Ami - exerciser for vaginal muscles by Je Joue - review by Kira (stainedclear)

Je Joue's Ami beads are vaginal beads used to help tone the PC muscles. PC muscles control urinary flow and contract during orgasm. Regular exercise of these muscles can result in better urinary control, a tighter internal feel, and stronger orgasms. They serve as a nice reminder to do your Kegel exercise and as an added bonus can produce a heightened state of arousal for many women.

Ami comes with three sets of beads in varying weights and sizes. These can be used by beginners and advanced users. Beginners can start with Ami 1 and work their way up while advanced users may want to start with Ami 2 or Ami 3.

While the cord on the end may make it tempting, I would not personally recommend using these anally. There is always the possibility that the silicone cord could rip and the beads would be stuck inside with no method of retrieval.

Ami is made of silicone. This puts them at a 10 on the safety scale. Je Joue silicone is my all time favorite silicone and may well be one of my favorite things in the world. It's soft and supple with hardly any drag at all. I feel like I could cuddle up with it. It's just that soft and velvety. If I could wrap all my toys in this, I would. It is the softest, smoothest silicone I have ever felt. This makes it ideal for long term wear. I wear my Ami beads all day and while silicone does seem to suck up my natural lubrication, I never had any serious discomfort wearing these for extended periods. Ami beads are smooth with no texture to them. I would count this as a plus for this particular product as I'm not sure that I would like a textured product inside of me for long periods.

There is no smell to the silicone. There is also no taste.

Beginners and advanced users should be more than thrilled with this silicone. Those that have limited experience with silicone will be blown away with how soft Je Joue's silicone is and even advanced users should be more than impressed.

One odd thing about Ami is that the silicone is not completely mounted (glued?) down to the weighted bead. If you pinch Ami, the material will come up somewhat. I'm sure this was done on purpose for some reason, but for the life of me I cannot figure out what this reason might be. This doesn't happen on any of my other Je Joue toys which is why I assume it was done on purpose with Ami. Perhaps this makes it more comfortable for extended use. I did not notice any bunching of the material when these were inside of me. I would probably not have known about this had I not read it in previous reviews.

As mentioned, you get three sets of balls with Ami. I'll give you the picture first and then go through each set.



Ami 1 is the single, large ball. When I measure it, I get that it is 1.5 inches long and 1.5 inches wide. The total length with cord is 4.25. According to Je Joue's website the total length is 4.37. The length and width of the ball itself is 1.41. I'm not good enough with a tape measure to get that precise, so I'd go with Je Joue's measurements for exacts. It weighs 1.65oz.

This is the first step in the Ami program, as it were. This is best for beginners or those looking for something that will be slightly larger. I started with this one but found that it wasn't much of a challenge for actual Kegels. It did provide a full feeling internally that reminded me to do my exercise through the day. I found that by about 2pm I noticed Ami 1 less. When I moved, I could feel it, but just sitting I became unaware of it. I could not feel the internal ball move around, even with vigorous activity. This worked best for me for creating a state of arousal because of the more full feeling, however was not much of an actual workout for me.



Ami 2 is the double ball, larger and less weighted than Ami 3. I measured this at 6 inches in total length, with cord. I got 3 inches in length for the beads themselves. At the largest point, I got 1.25 in diameter. At the curve in the middle, I got .5 for diameter. From the Je Joue website, the total length is 6.14. The length of the balls is 3.14. The diameter at its widest is 1.25. Again, I would go by this for the most precise measurements. The weight of Ami 2 is 2.75oz.

This is the second step in the Ami program. This is best for intermediate or even more advanced users. It provided a somewhat full feeling, but not as much as Ami 1. It is longer, and thus can be felt further back internally. It is weighted more heavily than Ami 1 and provides a greater challenge. It has internal balls in each bead. These can be felt when I roll them in my hand, but I cannot feel them internally. Like the Ami 1, this reminded me to do my Kegels, but was not a huge challenge. I did really enjoy the Ami 2, however. I found these to be very comfortable to wear all day and did not forget that they were there even by the end of the day due to their weight and size. After only two days of using the Ami 2, I notice a difference in tightness. I attribute this to the fact that I was reminded to do my Kegels through the day, and not just limited to the first half when I could still feel the beads. The weigh of the balls also provided some help in this.



Ami 3 is the smallest and heaviest of the Ami beads. I got 5.5 in total length with the cord and 2.75 for the beads. I got 1 inch for the diameter at the widest point and .5 at the curve. Je Joue's website lists the total length as 5.66 and the length of the beads as 2.75. It lists the diameter as 1.1 at the widest point. The weight of the Ami 3 is 3.73oz.

As the smallest and heaviest step of the Ami program, Ami 3 should provide a challenge for all but the most advanced of vaginal exercise users. If you've been using weighted dildos for exercise, these may not provide as much of a challenge. However, since I have used only vaginal beads, I was very impressed with how much I had to work with Ami 3. Even by 8pm, I was still very aware that they were in me and doing my Kegels through the day. I felt that my Kegels were having to be held longer and stronger to clasp around the Ami 3 properly. When I moved around, I have to grasp these tightly to keep them inside of me. I've always been of the belief that vaginal balls mostly just reminded you to do your exercises, but I did find that these were enough of a workout to attribute some of the improvement I felt over the days I used Ami 3 to the actual balls themselves. It does not feel like there are actual beads in Ami 3 so much as a solid weight. I could not feel a roll to it either in my hand or internally.



As you can see, there is a wide variety of sizes and weights. Everyone should be able to find something that works for them within the Ami system. Perhaps this is most suited to beginners who will get full use of the full Ami system, but advanced users should take a look if not just for the Ami 3. While the Ami 3 is by far my favorite, I can see myself using the others for arousal purposes more than PC muscle toning.

The use of Ben Wa balls and vaginal exercisers is still not wide spread and thus I think you could probably leave these out and no one would automatically assume they were some type of sexual device. However, I'm sure if someone did see them they would ask what they were and I'm not sure what else you could say other than vaginal beads. So if you want to keep these a secret, I would still say you might want to keep these tucked away.

Well, I covered a lot of this in the other section, but I'll try to elaborate a little here. I base any "improvement" on what I can feel with use of my toys as well as what my husband tells me he can feel. I also base it on improvement in orgasm strength.

With Ami 1, I noticed a slight improvement within a day of use. Now, before using Ami I specifically did not use my normal beads for about a week prior to accurately asses the effectiveness of Ami. I noticed that my toys seemed to fill me more but did not notice and difference in orgasm strength. My husband said he noticed a significant difference in tightness.

With Ami 2, the improvement was more pronounced. I noticed not only a difference in tightness, but also in orgasm strength. This improvement was noted within about a day or two of use. I also noticed that I was able to use the bathroom less often.

With Ami 3, I noticed the most difference. My orgasms were much stronger and my toys felt like they filled me a lot more than usual. I also noticed that I was able to hold my PC muscles longer for each rep and clench them in tighter than usual.

My husband says he did not notice much of a difference from Ami 1 to Ami 3. It should be noted that when he tested the tightness from Ami 1, I had not inserted anything prior to his test. With Ami 2 and 3, I made the mistake of playing with my toys beforehand which may have adversely affected the tightness that had resulted, as essentially I stretched myself back out about fifteen minutes before he had his chance. So it wasn't the most scientific procedure, but I've always sucked in science, so you'll forgive me for not holding the variables constant.

Ami is easy to care for. There are no working parts to be concerned about and they can all be completely submerged. Just wash off with soap and water or toy cleaner or spray. Je Joue's website says you can actually boil these, but says you should do so for a minute or less.

You should use lube when you insert these, but make sure you use water based lubes only. Silicone lube can degrade silicone material and you wouldn't want to mess up this lovely material!

I store mine in the beautiful package it comes in. If you don't want to do that, you can always make pouches for these, but that seems like a bit of extra work that's unnecessary considering the great package that comes with it. If you do decide not to use it, just take care that the silicone does not rub against each other as this can also degrade the material.

I love Je Joue packaging almost as I love the material. It's a lovely jewelry box packaging. Out of all my luxury buys, Je Joue packaging is my favorite. The outside box is Je Joue's signature purple tone with "Je Joue Ami" written on the front. The back has a small picture of the beads and some light info on the beads in multiple languages. When the purple package is opened, the black jewelry box packaging is revealed. It's tied with a bow in the front and simply says "Je Joue" with the Je Joue heart logo on it.







The black box lifts up to reveal the Ami beads displayed. They are labeled at the top so you don't forget which is which and keeps them organized. The beads fit at the bottom and there's an area at the top to lay the strings.



The purple box isn't perfectly discreet since it has the photos, but the black box has no information on it and could be left out with no concerns. I leave mine out in my bathroom and figure people will think it holds things for my hair or makeup since I have similar boxes that do just that. It's also perfect for gift giving. Since it holds the Ami beads nicely, it makes the perfect storage box.

There's no real instructions, which I find odd since Je Joue often has great instruction manuals. However, their website has a ton of info on the beads should you need to look anything up.

I would recommend, and have done so already, these beads to just about anyone. They work for users across the spectrum due to the variations in shapes and sizes. Those with smaller vaginal canals can use Ami 1 or 3. Those who are more advanced can use 2 or 3. Almost everyone should find at least one bead set that works for them.

However, if you are looking for beads that you will feel roll around inside of you, Ami beads will not be the ones for you. This is my only disappointment with Ami and the only thing I would change. Other than that, these are the perfect beads.

I've covered most everything, but I did have a few other things I wanted to share here. I have the SmartBalls, Luna Beads, and now Ami. Out of the three, Luna and Ami have tied for my favorite. I think Ami is more effective as a vaginal exerciser, but I like that I can feel the Luna Beads roll around inside of me. So for arousal purposes, I will either use Luna or Ami 1 or 2. For actual effective PC training, I found Ami 2 and 3 to far exceed SmartBalls or Luna Beads. In fact, Ami has somewhat changed my opinion that the only thing vaginal balls do is remind you to do your Kegels and the balls themselves don't aid in any way. The weight on Ami 3 was a real work out!

On that note, I wore Ami 3 all day to work and had no issues keeping them in. I sit most of the day at work with a few walking trips up and down the stairs or to grab something from someone. I decided to try these out on a trip to the store where I would be walking the whole time and had a very hard time clenching hard enough to keep these in the whole time. In fact, at one point these slipped out and I had to make an emergency trip to the bathroom to reinsert them! I've been doing Kegels since I was about 17, for reference and consider my PC muscles to be fairly well toned. Walking for extended periods and clenching down the whole time to offset my heavy walking style was no easy task!

While I see myself grabbing Ami 3 the most, I do think Ami 2 will get a lot of use when I think I'll be walking somewhere that won't have a bathroom in case I have a slip. I also think I'll use Ami 1 if I'm looking for the arousal aspect only. I do love vaginal beads from the standpoint of having something inside of me that no one knows about. It's a huge turn on for me and keeps me horny through the day and ready to pounce on my husband when I get home. It's my little dirty secret when I'm out and about or at work.

Even though I would have preferred to be able to feel the balls roll around like I can with my Luna Beads, I'm still giving these a full five stars. These are VERY effective and I'm impressed and glad I got these. These will probably get more use than my Luna Beads simply from the standpoint that my main purpose is to tone muscles and not just be turned on all day.