Purple pleasure bondage set by Pipedream - review by Adriana Ravenlust

I was excited to review the Purple pleasure bondage set, because while it has been a fantasy of mine for some time and I've discussed it with my husband, bondage has never become my reality. Despite my relative newness to bondage (the only other gear I own is Under The Bed Restraints), I expect more from bondage equipment. I find it hard to believe this set is perfect for anyone, let alone "beginners and enthusiasts alike", as the box would have you believe. However I do believe the neoprene cuffs, and plastic gag, aren't intimidating for those who are exploring bondage for the first time. The box also let me know about some bonus materials like an inflatable love cushion, feather tickler, and free satin mask. I was initially excited because I didn't know I'd be getting all that. It's not all that.

There's a reason the mask is "free". It's cheap. It's a very thin and flimsy piece of satin, with just a curve around the nose and no defined shape. It reminds me of a maxi-pad with strings. The strings pull the mask taught and uncomfortably over my nose, which doesn't leave me with any desire to wear it for long. The mask also does not serve as an effective blindfold, and it's easy to peek around the edges. I think a defined nose "cut" would solve these issues, as the higher rated masks on EdenFantasys tend to have a defined shape.

The feather tickler is just as disappointing, and reminds me of a faux feather boa a little girl would have in a princess costume. It has the same super light and fluffy feathers, and is about 12" long, with a shoe lace-like loop at one end. The purple feathers are broken up with real brown and white spotted feathers, to give it some pizzazz I suppose, but something about those feathers just creeps me out. My cats do seem to like it, though; I think this would make a better cat toy than people toy. Like a child's feather boa, those tiny, soft feathers fall out and have a tendency to stick to your clothes.

The position pillow was another new experience for me, and is a darker purple than the rest of the kit. It's soft to the touch and reminds me of velour, like a deluxe air mattress. It has a very unique shape, including an area in the middle where it does not inflate so that it can be folded over on itself for an even higher boost. The smaller side is like a rounded trapezoid, while the larger side looks a bit like a butterfly cut down the center (length-wise). I think this pillow is a bit large to consider inflatable by mouth. The kit also came with some extra material and glue to fix seam tears only.

The focus of this kit was definitely on the cuffs and breathable gag, because they were leaps and bounds above the other pieces; although, I'd still only call them decent or mediocre.

The gag is a purple plastic cylinder, with circular holes punched out of it making it breathable. There is a faux leather strap strung through the cylinder, which attaches to a rather thick neoprene strap made of the same material as the cuffs. The straps attach by Velcro, and the gag can be adjusted to fit heads from about 12.5" to 28". Larger and smaller extremes may not fit very securely. The plastic gag does not detach so cleaning it is a bit tedious, and there doesn't seem to be a way to clean it completely.

Lastly this set includes a full set of ankle and wrist cuffs, which may be the only redeeming quality. Purple on one side, black on the other, and made of fairly comfortable neoprene, these cuffs attach by adjustable Velcro straps. For the folks who are new to bondage, this might be reassuring and inviting. The wrist cuffs are about 3" wide and the ankle cuffs are around 4" wide. The wrist cuffs can accommodate wrists from 4" in circumference (when rolled around itself) to 16", which makes them great for larger wrists. The ankle cuffs extend up to 20", and can fit just as small as the wrist cuffs. Each cuff has a sewn in snap hook, as opposed to an "O" or "D" ring, and the kit comes with 2 O-rings attached between the snap hooks. The snap hooks are easy to use and will work with a variety of equipment, and the O-rings provide versatility (like hog tying).

Although the Velcro is easy to undo, it stays well when the cuffs are on. They seem fairly secure, making them the most useful piece in this kit, and the only reason I might recommend it.

While I can fit my hand through the loop on the feather tickler, I imagine it would be small for some. Although soft to the touch, I find I need something a little more prevalent than the sensation this tickler gives when dragged across my skin. It's certainly not enough to tickle and is limp enough that it doesn't do much.

I couldn't inflate the position pillow at all initially, so I opted to try with my air mattress pump. Holding the small nozzle of the pillow over the larger valve of the pump was awkward but effective. I finished the pillow off with 2 long breaths. I think the pillow would work nicely, under the hips, during missionary but it didn't feel amazing by any means. After leaving it out overnight, I saw that the pillow had deflated. I inflated it again (this time by mouth) only to find that the nozzle wouldn't close. The little stopper kept sliding back out. This is a pretty serious defect in my eyes.

I noticed some rattling coming from the gag only to see that some of the punched out pieces were inside of it, and I was unable to retrieve them. While this doesn't make the gag unusable, it could be distracting at the wrong time. The neoprene straps of the gag seemed unusually thick. Although I could wear it comfortably, sitting low around the back of my head, I suddenly felt very glad I never had to wear dental head gear. The look of the straps, on the gag, are just very strange.

I washed it in the sink, but you could wipe it down with soap. I worry that there's really no way to clean inside it. However the most disappointing issue I had with this gag is, that when I bit down, it bent and lost its shape. This piece is definitely not very strong.

When wearing the wrist cuffs (which I was able to put on easily by myself), my fingers could reach the end of the Velcro tabs on the opposite wrist and open the cuffs. Were my hands immobile or not cuffed together, I would not be able to do this. However, the ease of escape from Velcro cuffs is definitely a turn off for me.

Furthermore, the O-rings are not soldered; the ends are simply pushed together. I noticed this when testing the strength of the ankle cuffs, when my ankles flew apart! I thought I'd broken the cuffs but, as it turns out, the O-rings are just fake. This is easy to fix, however; I could just use the cuffs with the snap hooks and without the O-ring, buy a replacement, or even use a key-ring as a substitute.

Lastly, I found the cuffs to be bulky. While some may not notice I have short arms, and it was a bit uncomfortable if I wanted to maneuver, but not horribly so. Overall, the cuffs were pretty comfortable.