Sexual Sunday: Ann Summers Vibrating Bullet

Sunday is the day dedicated to all things sexy. I might not post every week (even I need time out from sexy things) but Sexual Sunday was born with the idea that I would tour the sex shops of Dublin so you don't have to. And thats what I've been doing all this week, you'll be pleased to know. But I'm going to save another shop review and this week instead talk about an Ann Summers sex toy. (You can read my review of Ann Summers on O'Connell St over here.)

Now don't gasp, yes we all know that I'm not the biggest Ann Summers lover. But that doesn't mean they don't have some really good qualities about them too. This week its all about a deadly looking shiny pink bullet vibrator. 'Cheeky clit slim that no handbag should be without', or so it says on the back. Its lightweight, palm sized and waterproof  with one speed. 

This is like any other bullet, theres really nothing overly impressive about it. I like that the battery - 1x N (LR01), comes with it and that the packaging opens up to explain in detail about the product and how to care for it. The packaging itself isn't over the top and dare I say even classy. This comes in other colours, but I'm a big fan of the shiny pinky shade. Its a simple press on and off button at the top of the bullet and you are good to go.

But lets get to why were all here. Does the thing actually work and if so, how well? In short, I've bought way better and cheaper bullets from Ann Summers before. It was one of my first ones and it rocked. (Until it gave up the ghost and I almost cried) This has only one setting, an extremely powerful one at that. Holding it in my hand for under 5 minutes and I could feel it starting to hurt and go numb, which is never a good sign considering its meant for your delicate bits. I find toys that have a few speeds are much easier to deal with, so you can work your way up through the more intense vibrations and not almost leap out of it when the toy makes contact with skin. That said, if you can deal with really powerful vibrations, you might be alright.

Another thing that bothered me was the hard plastic. It bullet is shaped so the main focus is the tip that you hold to your clit. This was just too hard and I found it a little painful (not in the good way) so I tended to use the length of the bullet instead. I know Ann Summers stock bullets with silicone topped tips, so I would recommend looking out for these instead if your shopping for a new bullet. 

Overall for €15 I don't think its worth it. It looks cute, is fairly quiet on the grand scale of loud toys, but its vibrations are too intense for my liking and the hard plastic tip caused more pain then it did pleasure. (But naturally I can't speak for everyones tastes.) I have to pass on this, but I'm not ruling out all Ann Summers bullets as I know they have some really good ones. I might even replace the one I had years ago, just for the craic!

*I did not pay for this item, it was a PR gift.  Please see my disclaimer here.

Sexual Sunday: Ann Summers O'Connell St.

Ann Summers is something of an institution and I hesitated to write about it this week. This isn't some small stand alone business like the other sex shops in Dublin. This has marketing campaigns, PR women and hundreds of employees, so why try to rate and talk about such a huge company. And to answer my own question, I'm not too sure. But why leave out a sex shop and why not talk about my somewhat bias personal dislike to the brand? Its Sexual Sunday after all -If your new, read my first post here and maybe last weeks, here.

Appearance of the outer shop: 3 1/2 stars - Its nothing amazing, but not uninviting either.

Appearance of the inner shop: 4 1/2 stars - space, light and the toys are at the back.

Friendliness and helpfulness of staff: 3 stars - knowledgeable but overbearing. 

Price range of toys: 4 stars - Something for everyone (even if the toy quality is questionable).

Selection of products/Specialists: 2 stars - Nothing you can't buy anywhere else.

Like with any other press/blogger, Ann Summers staff will never give an interview and always suggest you talk to their pr - who never get back to you. So all the thoughts today are my own. Ann Summers is one of the most well known sex shops in Dublin purely as its a big brand that does those horrible parties (pet peeve) and is parked right on O'Connell street. Its not incredibly offensive in its outer presentation as there are never any toys on display, only posters of women wearing lingerie or manikins draped in the latest offerings. When you walk inside your met with a large, well lit and well laid out space to shop. All the knicker and bra sets dominate the front of the shop, along with the security guard. Towards the back there is what can only be described as a circle stand that you walk into and can see the selection of toys. I must admit, I really like this part, you can't be seen from the front of the shop and everything they have to offer is more or less right in front of you in a smaller space. No trekking from one side of the shop to the other with your arm full of toys. 

However the moment you walk to the back to browse their selection, you are pounced on by staff asking if you need anything, want something explained or to hear the offers of buying three toys and getting a free lube for your trouble. I can't abide this type of sales and a lot of shops do it, but when selling toys I find this off putting and it almost makes me want to throw my hands in the air screaming ''I wasn't looking at sex toys, I'm sorry!''. If it makes me want to do that after I regularly march into sex toy shops, what would it make a first time or nervous buyer do? Not cool Ann Summers, not cool. 

Image source: www.irishmirror.ie

The selection of toys is alright if your looking simply for a dildo or bullet-like vibrator. With Rabbit being one of their only well known brand names along with the - moment for face palm - 50 Shades of Grey, the rest were all Ann Summers own brand. I've not had a lot of experience with their own brand, so to be fair I couldn't pass comment without properly having tried some out first. (Maybe I'll get to this in a separate Sexual Sunday post another time.) But if your looking for joke toys or something plain, then there is a lovely selection of lingerie to choose from, fluffy handcuffs and a long list of different flavoured lube, some anal toys, soft bondage kits and a few cock rings. They don't do any specialist toys, preferring to cater to the masses of what will sell. 

One thing that I noticed and had me scratching my head over was the selection of  'little pills' that are meant to increase stamina and so on. They have them in the O'Connell street shop and also have them listed on their UK but not Irish sites. You can see them over here. I'm wondering why they can sell them or what the legal side of it is, considering last week the staff in Secret Paradise was telling me that guards come in occasionally to check there not being sold. Clearly I'm not doing my homework and need to start looking into these things (Promise I'll update this section when/if I find out the answers.)

Overall I can see why theres such a pull to this shop. Its female friendly and has the excuse that you were only going in to buy some knickers, perfectly acceptable. Theres also the plus that its an all female staff - well there was the times I've gone in anyway. A lot of sex shops have an all male staff as women don't tend to work there for one reason or another. For example I knew a girl who quit after a month because she would get asked inappropriate questions or be hassled by teens passing by and coming in to cause a fuss. Ann Summers is a safe place to shop and even their online shops have a huge selection of things that don't look intimidating unlike other shops. It bothers me slightly that some would rather shop in here because it doesn't have the kink element of a regular sex shop, so your going to be spared the 'shock, horror' products. But then again, each to their own. Personally one of my very first sex toys was bought from here, so I can't judge at all!