L'amour probe beginner - probe discontinued by Cal Exotics - review by fragglerocker

The L'amour beginner probe is exactly what the name suggests. It's a beginner level anal toy. I personally think it's more of a plug than a probe but to each their own. Given how slender the toy is this is definitely a beginner's toy and probably wouldn't be a safe choice for those used to anal toys of 2"+ girth. Some users have said they had issues with the base being too flimsy; while I personally didn't have that problem it is probably something to keep in mind. If you are worried about the base you can always take advantage of the suction cup and have some shower fun.

The L'amour probe beginner is made from silicone. As such, there isn't a strong odor and it's nonporous. The toy is smooth and almost silky feeling. The lack of texture makes this an appropriate toy for a beginner. While there isn't much of a texture there is a definite seam to the toy, though. I felt the seam while I was inserting the probe but it went away after it was in place. The toy is firm enough to make insertion easy but still soft enough to be comfortable.

The L'Amour beginner is a bit of a fusion between a probe and a plug. It has the overall shape that one equates to a butt plug yet has a graduated oblong shape that is reminiscent of probes. I personally feel that it's a butt plug and not a probe given the lack of a "bulged" type shape I equate to probes, but to each their own. Below I have put the L'Amour with the Pixie Curve, and Posh 1" beads to give a frame of reference for size.





The probe has a bit of a graduated shape. At its widest point it's 1.25 inches in width and 4 inches around. The probe is 4 inches long, with about 3.5 of that being insertable. Given the slender nature of the probe it is definitely a beginner level toy. My only gripe with the shape is that while it is a breeze to insert, the flexibility of the base made it a bit difficult for me to remove.

From what I've been reading about the L'Amour probe series, people feel the bases are unsafe given their flexibility. While I agree that the suction cup base is flexible I had no issues with it staying in place and did not feel "it getting sucked in" like some other users have mentioned. I was careful at first due to the mixed consensus on the base but ended up walking around getting ready for bed with the plug in place and it stayed right where it was supposed to... although the flexibility did make it a pain to remove the plug once I was ready to go to sleep.




As you can see the base has a handy dandy suction cup that does in fact stick. I actually left it up there when I ran errands and came back a couple hours later to it still on my mirror. The nice part of the suction cup, if you are worried about the base, is that you can stick the cup to your bathtub floor or shower wall and not have to fear a hard-to-explain ER trip. Although, again, I did not have any issues with the base so it might be an anatomy issue.

Other than the flexibility of the base my only other complaint is the seam. While it's not super obvious it did make insertion a little uncomfortable. Once inserted I didn't really notice it but it's something that the manufacturer could fix to make the toy better.

The L'Amour beginner probe is 100% silicone. This makes cleaning the toy easy. You can wash it with antibacterial soap, use a toy cleaner, pop it in the dishwasher or throw it in a pot of boiling water. After cleaning the toy I lightly coat it in corn starch since it helps keep the dust bunnies at bay and keeps the toy silky smooth.

Storing the L'Amour is also easy. As long as it's being stored with silicone or other stable types of toys you don't have to worry about it touching the other toys around it. Although I would recommend storing it with non-porous toys so that you don't have to worry about rewashing it since porous toys can't be sterilized.

Remember to only use water based lubes with the probe. Silicone lubes will damage the toy and you would probably end up having to buy a new one. I tend to only use water-based lubes so I don't have to worry about hurting my toys by grabbing the wrong lube.

The probe comes in a tiny but pretty plastic box. The box tells you the name of the toy and what the perks of the toy are. There aren't really any instructions but probes/plugs are pretty simple (step one: lube, step two: insert) so there isn't a need for instructions. I suppose the box could be used for storage but I recycled it after taking the pictures. As you can see the box isn't exactly discreet, not that it needs to be.

While I didn't have any issues with the toy's base giving out, I do wish the base was a tad less diminutive. There wasn't much to grab on to when I was trying to remove it. I actually got frustrated at one point, since it was slippery on top of being flexible. It took me three tries to get the toy out and that caused a bit of anxiety, to be honest. If they could bulk up the base and do something about the seam I mentioned earlier this would be an amazing beginners toy.