Duncan Charles Designs’ Swirl plug is built for those who like active play. The small, spiraling ridges covering this plug’s body stimulate as the plug slides or rotates, and the large base and firm ceramic enable the Swirl to be easily directed or wiggled during use.

Made entirely from ceramic, coated in an even, glassy scarlet glaze, the Swirl has all of ceramic's characteristics: unyielding, rock-hard texture, easy adaptability to temperature play, high durability, and ease of care. The only texture comes from the ¼” wide ridges swirling down the plug.

The Swirl is built like a mini-Christmas tree glazed in scarlet. The 4-1/4” of insertable length are split between a 5/8” tall neck (7/8” in diameter) and the 3-1/2” length of the body. The body is “threaded” with a ¼” wide spiral ridge that swirls down its length, topping out at 1-5/8” in diameter. The base, at 2-1/4” wide, securely prevents full insertion of the Swirl.

When used as a hand-held toy, the Swirl was extremely comfortable and stimulating, but when fully inserted it betrayed a few drawbacks. This is not the plug to get for long-term wear. It’s only comfortable when inserted for short periods of time, such as the time needed to get a different grip. The combination of a short neck, wide base, and abrupt lower edge to the plug body rendered the Swirl uncomfortable after about 5 minutes of full insertion, as they pressed into sensitive flesh both inside and outside my body.

The ceramic material makes care of the Swirl easy. You can use any lube you want with this plug – water, oil or silicone, and the smooth, nonreactive surface makes cleanup easy as well. The Swirl can be washed by hand or in a dishwasher, and can be sanitized with 10% bleach or by boiling without any risks of damaging the plug. Once cleaned, the Swirl can be kept in its included velour drawstring bag to prevent any chipping while it’s in your toybox.

Once you take the Swirl out you’ll probably wonder about the ceramic disk stuck on the bottom. It’s securely attached with the glaze material and serves only a cosmetic purpose (it covers the marks left by the supports used in the kiln). You don’t have to worry about water getting into the Swirl or the disk coming unstuck.

The Swirl came to me in a white cardboard carton, wrapped in bubble wrap and safely inside its black velour drawstring bag. While not fancy, the packaging was certainly practical and brought the Swirl safely to my door.

There’s a lot about the swirl to love, but there’s also quite a bit that needs improvement. Duncan Charles Designs can have a winner if they redesign the Swirl to have a longer neck, more gradual body taper (on the bottom), and an oval base. Here’s hoping they do that soon.

When I first had the Swirl in my hands I was worried. What had I let myself in for? The swirl was hard and bumpy, and the end looked kind of sharp. Once I used the Swirl, I realized I didn’t have to worry about those things. The bumps are nicely rounded and feel quite nice rubbing against the anus, prostate, and other internal bits; the tip isn’t too sharp; and the hard ceramic is great for directing the stimulation wherever you want it to go. A few minutes after inserting the Swirl, I realized that I did have something to worry about, though. Things got pretty uncomfortable, as the edge of the abrupt 3/8” taper at the bottom of the Swirl’s body was pressed into my insides. On the outside, the large base also had abrupt corners that bit into my buttocks.

Afterward, I tried the Swirl several times, using it as a probe and ignoring the plug feature. It’s much nicer this way. While we haven’t tried it vaginally yet, it looks like it might work well in that capacity.