Silicone X-10 beads - anal beads by Cal Exotics - review by The Curious Couple

The Silicone X-10 Beads are anal beads manufactured by California Exotics. Anal beads are a great way to introduce yourself or another to the joys of anal stimulation. Normally, anal stimulation is usually best experienced with a partner at first. This is because they can help you relax, and relaxation is the key to enjoying any kind of anal play. I found these beads are so non-intimidating and simple to use that it is easy to relax with them, insert them yourself, and gradually work your way up. This particular product is great for anal beginners and advanced users, though advanced users may find the first few beads to be too small for any pleasure.


Superior X-10 Beads

Upon opening the package, I was greeted with a slight odor, but that disappeared quickly. These beads did not smell after their first cleaning. The materials used to manufacture this item make the beads very firm, yet somewhat squishy. This makes insertion easier than with jelly beads. The material is smooth but not slick in the slightest bit, so lube is a must when using this toy.


An extreme close up showing the texture of this toy.

Contrary to the product's name, these beads are not made out of pure silicone, but a thermoplastic rubber which is a copolymer that contains at least some silicone. In more basic terms, this means that only a fraction of the toy is made up of silicone, and the rest is most likely various rubbers and/or plastics. This means these anal beads are somewhat porous, and I would not recommend sharing them. That being said, these beads are much safer than the normal X-10 Beads which are made out of jelly.

Like most anal beads, the design of this product is rather simple. The beads that are inserted first start out small and get much larger as you continue down the line. There are a total of ten beads in five different sizes.


The smallest beads are quite tiny.


The largest beads are about 1" in diameter.

There is a thin but strong loop at the end of the ten beads that is used to remove the toy after insertion. While the loop itself seems strong, it does not prevent the beads from being sucked completely inside of you. I would not recommend inserting all ten beads unless someone is holding the loop at all times. The ninth and tenth beads are the same size, so you are not losing any girth by stopping right before the tenth bead.


The retrieval handle at the end of the toy.

This product performed as one could expect from a product so simple in design. The toy was easy to insert with lube, and the smooth beads did not get caught up anywhere. The beads themselves are firm, yet have a little give. They were very comfortable inside of me, and I did not feel any pain or discomfort whatsoever.

This toy is great for beginners, like me, but I would have liked to see the beads a little bit larger overall. The first two beads are so small you can hardly even feel them going in. By the time I had enough length wise, the girth was smaller than I would have preferred.

As I stated above, this toy is not pure silicone, so it cannot be fully sanitized because the material is somewhat porous. I feel safe using this toy without a condom, but using a condom or toy cover would be safer and would make cleanup easier. That being said, cleaning this toy is not especially hard. I recommend giving this toy a soapy bath before and after each use, and drying it immediately with a towel. A toy cleaner can be used instead of soapy water, but I would imagine that spraying the toy with a toy cleaner after it has been used will just make everything messier. It is easy to wash any stray fecal matter on the toy down the drain where you can forget about it. If using a condom or toy cover with this product, a toy cleaner would be a good idea after discarding the condom.

This product is packaged in a very simple, yet effective way. The beads are held in place by two molded pieces of plastic that are connected on one side to make a hinge. When you push the two pieces of plastic together, they interlock and hold the item in place. There is no need for scissors to open this package.


The beads and their packaging.

There is a single paper insert that shows the back of a genderless person wearing jeans. The person's jeans are sitting below their waist, and their butt is starting to peek out over the top of the jeans. This is not discreet in any way. I store my toy in this packaging after it has been used, washed, and dried.


WARNING: Non-discrete packaging!

I had not had much anal experience before trying this product, so I really was not sure what to expect. My fiancee started with his fingers and made sure to use enough lube. After making sure I was relaxed, he slowly eased this toy into me, one bead at a time. The first four beads were very easy to insert, and then the fifth and sixth beads were slightly larger than I was used to. With a little pressure they popped in fairly easily. We decided to stop at the sixth bead because of the length of the toy.


The six beads I was able to take my first time.