Budding bliss - rabbit vibrator discontinued by Vibratex - review by Darling Jen

This gorgeous, flowering toy is a traditional rabbit-style vibrator, meant to be used vaginally and clitorally. If you feel the need, you can try it anally but I can't foresee that being pleasurable. But at least it wouldn't have a chance to be lost in the anal canal.

While the main usable portion of the vibrator is splash-proof, it is in no way waterproof so don't try to take this delicate flower into a shower, bathtub, or swimming pool.

Oh the material of the Budding Bliss is simply blissful! Honestly I have no other toy now or in the past that has a texture to compare! The silicone is silky smooth and soft, with no sticky or friction-causing coating. There's no drag but at the same time, it's not slick and shiny. And yes, it's still very rigid because of the internal mechanics but the feeling of the coating is soft.

The only real good analogy I can make about the feeling of this wonderful silicone is the old school, thick, pink bubblegum that had a small coating of fine powdered sugar on it. It was delicious to feel in my hand as well as internally. It's a material that can be appreciated by beginners and advanced users alike! And if you need it, just make sure to use a drop or two of lubricant (water-based only, please!) to help it go in smoothly.

Besides loving the texture of the silicone, it's also like any other silicone toy and is completely non-porous which is an amazing plus. Yes it can be sterilized and this toy can be shared with full health safety in mind.

There was a slight smell to the silicone right out of the packaging but washing with a nice smelling mild soap pretty much took care of that. And since it's non-porous, you won't have to taste past fluids on the toy, should you use it orally.

The Shaft

The tip of the shaft is gently pointed for easy insertion. The first inch or so is an egg-shaped bulge meant to stimulate a shallow G-spot with gentle rotations. The rotating is not extreme and is suitable for beginners as well as those who need more subtle stimulation internally.

Around the thinner neck of the shaft are four very pronounced "veins" or vertical ridges. I personally didn't really feel them when I used the toy because the shaft isn't good for thrusting in any way. It's subtle and pleasurable during insertion but might as well not be there for use if you, like me, just hold the toy in place and depend on the rotation and vibration to get you to the finish line.

Just below the neck of the toy is the only spot on the shaft where you can squish the material a bit because there is very little internal mechanics in this spot. I found that this didn't affect the sensations at all when it use though.

And while the EF stats measure an insertable 4.5 inches, I question how much of the shaft you'll actually be able to insert. The clitoral attachment blocks use of much of the shaft when I used it, which was very frustrating. But it is definitely on an individual basis on whether or not that will work for you and how your built down there.

The Rosebud

While you can very slightly straighten the very end of the rosebud, the "rabbit", clitoral vibrator, the majority of this attachment is very, very rigid and takes a lot of force to adjust and won't be re-positional to accomodate different body shapes. This was one of the major downsides for me because either the rose bud sat very uncomfortably on my clitoris or it was left curved down and did nothing for me (except to block me from utilizing more of the shaft).

It was a real let down considering how gorgeous this part of the toy is. It's the exact same material of buttery soft, bubblegum silicone as the rest of the toy but it's thinner and more flexible and has a feeling of delicacy to it. The vibrations are felt very well through the petals of the rosebud but that's only useful if your body fits the downward curved attachment.

Both the shaft rotation and the rosebud vibrations are controlled at the base of the toy via two ridged dials. You can use the two features simultaneously or independent of each other as well as control the intensity with a greater variation than with two or three predetermined settings.

The vibrations in the rosebud are pretty substantial, though not earth-shaking, and I found them to be more "thuddy" than "buzzy". So depending on your anatomy and vibration preference, you'll better know how well that will work for you. For me personally it didn't quite "hit the spot" though whether it was more about the vibration frequency or the uncomfortable clitoral attachment is unclear.

The rotations did feel fairly pleasing and weren't exaggerated enough to cause discomfort. But because a lot less than the shaft was insertable on me personally than I originally expected, it wasn't as blissful as I expected it to be. Again, this will work great for someone with a shallow G-spot or the right anatomical shape to accomodate the clitoral attachment externally in order to take advance of the rotating shaft.

Another important point about the rotations is that the inner mechanisms "pop" when I squeezes my PC muscles around the shaft. The added noise plus the less than thrilling sensation of this "pop" really detracts from the mood I was in prior. I tried not to contract at all around the toy but was unable to completely stop doing so. If it's part of your body's involuntary reaction to stimulation or if you voluntarily squeeze to increase your pleasure, you will have to deal with this distracting popping of the inner gears while trying to get off.

Now I have to say that both the rotation and the vibration options are loud. Maybe it's not the loudest toy ever, especially depending on the kind of toys you own already, but for me it seemed unusually high. Comparing it to the few vibrating toys I do already own (like the "Delight", the "Little Chroma", and the "Seahorse Teaser"), it is the loudest of them all. I definitely felt it could not only be heard right outside the closed door but, in a quiet house, it could be heard all the way down the hall. And the noise level wasn't muffled to any discernable degree when inserted either. So I will only be enjoying my beautiful Budding Bliss when completely alone.

The battery compartment is easy to use and clearly labeled so putting in all four AAA batteries is very easy to do. And after a handful of long play sessions, I have yet to experience a significant decrease in power let alone any dead batteries so it seems to hold onto power pretty well.

The silicone part of the toy is easy to clean with toy cleaning spray, wipes, or mild soap and warm water. I don't recommend attempting to hold it in boiling water to sterilize because, while the silicone can probably handle it, the plastic end with the sensitive battery compartment would definitely not take the water OR the heat well. But the material is non-porous so it will clean up nicely without that.

Do make sure to wash in between the petals on the clitoral attachment as well as drying it out before storing because body fluids and lube can build up in the small crevices and create plenty of (smelly) problems in the future.

Also, make sure not to use silicone-based lubricants with your gorgeous silicone toys because they can react and degrade the material and your beautiful little rosebud will wilt and die.

For storage, you could opt to use the packaging in comes in or to put it in a plastic bag to keep it clean for future play, but either way there's no where near as much issues with lint attracting with this bubblegum silicone as there is with the stickier versions. It won't pick up cat hair (from the cat you don't have) like a lot of toys might. But since the material is so silky and high-quality, I would at least suggest you not cram it in a tight space with other toys that might bend, compress, or stain it.

A picture of the packaging is available on the main EF stats page for the Budding Bliss and if you plan on giving this toy as a gift, I would highly recommend you wrap it with gorgeous paper or in a cute gift bag because this plastic bag is minimal and flimsy. It doesn't double as a great or permanent storage box because it's such soft plastic and isn't very protective, as well as it's hard to re-close once open (especially if you impatiently tore it open to get to the pretty toy inside...). But at least this vibrator comes wrapped in a second layer of plastic inside the box for added cleanliness when you first receive it.

And it's easy to miss but there is more information inside the box typed in small font inside the red paper insert you see at the bottom of the box. I had almost thought there was no added information with the Budding Bliss until this paper fell out of the box after I not-so-patiently removed the vibrator.