to see things demonstrated (and try a few things ourselves under the watchful eye of the tutor) was wonderful. Even better, that first class opened the door to a whole lot of other lines of thinking and exploration for us. Some new adventures, if you will.

Earlier this week I received a marketing email from British-based sex toy retailer Coco de Mer, reminding me of their new salon season and, I have to say, they’re running some great classes this November, including An Introduction to Sensual Massage, Sensual Spanking, Mistress in the Bedroom (this one has the fabulous Mistress Absolute at the helm), Backdoor Antics: Practicals of Anal Sex, and Female Ejaculation and the G-Spot. Continue reading

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What we used: Smooth G-Spot Glass Dildo with finger loop
From: Spartacus
Price: From £29.99
Material(s): lead free borosilicate glass

Dildos don’t vibrate, but they do have their charms … Lizzie and Thomas play with the Smooth G-Spot Glass Dildo from Spartacus.

First thoughts …

Lizzie
A couple of months ago, Thomas and I had a major toy box clean out. We threw out a load of stuff – things that we’d bought and didn’t like, mostly, but also some toys that we’d enjoyed and thought were past their use-by date. Amongst them, a monstrously large dildo that Thomas purchased for me as a birthday present. It was an awful, flesh-coloured thing that was eye-wateringly large (he didn’t check the size properly before ordering it – or so he told me) and smelled strongly of latex. So strongly, in fact, you could smell it halfway across the room if the lid on our toy box wasn’t shut properly. Still, we had quite a bit of fun with it before it was eventually consigned to the dustbin, although I can’t say it really sold me on dildos generally; vibrators always seemed to have far more to offer. Needless to say, I was pretty ambivalent about the Spartacus Smooth G-Spot Dildo. Turns out, I grossly underestimated what a well-designed, well-made toy could do for me. Continue reading

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What we used: Gigi rechargeable G-Spot vibrator
From: LELO
Price: £53.90 – £69.00 (depending on retailer)
Material(s): Body safe silicone (main shaft) and plastic (base)

 

Do good things come in small packages? Lizzie shares her thoughts on Gigi, LELO’s rechargeable G-Spot vibrator, who she’s been getting to know for a while now.

 

First thoughts …

Lizzie
As you may know from reading my A not-so-Happy Rabbit review, I’ve been using vibrators – alone and with Thomas – for quite some time. But Gigi was a bit of a departure for me because, at the time I bought this little G-Spot gem, it represented a number of firsts. One, it was made by LELO, a brand I’d not tried before. Two, it wasn’t a rabbit (and up until Gigi’s arrival, all my vibes had ears). Three, it was the smallest vaginal vibrator I had ever purchased. Gigi was a bit of stab-in-the-dark, to be perfectly frank; I’d just divorced my latest rabbit – things hadn’t worked out between us – and I was desperate to find a vibrator I enjoyed using again. Continue reading

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The word ‘erotic’, the adjective that describes the arousal of sexual desire or excitement, made its first appearance in the Seventeenth Century. It was derived from the French word érotique, which was, in turn, based on the Greek words erõtikos, erõs, and erõt ‘sexual love’.

With all the media chatter going on about erotica ‘entering the mainstream’ post-Fifty Shades of Grey, it’s easy to forget that there’s been a wealth of wonderful – and sometimes controversial – erotic literature, paintings and objects that’s appeared over the centuries. In fact, our modern sexual lexicon is heavily influenced by all that has gone before. Take, for example, the words ‘sadism’ and ‘masochism’ (which I included definitions for in my last link round-up post). While many of us do understand their meaning, a considerably smaller number of people are aware of (or have read the work of) the writers after whom they were coined - Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, author of Venus in Furs, and Donatien Alphonse François, also known as the Marquis de Sade. Similarly, sex toys are nothing new: did you know that the word ‘dildo’ appeared in English in the 1500s?

If you’ve visited the Behind the Chintz Curtain Facebook page and scrolled back to the very beginning, you’ll know that we’ve included some significant sexual milestones, starting from the 1300s, in our timeline. But if you’re not a Facebook user – or simply can’t be bothered hitting the arrow key or stroking your mouse to get that far back – here they are. Think there’s something significant missing from the line up? Let me know …

 

2011: Fifty Shades of Grey

Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L James is released as an eBook by Australian virtual publisher, The Writers’ Coffee Shop.

 

2003-2004: Belle de Jour

Brooke Magnanti writes (anonymously) about her life as a prostitute via her blog, Belle de Jour: Diary of a London Call Girl (later published as Belle de Jour: The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl).

Image: Brooke Magnanti, a.k.a Belle de Jour, 2010. Original photograph by Paul Clarke.

Continue reading

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What we used: Happy Rabbit G-Spot Rechargeable Rabbit Vibrator
From: Lovehoney
Price: £49.99
Material(s): Silicone (main body and operating buttons) and plastic (base)
Lizzie is on a quest to find a new rabbit vibrator. Will Lovehoney’s Happy Rabbit G-Spot rechargeable rabbit vibrator make her, well, happy?

First thoughts …

Lizzie
I have been looking for a new rabbit vibrator for AGES. I bought my first one over ten years ago and fell completely in love with it. It was ridiculously cheap, was likely full of terrible un-bodysafe plastics, smelled dreadful, was louder than a 747 at take-off, and had an awful and superfluous bubble of moving beads the colour of boiled sweets near the base. But it could make me orgasm, no problem at all, and it was used on a weekly basis with much enthusiasm.

Unfortunately, after a few months of faithful (heavy) service it gave up the ghost – the battery chamber corroded – and, in any event, I’d started to do a bit of research on phthalates and had decided that I shouldn’t be putting things that were potentially harmful inside myself.

So I bought another more expensive one – and to my great disappointment, it was not a patch on the cheap-as-chips original. The rabbit ear position was slightly different and even though the vibe was quieter and smelled loads better, it wasn’t nearly as easy to orgasm with. Eventually, I got cross with it, threw it away and started experimenting with some different vibrator designs to see if I could find something I liked better.

But nothing I’ve tried so far has given me quite the same pleasure as my first rabbit and I’m desperate to find one that I adore as much as my original.

Bring on the Happy Rabbit. Continue reading