Silicone X-10 beads - beads discontinued by Cal Exotics - review by FemmeFlo

The Silicone X-10 Beads were intended as a safer version of the original X-10 Beads, which are made of jelly and therefore very porous and unsafe for sharing. This toy is intended to be inserted anally, then removed during orgasm, using the O-shaped handle, to increase the intensity of climax. The length of this toy is not suitable for vaginal insertion, although when this toy is inserted as far as it will go vaginally and then removed, it provides some interesting stimulation at the entrance of the vagina as each bead pops out, up until the last two, which I hardly felt. I wouldn't know how this toy works for P-spot stimulation, since I don't have one.

Due to the small girth, I would assume that this is intended as a beginner's toy. However, using this toy may prove too tricky for beginners.

These beads are made of TPR Silicone, which has a safety rating of 6. While it is safer than jelly, it is still slightly porous since it does contain rubber instead of pure silicone, and a condom should be used if sharing this toy.

Straight out of the package, this toy had the faint, sweet smell of silicone. It's not an unpleasant smell, and it's barely noticeable during use. However, this toy did retain odors strongly, even after multiple washings. I didn't dare use a scented soap on this toy, since I'm allergic to a lot of perfumes, but I did use an antibacterial soap that has gotten the odors out of every other toy I've ever used in my butt. This toy reeked after use. I shut it up in the plastic clamshell it came in, and lit a few candles to get rid of the smell. They still reeked when I took them out of the clamshell for my second time using them. I did not try tasting this toy, but given how unpleasant it smelled, I imagine the taste would be pretty bad.

The TPR Silicone used for this toy is a very plush, flexible version of TPR silicone. There was a lot of give when I squeezed the beads, and the neck and the spaces between the beads were very stretchy. The texture made this toy hard to insert, since the space between each bead would bunch up and I had to ease them in one at a time, and even harder to extract, since the neck stretched when pulled on. The one positive thing I have to say about the texture is that it made these beads more comfortable for extended wear than firmer beads. The surface is smooth, almost waxy, with no noticeable seam. I got these beads in purple, and it was a very bright, glossy purple. This toy also comes in black and red.

With 10 beads in all and an insertable length of 10 1/4 inches, this is quite a lengthy anal toy, but not a girthy one. The smallest beads are tiny, about 1/4 inches in diameter. The beads are paired in girth, two by two, until they reach the final two beads, which measure about 1 inch in diameter. As an intermediate anal player, I found the girth of these wanting.

They are traditional, ball-shaped beads. There's about half an inch of stem between each bead, and the beads connect to the stem at almost a right angle, although the angle softens when the beads are pulled on since they stretch, giving them less pop when they're pulled out.

The handle is O-shaped; it and the neck are extremely thin. I was concerned that the neck would break the first time I pulled this toy out of me. The second time, it did break. Aside from this hazard, the handle is small, and my butt wanted to swallow it more than once. The handle is easy to fish out if it does get lost inside of you, but if it breaks off, the beads are extremely difficult to extract by themselves.

This toy won't be damaged by travel but it is not discreet at all.

I found these beads inferior in performance to the regular X-10 Beads in every way.

For insertion, these beads were too flexible. They wanted to bunch up inside of me, and I had to force each bead in individually. Admittedly, they were more comfortable than the jelly X-10s once they were inside of me, especially while I walked around with them inside. Because of the flexibility of the material, however, I had trouble with my butt wanting to swallow the handle, a problem I did not have with the more rigid jelly beads. The handle is perfectly discreet and no one would be able to see it through clothes. It also poses no obstacle to using these beads with a toy or during vaginal intercourse. I found that the feeling of these beads inside of me improved the vaginal stimulation I experienced when I used a vibrator vaginally with this toy in my ass. The vibrations didn't really carry any better than with the regular X-10 Beads, which is to say hardly at all, but the added tightness of my vaginal wall due to the pressure from these beads being in my ass was nice.

For removal, these beads were too stretchy. The first time I tried to use them, I started to pull on them as I was climaxing. The handle stretched and stretched. By the time the beads themselves started to come out, my orgasm had passed. The sensation of removing the beads was still interesting, but the stretch reduced the satisfying "pop" feeling I was looking for with each bead's removal. The second time I used these beads, the handle broke off! I had that brief moment of panic that no one ever wants to experience as I wondered wildly, "Am I going to have to go to the emergency room to get these removed from my butt?" Luckily, I was able to dig them out myself, but it was not easy. If you were really determined to try these beads, I would recommend leaving out the last bead and using that as your handle for removal instead.

Here is a picture of my set after the handle broke off:

This toy is made of TPR Silicone. The recommended care for this material is to wash it with soap and water after use. It washes clean easily enough with soap and water, but it retains odors strongly. This material is not safe for boiling, and it's slightly porous, so it cannot be sanitized. Use a condom if sharing. The material is compatible with water-based lubes. Silicone lubes may damage this toy. The toy can be stored in the clear plastic clamshell it comes in, which is quite bulky, or a toy pouch of some kind. I like to keep some kind of separation between anal and vaginal toys in my toychest, so I kept it in the original clamshell. I meant to find less bulky storage, but then the handle broke and I threw it away.

My belief concerning packaging is that a picture says a thousand words. Therefore:



As you can see, the toy comes in a clear plastic clamshell, and the toy is completely visible. The insert has a picture of woman wearing lingerie. It's classier than the packaging for the jelly X-10 beads, which had a completely naked woman wearing too much make-up, but it's not discreet and it should probably be wrapped if gifting. The packaging can work for storage, but it's bulky and if I had kept this toy longer, I would have found a different storage solution.

I've tried several sets of anal beads in the past month, and the Silicone X-10s did not measure up to the others in performance. The regular X-10 beads were much better in performance and more durable. However, if you do not like the low material safety of these beads, I highly recommend the Mantric Pleasure Beads. These are my personal favorite beads. While they are a less traditional set of anal beads, they are small enough to be beginner-friendly and unusual enough to interest more experienced anal-players. They have a TPR coating that has proven to be very durable, although rather high-maintenance.

If you are willing to spend a little more for a completely body-safe, 100% silicone toy, there are also the Flexi Felix beads and the Bendybeads. While I have not tried these toys personally, the reviews on each product are mostly positive, and I look forward to trying them in the future and posting my own reviews.

I would like to stress that each user is different. While these beads did not work for me, they may be perfect for some. If you're willing to use the last bead as a handle for removal, then the beads are much safer. If you're less sensitive to perfumes than I am, then you might be able to eliminate the odor. If you're very new to anal play and a very cushy toy is what you need to ease into it, then this plush, flexible toy will be a nice introductory toy. You'll have to go very slowly inserting this toy, since the flexibility makes it tough, but maybe that's what you want anyways. All I can say is that this toy did not work for me personally, and it has some pretty heavy cons that will discourage many users.