Valentine's Day: Sex Toy Gift Giving Tips

Sex toys can be fun to give to your partner any time of the year, but Valentine’s Day is an especially great occasion! However, this can be an incredibly personal gift, and everyone has different preferences and needs when it comes to sex toys that can make it harder to choose the right one. Here are some tips to make that decision a little easier and help you find something your partner will love.

If this would be their first sex toy, keep these things in mind:

For newbies to the world of sex toys, versatility is a particularly important quality - in regard to uses, vibration strengths, and charging methods. More options means more ways they can enjoy the toy!

            Uses: Instead of a vibrator that’s intended for clitoral stimulation only, look for an insertable vibrator which could also be used for clitoral stimulation. Or, try to find a dildo or vibrator that could be used vaginally but can also be used anally or with a harness because of its flared base. Maybe get something waterproof so they’ll have even more chances to use their toy.

            Vibration strength: If your partner hasn’t used a vibrator before, it’s hard to know what kind of vibration they’d prefer. Vibrators with multiple speeds or large ranges of vibration strength present a lot of options and allow the user to find the one that works best for them. LELO’s vibrators are a great choice for this.

            Charging methods: Many vibrators are powered by AA or AAA batteries, but there are also lots of conveniently rechargeable toys to choose from. Some of these rechargeable toys have wall chargers, some have USB chargers, and some have both options. Having both of those options might make using their toy easier and more convenient.

Sex Toy Health and Safety

A high-quality dildo or vibrator can last you years, perhaps even a lifetime, if you properly care for it. That's a countless number of orgasms – hopefully! But there's a dark side to sex toys that many people never consider in their haste to enjoy a deserved orgasm. This might do no harm, or it could lead to recurring infections and sex toys that melt into one.

What Your Sex Toy's Made of Matters

Some sex toys are simply worse for your health than others! Porous materials – including jelly, PVC, rubber and most real-feel skin type with the exception of dual-density silicone – contain tiny holes that can harbor bacteria well after you've washed them because the holes are smaller than water and soap molecules but large enough for bacteria to find a new home in your sex toys.

This is the one reason why so many people recommend upgrading to nonporous materials such as the following:

•  Silicone
• Glass
• Stainless steel
• Ceramic
• Wood
• ABS plastic

The lack of pores means you can use those sex toys almost indefinitely without worrying about what might be hiding out, just waiting to make its next home your body!

You should never swap toys between orifices or partners if they're made of a porous material, even though they may look clean. This means not using a toy vaginally after it's been used anally until you can sterilize it.

The Proper Care and Feeding of Your Sex Toy

All sex toys should be washed before and, ideally, after use. This means scrubbing down that new vibrator as soon as you get it out of the package. There's no telling how many hands have handled your new sex toy at the factory – or what type of residue might be left over from the manufacturing process.

The Power of Blindfolds

Before I met the man who is now my fiance, I was pretty dang vanilla and scared to do anything new. Luckily, he's a kinky little bastard who gently led me into the wonderful world of BDSM. First among the baby steps to a more experimental me: adding a blindfold to the mix.

In a word, the experience is wonderful. That little piece of fabric makes vanilla taste so much more Neapolitan, even though I'm not the one wearing it. Considering how much I love ice cream, I mean sex, it's no wonder I'm still singing the many praises of the humble-yet-perspective-shifting blindfold years later.

Communication

Before anyone's eyes are covered, there's got to be some communication. Whether you're to be blindfolded or not, a frank conversation about limits and desires is a must. As a result, you'll have better sex overall, get practice talking about what you want, open the door for dirty talk, and let your partner know they can do the same. Even the sluttiest slut wants to feel seen, heard, valued, and understood.

Trust

Sharing your body with someone requires a certain level of comfort. Giving up your vision, orientation with the world, and a great deal of autonomy requires an entirely new level of comfort - some know this as trust. Communication opens you up to the possibility. Still, you won't really know the feeling of letting go, until you experience it first-hand.

You're giving up your main protective sense. You're extremely vulnerable and that brings the possibility to stoke some very uncomfortable long-smoldering feelings. Most often, it's a thrilling ride, but it's important to have that safety net of trust to fall back on. You did talk first, right?