Travel vibes Anguilla - discreet massager discontinued by Evolved Novelties - review by BlueDog

The Travel Vibes Anguilla is a cutesy toy designed for clitoral stimulation- a role that it plays very well. While I imagine it could be used vaginally or anally (with much caution as there is no flared base and the toy is small), Anguilla feels best when pressed against the clitoris, and rubbed along the labia. Perhaps other parts of the body outside of the genitals could also be stimulated, but I did not personally find this very stimulating.

I did not have the opportunity to try this toy out with a partner but my solo experiences lead me to believe that the Anguilla would make an excellent toy for teasing. I ended up using the Anguilla by myself in a variety of ways. If positioned just right, the Anguilla can be held against the vulva and clitoris with the help of a chair or underwear for some hands-free fun. Getting it into the right position against a chair or clothes is a little tricky; the toy was just a little too straight for that. That's okay though, it wasn't really designed with this purpose in mind.

I also enjoyed: holding the blunt tip of the vibrator against my clitoris with no movement; brushing the clitoris with short, rhythmic strokes; and alternating between shallow vaginal penetration and clitoral stimulation. However, internally, I found the vibrations to be dull and uninteresting.

The Travel Vibes Anguilla is made from body safe ABS plastic with a silky smooth PU coating. PU coated ABS plastic is a pthalate and latex free material with a safety index of 7 which means it is safer than jelly or TPR but not as safe as silicone or glass. While the body of the massager is very firm, the surface of the whole toy (outside of the soft push-button) is velvety and almost plush feeling (the packaging describes it as a "satin smooth" coating) without actually imparting any give to the toy. The matte surface of Anguilla creates a little bit of realistic drag but does not pinch or pull skin. In my experience, the texture of Anguilla was very pleasant. Although requiring that a little bit of lubricant be used for good slip, the surface quickly becomes slick, warm and stimulating.

I found that the material of Anguilla made it virtually odorless and tasteless. What very little scent there was to the toy was not unpleasant in the least and could only be faintly detected in extreme proximity. One of the most amazing things about the PU coated ABS plastic is that it collects just about no lint no matter where I set it.

The Travel Vibes Anguilla is not an intimidating toy either in length or girth as it sports only 3" in insertable length and is a modest 3.5" in circumference at its widest point. The size is perfect for travel. The body and handle are designed to to appear as one in a very slightly curved "S" shape. The body of the massager is actually cylindrical with a slight widening about 1.5" in and a triangular, rounded tip. The tip is blunt but not perfectly round, creating a great shape for targeting the clitoris. This cylindrical body smoothly continues into the down-turned handle that also functions as the battery hatch and holder of the power button. There is an o-ring around the lip of the battery compartment and the base screws on tightly with a good-feeling click. Surprisingly, the small, curved handle is easy and comfortable to grip and control. I had thought at first that the Anguilla would be difficult to hold due to the small size of the handle.

At first, the strange, sloping form of the toy's face seems useless, but with a little experimentation, I found the pocket does a good job of cupping the clitoris and hood. The shape made the toy feel as if it followed the curve of the vulva. While the design is great for clitoral stimulation, the shape is just sort of awkward in vaginal play. The hills do not hinder insertion but they don't contribute much either.

Overall, I have been pleasantly surprised by the design on the Anguilla. The toy looks well made, and feels solid. Setting it down on a hard surface results in a resounding thunk like a much heavier object was laid down. There is a visible seam in the toy that can be felt by running a finger over it but cannot be felt during use.The seam is very smooth and unnoticeable on the face and tip of the toy but becomes more pronounced on the back. I think the Anguilla would make a great travel vibe; I find it easy to conceal but I wouldn't consider it discreet. The Anguilla is obviously a sex toy. The bright purple and pink colors don't help either.

The Anguilla doesn't offer much variety but there are two settings- low and high. The first button press puts Anguilla on low. Low is a hum like buzz while the high setting is distinctly more powerful. The second button press switches to the toy to high, and a third turns the toy off. Anguilla cannot be turned off without cycling through the two speed settings; I found this to be somewhat annoying. The vibrations are concentrated in the tip of Anguilla for excellent clitoral stimulation-just the way it should be.

While I don't think that the Anguilla is really lacking in power, I do feel like the vibrations are sort of diffused. I find myself turning the toy and re-positioning in order to get a more direct experience. I can't tell if the toy is sort of deadening the vibrations or if my preferences lean toward stronger vibrations. Regardless, they will do the job.

The solitary control button is located on the bottom of the toy but is pretty out of the way. I did not find myself accidentally turning it off or changing speeds because the button is not super easy to press. It requires just enough pressure to make sure that it only changes speeds when you want it to. I did on occasion find myself not fully depressing the button which results in a temporary pause in vibration before returning to the current level.

My biggest and maybe only significant issue with Anguilla is that it is loud. Not always but sometimes, too loud to be fun. Upon first inserting the batteries, the sound emanating from the toy is reminiscent of an electric toothbrush. During a VoIP conversation while the toy was on, my boyfriend asked me if the sound was a plane going overhead. After some time, the noise gradually decreases to a quiet hum but the power goes with the noise.

Anguilla takes a single AA battery that fits expertly in the battery compartment. There is absolutely no wiggle room for the battery (sadly, there are also no marks that tell you what way the battery goes in outside of the original paper.) That single battery never died on me in more than three hours but the vibrational intensity decreases by more than half in three hours prompting fresh batters. Because of this, I consider Anguilla to be pretty hard on the batteries. After replacing the batteries, the grating electric toothbrush noise is back. While it does eat through batteries when used for long sessions, the battery usage of Anguilla may not be so bad for users who engage in short sessions or for the quickie sessions that travel vibes are geared toward.

Somewhere inbetween noisy toothbrush and barely vibrating, during the three hours, there is a perfect level of battery usage that results in good vibrations and a quiet noise level. Finding and maintaining that level is impossible though.However, I wouldn't call Anguilla loud though, it is just picky about how it allows its noise to resonate. Out in the open with fresh batteries, Anguilla is loud. Under a blanket the noise is severely diminished. However, behind a closed door with fresh batteries and no blanket, the Anguilla can be heard if the listener is listening closely. And then again, in use in a bed under a blanket with fresh batteries, the Anguilla is whisper quiet. I don't quite understand it.

The first time I tried out the Anguilla I though maybe my product had a contact issue because after a while of use, depressing the button would only result in off and the high level setting. Cycling through the settings again immediately after might result in a barely there low setting, or may not. I eventually found this issue to be entirely dependent on how fresh the battery is. Instead of dying, the Anguilla just loses intensity and drops settings.

On the flip side, Anguilla is definitely waterproof. I did not try the toy in the bathtub but I did do a 20 minute submersion test in the sink. No water was found around the battery compartment but the nook around the button seems to hold a tiny bit of water between the plastic and flexible button cover. Pushing the button to the side a little reveals that there is no crevice for the water to sink into; the button skin is a watertight membrane.

The ABS plastic of Anguilla is a snap to upkeep. A good washing with soap and water will clean it up easily. There is no worry of the material melting on contact with other toys but I wouldn't want to scratch the plush coating (if that is possible through normal storage.) I have scrubbed mine vigorously and have found the coating to be undamaged.
There are some nooks and crannies on the surface of Anguilla that should be washed carefully. I would recommend also removing the cap and running a damp cloth around the threads of the toy and the touching surface of the cap. Lubricant and discharge can collect in the seam between toy body and cap (especially if the toy is used for vaginal penetration), and does not always wash out during a rinse in the sink.

PU coated ABS plastic is pretty easy to take care of and is compatible with a variety of lubricants. Silicone and water-based lubricants may be used with Anguilla. I do not know about the compatibility of other lubricants. I don't imagine that ABS plastic would have any interactions with other toy materials, but I do not know for sure. Storage should be a breeze considering the plastic is tough and stays nearly lint-free.

Evolved's packaging for the Travel Vibes Anguilla is relatively attractive, bearing the images of only the toy's name and some flowers; no naked women here. The packaging consists of a display-style, cylindrical tube that holds the toy upright and a little cap that snaps in on the bottom. The top of the cylinder is rounded and bears a half circle metal handle. Not sure what that's for but it's not bad looking. I think the packaging would make the Anguilla a good looking gift. The tube could be used as storage perhaps, but I have not kept it.

There are no instructions included outside of the generic text printed on the back of the packaging. There is only a tiny slip of plastic inside the toy that tells you how to initially put the battery in. I don't think more documentation is necessary considering the Anguilla is pretty self explanatory.

I really like that the Anguilla is so smooth, velvety, easy to clean and picks up no lint. However, I just can't get over how loud the vibrations are when used in the open. When used under clothes or covers, the Anguilla is perfectly fine, but without some barrier to dampen the sound, the loudness really kills my desire to use it. This is especially bad because I don't live by myself. I don't understand why it's so loud with new batteries either. I have continued to use it relatively frequently though; the loudness isn't enough for me to banish it to some drawer.