Impulse butterfly platinum collection - rabbit vibrator by Cal Exotics - review by sophie2229

The Platinum Impulse by California Exotics is a dual g-spot stimulator and clitoral vibrator. It also has a set of rotating metal beads in the shaft that stimulate the vaginal opening/the entrance to the vaginal canal. The clitoral stimulator is a butterfly shape. The entire piece vibrates. The butterfly has short antennae that protrude out of its head, which carry the vibrations well. The wings of the butterfly also vibrate in tune with the bullet to provide interesting sensations in the vaginal region.

Since this toy is TPR, I would not recommend the toy anally since it is still porous. I would also recommend using a condom with this toy, especially if it is going to be shared.

I would recommend this toy to anyone who likes rabbits as it is provides relatively unique sensations, and the material is very comfortable (even though it smells... see Material/Texture for an elaboration on these points). As a disclaimer, I'm not much of a rabbit person, so you'll have to take all of my opinions with a grain of salt (I'll leave any personal comments for the Personal Comments and Experience sections).

[EDITED 5-5-10]
California Exotics says that this toy is TPE (thermoplastic elastomer). While this seems to be true, it smells very badly therefore something must have been applied to it that may or may not be harmful to the user. Specifically this toy smelled like marker/rubber cement. It's smelling up my room and bathroom, so I'm not a happy camper. The smell has gotten better with multiple washes and airing out, but it was still unacceptable. And there is no user manual that lists the other materials used in production (ie paint for the base unit, possible coatings).

Even though this toy is phthalates free by definition, it is important to remember that phthalates/other softeners aren't the only potentially dangerous materials in sex toys. Generally my rule of thumb is that if it smells badly then it has bad stuff in it. I don't know/care where the chemical(s) came from, I just know that it ISN'T going in my vagina. Yes a toy that is phthalates free doesn't have that harmful material, but it could have other possibly worse ingredients.

Medical issues aside, the toy actually feels very nice. The TPE is soft yet firm, especially at the tip. It's also fun to squeeze. The covering over the metal balls is relatively thin but it still looks like it will hold up nicely. The TPE over the butterfly is relatively firm and holds vibrations nicely. If I didn't have concerns about the safety of this material, I would say that the texture and weight of this toy were very comfortable. If you have any specific questions regarding the material, or anything else, feel free to comment or send me a message.

This toy is about 9" long and the shaft is 1.5" wide. The shaft has an insertable length of a little over 3". When inserted, the antennae of the butterfly are designed to hit the clitoris. If they don't hit your clitoris in the optimal position, you can always press the butterfly to the desired position. The head of the shaft also rotates, however this rotation is not very dramatic.

For the "average" body (whatever that means), I thought that this toy was designed pretty well. For users who already know the locations of their g-spots, I believe that this toy could act as a dual stimulator. While this toy could help users locate their g-spots, the straight shaft may pose a challenge, especially while simultaneously adjusting the clitoral stimulator.

As for my personal preferences, this toy was almost exactly the right size. It was filling, but not overpowering. It is shaped like the Rabbit Habit by Vibratex, so users that like this type of design will likely be pleased by this product. The metal beads also added a new level of stimulation to this toy. They subtly massaged the outer vagina, which fit well with the slight rotation in the head of the toy.

The control panel has 5 buttons. The "On/Off" button turns the vibration in the butterfly on and off. The "7" changes the vibration patterns of the butterfly. The shaft on this toy does not vibrate. The two up and down arrows adjust the speed of rotation of the metal beads in the shaft. They also simultaneously control the speed that the head of the toy rotates. There are three different levels of rotation. There are lights next to the arrows that tell the user which level (out of three) of rotation was selected. There are 21 different possible vibration/rotation combinations.

Oh, and there's a "hot" button that selects a random function. But there seems to be some kind of glitch with this button. If the vibrator is used without any shaft rotation, and then the hot button is hit, you cannot hit the up arrow to start the shaft rotation without turning off the vibration in the butterfly. Also, you have to hit the up button twice to actually start the rotation. Hitting it once just stops the vibration in the butterfly, which seems pretty pointless. Upon retesting this toy, I found that I could not even activate the rotation of the shaft without turning off the vibration in the butterfly. To get both vibration and rotation you need to first activate the rotation in the toy, then turn the vibration on. This is a major glitch, especially for those users who like to warm up with vibration.

The vibration patterns are:
1. Very light vibration
2. Faster vibration
3. Even faster vibration
4. Slow escalation. Stop. Escalation again
- This one is cool because it looks like the wings flutter before the antennae then they both gradually increase in speed
5. Pulsations that are about 1 second appart
6. Pulsations that are .5 seconds apart
7. A ba ba ba baaaaa pulsation pattern (3 1-second pulses and a 2-second pulse)

The vibrations and the vibration patterns carry pretty well through the antennae, if you like this kind of stimulation. If you prefer firm pressure, this toy may not be for you. And if you need to adjust the position of the butterfly, the vibrations may be dampened. The transition between vibration patterns was very smooth. The transition between different shaft rotation speeds was also seamless (with the exception of that glitch described above).

Another cool feature is the light next to the on/off switch. It changes between red, yellow and green depending on the selected vibration pattern. For the light vibration pattern it is green, then it's yellow for the medium pattern, and red for the fast pattern. For the vibration patterns, it alternates between red and green in tune with the vibrations.

This toy is marketed as waterproof, but I can't screw the battery cap all the way so that there is absolutely no gap between the controller and the lid. It is possible that this gap is small enough that water cannot penetrate it, but I was not comfortable bringing this toy near water.

This toy should be cleaned with antibacterial soap and water. Since this toy is made of TPE, a porous material, it cannot be sterilized. Also this toy should not be boiled as it contains a motor. This toy can be stored in a ziploc bag away from sunlight. It is compatible with all lubricants as it does not contain silicone. However CalExotics recommends using a water based lubricant for maximum pleasure.

I always recommend removing batteries before storing a toy as they might get drained.

The Impulse Butterfly came in a clear plastic casing. On the back was a picture of the vibrator with arrows explaining all of the buttons. There are a long list of bullet points that say (NOTE not one says "phthalates free"):

- Full coverage super intense micro butterfly
- 7 functions of vibration, pulsation and escalation
- 3 speeds of shaft rotation
- Auto off button
- Powerful
- Waterproof
- 3 rows of non-jamming metal beads
- Easy load battery pack

Overall the packaging isn't too tacky, but it's definitely no LELO.

The plastic box was definitely meant to throw away after use. The toy could be stored in it, but there is no seal, and it doesn't look like it will hold up in the long term. This is fine, except for the fact that the packaging of the Impulse Butterfly is also its manual. Throw away the box and bye bye directions. Luckily this toy is pretty intuitive so I doubt that most users will need the box after a few uses.

I think that it's important for me to put in this review that I haven't found a rabbit that I've really liked. I've bought the Rabbit Pearl, and I wasn't impressed. I've also used the Endless Pleasure and I absolutely hate it. While I thought about not taking this review, this product was assigned to me by the administrator and so I figured that I'd give it a chance since its shape looked promising. And to be honest if it wasn't for my hang-ups about material safety, I think I would have really enjoyed this toy. I wouldn't have picked this toy out for myself, but it ended up being pretty pleasant (Note that pleasant doesn't necessarily mean orgasm inducing).

I should note that I personally don't buy anything that isn't medical grade anything (with the exception of the Rabbit Pearl, and I got the Endless Pleasure before I established this rule). I do think that TPE is a good material, as long as it's processed well (i.e. the Better than Chocolate which is completely odorless). Since this toy doesn't pass my material safety tests, I cannot recommend it to others, especially since I think that it costs between $75 - $100 (I don't have the price, I'm comparing it to similar CE products on the EF site). For that price you can get a much higher quality toy, in terms of material. In terms of function, this toy works very well. The motor is smooth, the vibration patterns are interesting and the control box is light.

Bottom Line: If you do not have hang-ups about material, and you think that this toy could work for your anatomy, this is a good purchase.

The biggest flaw of this toy was its inability to really target my g-spot. I could hit it a little, but the straight shaft and rotation made it very difficult. Also, I couldn't position the shaft and the clitoral piece at the same time. The rotating beads felt really nice. They are definitely a step up from the rotating beads in the Rabbit Pearl.

As far as the clitoral stimulator, I did enjoy the antennae. I usually don't like floppy rabbit ears/anything that doesn't apply firm pressure to my clitoris, however the antennae were not terrible. I still strongly prefer stimulation from a solid device such as the Gigi or Form 2. Solely pressing the butterfly against my clit was stimulating. But I couldn't do that while the shaft was inserted.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to orgasm from this toy. Since I believe this toy may be unsafe, I won't be using it again unless I hear otherwise. If this toy wasn't given to me for a review, I would end this review with: "...and then I released the Impulse Butterfly to fly free in a sex toy recycling facility."