Basic Essentials Pearl beads by Cal Exotics - review by Luscious Lily

The large Basic Essentials Pearl Stroker Beads are a pretty set of pearly stroker beads meant to be worn around the shaft of the penis. For such an inexpensive product, they are rather pretty, and they have a variety of potential uses: around the penis for partner sex, around his penis for his masturbating pleasure, and on a toy for hers.

These beads are just what the name implies; decorative stroker beads. They aim to provide added stimulation and a decoration for the cock (flesh or otherwise) in your life, but they are not a functional cock ring. This will not give any constriction to the average penis.

Alas, while pretty, this nice idea was poorly implemented. For partner sex and for use on a dildo, the beads need to stay in place and not move; for a man to use alone, they need to be able to roll easily along the shaft. With an openwork design like this, these are mutually exclusive requirements; in trying to do both, it does neither well.

The rows of small beads roll freely along its length, but the large beads roll along the width. This makes it rather difficult to put on, over a condom or straight on skin. Since this does not easily roll down a penis or dildo, it must either be inched down a bit at a time; or stretched around hands that then wrap around the penis and slide out from under the beads. Another set of hands may be needed to keep the beads from pinching bits of skin between them as the elastic relaxes.

While mildly annoying on a dildo, this process becomes sheer pain on an uncircumcised penis. Putting on the beads was painful while bareback; it was slightly less painful over a condom, but less painful is still pain. Use was too painful to continue after the first few thrusts. Unless penile pain is your kink of choice, these are not friendly to foreskins.

For women, this style of toy can be used to add extra girth and sensations to a dildo or vibrator. This particular specimen, however, has great difficulty fulfilling these expectations and should only be used by those looking for intense textures.

Wrapped around a dildo, at first they sit nicely, adding an average of 5/8” to the diameter; then the first thrust pushes them to the bottom of the dildo and bunches them up at the base. Once there, they rub against the labia. They can be pressed inside, a few beads at a time, but you just end up with them all bunched up around the opening, sliding up and down the dildo, and grinding against the woman’s inner pelvis. For most, this is not the most pleasant of sensations.

Sliding a condom over the dildo before adding the beads was even less successful. It was a replay of condomless use, with the addition that once I was able to get some of the beads inside, they dragged the condom off of the dildo.

Now imagine this happening on a penis when you’re depending on said condom for birth control.

The one way I was able to get any use out of these, was when a condom was wrapped over the beads and dildo. They still bunched up at the base, still wouldn’t go inside, and still didn’t roll correctly. However, underneath a condom, the wad of beads at the base moved pleasantly across the labia and vaginal opening, slightly like the beads of a rabbit. Slightly.

While this set of stroker beads is a bust mechanically, it still looks good wrapped around a penis. It makes a pretty piece of cock jewelry, for your viewing pleasure or, if he finds it too feminine, for humiliation play. If you’re very careful, you can without snapping it drop the balls through from the inside after the first or second row of beads, either together or separate. If you’re not careful, it will probably pinch; however, if you’re looking for painful cock and ball torture, pinch away.

As far as the workmanship, we must remember that this is a very inexpensive toy. The beads are low quality, with seams and drips in the coating clearly visible on both the large and small beads; after only three uses, the pearly white paint started to flake off. The elastic used is not particularly strong. While it’s safe to use with any lubricant, because of the design you can never get it completely clean.

While pretty on an uncut penis or on a dildo, these can’t really be used as anything but a) cock jewelry (which is quite sexy) and b) a way to give some extra stimulation to the vaginal opening; or for a disposable CBT device, if that’s your thing.

Unfortunately we both as a couple, and individually, have no sexual use for this toy. It hurts both of us. Because he is uncircumcised, this pulled and pinched his foreskin no matter what we tried; bareback or over a condom. As I am not a fan of hard extreme textures, I couldn’t find a painless way to play with it. So sexy as it is, we can’t even use it for cock jewelry on him. And even if we could, the fact that I can’t completely clean it grosses me out; a lot.

But it’s not getting thrown out… it makes a great prop for sex toy photo shoots. And if you have thick hair, it looks hot slid around a ponytail. And you can smirk knowing where else it’s been, when people complement you on it.

While this has made for some rather fun photo shoots, I've never again been able to coerce it onto a living penis. Even the silicone cocks shudder in terror when it approaches! (My Gigi seems to like it, but she's a spoiled little vibrator who loves her pearls) Basically, I've never been able to derive any pleasure from this as a sex toy. At all. It's a novelty, a gag gift, or a prop for demasculanizing play, but that's it.