AUTOSTRADDLE ANONYMOUS SEX TOY REVIEW #39:
It’s our 39th Autostraddle Anonymous Sex Toy Review! Over the last few years, sex toy companies and stores have propositioned us, wondering if we’d like to review their toys in exchange for, you know, their toys.
This week, one of our anonymous reviewers tried out the Dorado glass dildo, available at Good Vibes.
- Material: borosilicate glass
- Color: clear and pink with gold fuming
- Size: about 7.5 inches long and 1 3/4 inches in diameter
- Price: $125
The Dorado is a semi-realistic borosilicate glass dildo with 24k gold fuming details, which is a little weird.
At first I was a little put off by the pink-gold vein-like lines that swirl around the shaft, as they seem like an unnecessary touch of realism in a wasted opportunity for a less realistic toy (though I think of almost every toy as a wasted opportunity for a less realistic toy). The gold details are also too heavy-handed to be perfectly elegant and seem like an unnecessary way to increase the price point. However, they catch the light and sparkle a little and, if you look at the toy during use in the right light, they kind of make the inside of your activity partner’s vagina sparkle too.
The smooth texture of glass is always amazing, and it’s particularly amazing at this size. Glass also means you get to use silicone lube, which feels extra slippery against the smooth surface.
Glass, obviously, has no give, so if you’re accustomed to smaller toys or only fingers the Dorado’s size might be a bit of a challenge, especially at first. Even if you’ve used glass toys before, the size, and especially the head, makes the Dorado a really intense experience. After you settle into it, it’s awesome, but it takes a little bit of adjustment and lots of lube.
The curve is a little g-spotty — just big enough to hit your g-spot if you want, but small enough that if you do not like g-spot play you will still enjoy it. I didn’t realize the Dorado is supposed to be primarily a g-spot toy until after I used it a few times, but I also don’t particularly like g-spot toys, so.
The small size of the base of the toy means it takes up very little real-estate during play, so you have plenty of room for fingers or a vibrator or a tongue on your clit. However, though my Dorado can stand upright on its own, it doesn’t feel steady enough to store that way, which feels like a missed opportunity to jazz up a shelf full of Vixskin. (It’s also not flared enough for anal play, and there’s no way you could successfully use it in a harness.)
Borosilicate glass tends to break in extreme temperature changes, so you clean this glass dildo under warm water with antimicrobial soap or with sex toy cleaner. It also retains temperature pretty well, so you can run it under warm or cool water if you want (though not one and then the other).
The Dorado I received came with no storage bag or indeed packaging beyond brown paper. I’m nearly over toys that expect me to create storage for them, and in this case — an expensive toy made of a breakable material — not including a padded storage situation seems like a thoughtless oversight. If you want to protect the Dorado, let alone travel with it, you’re going to have to find something to use. (Thick socks are not sexy, but they work.)
The Dorado seems like an attempt to fancy-up something that could be much better if it were a little simpler. Scrap the weird-ass gold, and it’s a good-sized amazing-feeling toy for anyone who likes things just a little bigger. As it is, it’s still a good-sized amazing-feeling toy, but it’s also a little tacky.
This one intimidates me. I’ll stick with silicone that isn’t particularly realistic looking.