Petite couture Patina - rabbit vibrator discontinued by Cal Exotics - review by Sundae

The Patina is a rabbit style vibrator from Cal Exotic’s Petite Couture range. The package promises ‘innovation, luxury, power and passion’ from this particular vibe, which I’m not entirely sure it delivers. It’s definitely a step up from many other Cal Exotics products in terms of construction and materials, but there isn’t anything that I would say is innovative or necessarily luxurious about it – especially as it just comes in a foam bag, tucked into a cardboard box. Yet, it’s still a solid, enjoyable vibrator and one of the few rabbit style ones that is made of body-safe materials.

The base is made out of shiny silver plastic, with the shaft and rabbit arm being strikingly white ‘premium Japanese medical grade silicone’. It doesn’t look clinical, but there is something about white sex toys that I personally find a little disconcerting – maybe it’s just that I don’t associate the colour with getting all dirty and sweaty! The silicone itself is silky and smooth, but not like the shiny, slick Tantus silicone or quite like the more matte Fun Factory style. It’s got some give to it as well, with a bit of flexibility in the clitoral arm, but having to use your fingers to press that into the right spot all the time is definitely going to leave them numb!

Overall, the Patina is surprisingly large at about 9.25” long with roughly 5” of that being insertable length. The nose of the rabbit sits about 1” from the base of the shaft, with the ears extending up around 2”. As you can get your stimulation from the solid rabbit ‘head’ or its whippier ears, this somewhat compensates for the differences in anatomy between ladies. However, do your research first and find out what sort of shape is going to suit you. Personally, I find often that the shaft is simply too long for me to get proper clitoral stimulation from rabbit style vibes, but this wasn’t too much of a problem here. It has a diameter of 1.25”, which makes it sort of an average size, nothing too girthy or filling, but it allows for the rotations to be felt a little better. There are two little bumps on the end of the shaft, which didn’t really seem to add anything to the experience as the shaft is too long to be delivering g-spot and clit stimulation at the same time.

The control pad on the Patina is nice and simple and features three push buttons. One of these is a dedicated on/off switch, which is always a great feature for quick shutdown and helps to prevent the toy getting bumped in a drawer or bag and buzzing away by mistake. Once you hit this, a pretty, blue backlight comes on, so you can still identify everything in the dark. The button with the squiggly line controls the vibrations in the clitoral arm and cycles through the three steady settings as well as the four patterns. The first vibration pattern is short pulses, the next a stuttering or rumbling escalation, the third even faster pulses, the final three short pulses then a longer one. The button with the two arrows controls the rotations of the shaft and cycles through the three levels.

When it comes to power I’m a little torn on how to describe this toy. In my hand the rotations feel quite decent and even when I clamp down with my fist they still soldier on bravely. Yet when inserted? They seem to disappear into the dark, dangerous depths and can’t really be felt all that well. I think this may just be that the shaft is a little longer than may be ideal and personally I get the most out of these sorts of rotations at shallower spots. The clitoral vibes are decent, especially considering this toy only runs on three AAA batteries, and can be felt strongly throughout the ears, as well as the bunny’s head/nose. Yet, they're not mindblowing and are fairly shallow and buzzy. For a rabbit vibe the Patina is pleasantly quiet, noiser than a bullet or small vibe ever would be, but not audible through a closed door and under blankets.

The battery compartment isn’t a typical screw off design, rather it is accessed by turning a piece at the bottom of the toy so this little circle shaped cap section pops out and the battery holder can slide out. Apparently this is the ‘EZ-load’ battery case and it’s true, it really is simple to click in the batteries and slip it back in again. However, it means the base of the toy isn’t flat, so it won’t stand up on your dresser whilst you do important things (like search for lube and batteries).

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The box states that the Patina is waterproof, but this is something I’m hesitant to endorse myself. At first I thought it didn't have an o-ring, but after being tipped off I doubled checked and there is a clear one sneakily hiding in there. Though I try to be an intrepid reviewer, I’m not willing to risk the Patina’s poor little life by submerging it completely as I'm not sure how well the buttons would hold up underwater. I tested it under some running water and it seems to be splash-proof, so you could still give it a wash off in the sink or take it in the shower, I just wouldn’t dive right into the bath with it. Speaking of clean up, it’s pretty simple as you can use soap and water, or sterilize it with a 10% bleach solution because it’s silicone. However, stick to water based lubes to ensure there won’t be any reactions with the silicone in the toy.