Contour Q - massager by Jimmyjane - review by Alicia

The Contour Q by Jimmyjane is a pair of double fired ceramic massage stones. They come packaged in a very elegant white and gray box. When you open the box the two stones are sitting in a slide out cardboard holster to protect them from breakage and there are two little booklets included. One of the booklets highlights the different Jimmyjane massage stone products and the other gives you some information about the particular stones you have and some safety information. Both booklets provide information in several languages.

The two stones are equally sized, but vary greatly in their textures. There is one that reminds me of a seashell with smooth ridges around the stone and then another that has little round bumps all over it. The ridged one offered soothing rolling sensations while the bumpy one was very invigorating and gave that "hurts so good" type pressure.

The Contour Qs can be used in a variety of different manners. The original reason that I purchased them was so that I could put them in my Contour M to add a different sensation to my massages. It turns out that this is the one way that I absolutely do not like the Contour Qs. Let's just say that when it comes to the Contours Q does not stand for “Quiet”. When you place the Q stone into the M stone and start to run it down the body for a massage you hear a high pitched grinding sound. I tried to lubricate the stones with oil and that does deafen it a bit but still not to the point that it wasn't distracting. I also tried adding more or less pressure to see if either was the issue. If I put more pressure on the M it would quiet down a bit but then I would see red marks on my husband's back and his grimaces were telling me it was a bit too much sensation for him. The one that looks more like a shell wasn't quite as loud as the bumpy stone because it didn't seem to grind against the M as much. I don't know if I was doing something wrong, but I tried every way that I knew to try to resolve this issue and it just wasn't happening. So, I turned to the book.

The book has a lot of other ways that the Contour Q can be used; turns out that these worked out a lot better. First I tried the all over stimulation method, which is to roll the Q under your hand and you can adjust the pressure to allow the stones to either tingle or give an invigorating circulating massage. Both felt really nice, especially when used with generous oil. Again I found for my husband that I needed to use a light hand or they created a trail of redness in the shape of the texture which would lead to him saying "ow easy". He likes light massages though, so this might not be the result for everyone. When it was my turn I was only saying "mmm" so it worked well for me, both with a light hand and with added pressure.


You can also use the Contour Qs for:

- Foot massages by rolling your foot over the stone, and each stone gives a different sensation. I liked the shell stone best. The bumpy one was a bit too intense and direct pressure on the soles of my feet.

-Hand massages, you can roll the stone between your hands, this can increase circulation and for me I liked doing this pre-massage to wake up my hand muscles and gets the blood flowing.

-Relaxation which is possibly my favorite use for the Qs. You can use the stones to lightly massage your temples by holding a stone in each hand and using the end nodes in a circular motion for a tension taming massage.

So, all in all, while I did not enjoy the Qs in conjunction with the Contour M I did find ways that I find them beneficial both for partner massages and for stress relief, pressure point massages on other parts of the body. You can use the stones both heated up by putting them in some hot water or cooling them down by running them under cold water or placing them in the fridge for a bit. Depending on what your desired type of massage is both methods work out great. When using it for my headaches I liked it to be cooled but for massages I liked it to be heated up, especially if you're using a hot oil for your massage heating up your stones allows the heat to be maintained longer.

Using these toys in our relaxing massage sessions I could take them or leave them. But I will always keep them close at hand because of their ability to soothe even the most raging beast of headaches. I get headaches often. Whether they are tension headaches from stress or sinus headaches from my allergies it's usually something or the other at least once a week. Sometimes nothing seems to help. Well, after reading about the Q stones being good for this I decided I'd try them the next time a headache popped up. As luck (good or bad luck depending on how you look at it) would have it the day after I got the stones I got a pretty bad tension headache from my screaming children. I went to lay down and I grabbed the Qs and tried the technique illustrated in the booklet. I took a stone in each hand and lightly massaged tiny circles over my temples. The cool surface of the stone coupled with the light pressure point massage definitely eased my pain and my tension. I almost want to order a second set just to keep one set downstairs on my desk for work related tension and then another upstairs in the bedroom for massage time.

I still love the Contour Qs, but I have to say I don't really use them for their intended purpose too often. I mainly use the ends for pressure point massage on my temples. I get a lot of tension headaches, and these really help to relieve my stress. They are also nice hand massagers, I like to roll the Qs on my leg with the palms of my hands. It not only feels great on the thighs but it's nice to awaken and loosen the hand muscles. I also like this for foot massages, rolling it under my feet, whihc at first were kind of painful in a weird way, but I now really find enjoyable. The only thing we really don't use these for much is back massages, We just really weren't too much of a fan of the textures for that purpose.