Smartballs - vaginal balls discontinued by Fun Factory - review by Jul!a

Smart Balls by FunFactory are intended to be used as a way to help strengthen and tone the vaginal muscles. It should be noted that these are in no way, shape, or form intended to go anywhere near your butt. If they were meant for anal play, they wouldn't be vaginal exercisors. In fact, FunFactory even mentions in the instruction pamphlet that comes with the smart balls that they are not suitable for anal use because with improper use they can be pulled in by anal muscles. But they will help to strengthen your vaginal muscles, can be worn while having anal sex, and I've noticed they have a tendency to get my juices flowing, which my fiance absolutely loves!

Smart Balls are made from a material called elastomed, which is a thermo plastic elastomer. What's really cool about this is that it's nonporous, odorless, and phthalate-free. This means that while your balls are very sturdy in their construction, they're also very soft. To me, I would say these are almost velvety.

I found them to be very well made. I mean, these balls look like they would hold up to a whole heck of a lot of abuse. If I wanted to explain to people what the heck I was tossing around, I would be throwing them against walls just to catch them. I personally think you would have to try really hard to really break these.

The two slightly oval shaped balls together measure 4 1/2" long with each ball coming in at about 1 3/4" long apiece. Each ball also has a circumference of 4 1/2" with a diameter of 1 3/4". Attached to one end of the balls is a retrieval string which is also made from the elastomed. This string measures in at about 3 1/2" long. Altogether your balls will weigh about .3 pounds.

The majority of the set will be one color, with 4 "grooves" about an inch long on each ball being an accent color. The set I purchased was black with magenta stripes. The black is a really soft matte black and the magenta, while bright, isn't overwhelming in any way.

Inside each of the balls is what I can best describe as a set of smaller balls. If you hold your smart balls in your hand and shake them you'll definitely feel what I'm talking about. The purpose for these is to create that "vibrating" sensation you keep hearing about. Or at least I kept hearing about it, every time I would see someone mentioning these smart balls.

These are so simple to use, which makes them great for just about everyone. FunFactory has provided you with a sample lubricant, but you can use your own silicone or water based lube if you prefer.

Since these aren't exactly the tiniest things you could be putting into your vagina, I would definitely recommend using some lube to insert. These would go in much like a tampon would, so I would start off in whatever position you normally insert a tampon. The best way that I found once I was in position was to get a good hold on the base of the top ball and insert that one first, then once that ball is all the way in, do the same thing with the bottom one. Make sure not to rush it as you could end up hurting yourself.

It took a few minutes for everything to feel like it fell into place and once it did I didn't even notice them. Well, until I started walking around a bit. Jogging down the stairs I could definitely feel the "vibrations" in there. I've seen people describe this feeling as air fluttering in their stomach, but to me it almost felt as though I was getting gassy. Which I guess could be the same thing, but I generally keep them in two different categories.

You could use these for hands free double penetration as well. Just insert before having anal sex. I haven't personally done this yet, but I hear it's fantastic.

Care and maintenance for your Smart Balls is actually pretty easy. FunFactory says that before the first use and then after every use, you should wash them with warm water and a mild soap. Personally, I just used the same toy cleaner that I use for the rest of my toys.

The lube that I used was a water based one. However, you could use a silicone based lube and be just fine.

I had read some of the other reviews before making my purchase and seen some of the women talking about how the smart balls "stimulated" them and it was very noticeable when they went to remove their balls. I have to say that I noticed the same thing.

One of the times I wore mine I removed them in the shower, which made clean up that much easier. But if you're not in the shower when removing and finding that your body apparently loves these, just wipe them down with a clean cloth or paper towel, and then clean away.

For storage, I highly recommend keeping your balls in, well, something. A plastic bag, a sock that doesn't give off too much lint, but something other than the bottom of a drawer. This will help keep your balls a bit cleaner between uses and really cut down on the prep time to use them. (I know I don't want to spend 20 minutes picking lint out of my balls before I put them in.) Personally, I just keep mine right in the box they came in.

The packaging on these was actually pretty sweet. What I noticed first was the fact that one side was like a little book cover, held together by magnets. There's a window on the front and the back that allows you to see your new balls inside, hiding in their clear plastic case. One side of the box tells you that these are 100% Elastomed in a little bubble. There are 4 more bubbles, the next one down indicating where exactly you stick your balls, and the one after that being a close-up. The next two both indicate where you should not put your Smart Balls, like up your nose or in your ears by putting a big x through the bubbles those diagrams are in.

FunFactory was kind enough to provide you with a very lengthy manual, printed in 6 different languages. In 6 different languages they tell you what your balls are made of, how you should use them, how to clean them, and even offer some tips!

I would suggest relieving yourself before putting your balls in, and to avoid relieving yourself at all while wearing them. If you have strong muscles and think you can hold them, I would only recommend urinating while wearing these. Personally, I did, and I just made darn sure I cleaned off the string very well while I was cleaning the rest of it. Never take a bowel movement while wearing these. You really don't want to have to fish them out..

Personally, I did urinate once while wearing these, and it was a very odd sensation. I found that after a while I was able to successfully hold the balls in hands free while still being able to urinate, but it did take me a while to do that. Even still, it's probably best to remove them before hand.

The very first time I pulled these out of the box, I won't lie, I actually spent about 15 minutes just shaking them because I thought they sounded so freaking cool.

Putting them in was a strange sensation, because even with the lube and I made sure I was comfortable and warm and relaxed, I still had a hard time getting them in. I know I'm a bit on the tighter side, but still. Once I got them in though, I didn't even notice they were there until I started moving around. Pulling them back out was very irritating as well because they still felt too big in my opening.

I noticed a bit of extra wetness after a while, but not tons. What had me a bit intrigued was the rattling of the balls. When shaking outside of the body you can obviously hear them. I felt as though I could hear them while they were inside of me, but my fiance insists that I'm hearing things.

The first time I wore them I was telling my fiance all about them and he was intrigued to see what the hell I was talking about with balls inside of balls. When he got home I had him play with them a bit too (he didn't insert them into anything, no worries) to see what I was talking about, and he did the same thing I did, shaking them around.