Not for the faint of heart or those new to spanking, this is is a paddle that will leave welts, stinging, and reddened skin in its wake. On impact it delivers a blow mix of sting, and a bit of thud. With careful aim and a good wrist, it's not hard to learn to leave those hearts clearly visible on a partner's backside.

If you're looking at this paddle thinking that the hearts it can leave are a cute, romantic way to introduce impact play into your relationship, turn around and find something else or it may be your last foray into the world of paddles. If you like mild impact, but don't like a hard spanking, this paddle will probably be too much for you. This is designed to hurt; to hurt in a delicious way, but hurt nonetheless.

To leave the heart pattern on the skin, use a single, hard spank. This will leave a reddened area, around paler heart-shaped areas where the cut-outs fell. If no hearts appear, do not keep hitting the same piece of skin, as it will only get redder and any partial hearts will only become blurred. For those looking to make that impression, instead of dealing out a hard spanking that day, move on to another area and try again.

We found that the fleshy parts of ones own legs made a good practice field, if you will, for learning the angle and intensity needed to leave nice clear heart-shaped marks.

For a good hard spanking, those hearts are only visible for the first few blows, after which the entire area is reddened. During prolonged spanking, the edges of the hearts could be felt as slightly stingier than the surrounding leather.

Given the force with which this paddle was designed to be used, it would be safest to place the strokes on the butt and the backs of the thighs.

The majority of the Impressions Paddle hearts is two stiff pieces of leather, with its lovely leather smell. The leather is a smooth top grain, which feels as deliciously cool as satin does when first run across the skin. The two pieces are stitched together very firmly in the handle, then are separate on the business end so that the solid back piece can swing forward and hit the front piece. The front piece has three smooth heart-shaped cutouts, and is backed by heavy-weight red paper stitched to the leather.

The handle, where the two pieces of leather are stitched together, is very sturdy. The edges are smooth and the leather is thick, so the edges don't dig into your palms. If they are digging in, don't clench your hand quite so tightly; it will hurt your hand less, and let your wrist move more freely.

At the base of the handle, the leather bells out into a circle around a metal ring that is firmly attached to the layers of leather. This circle makes a good back for the handle, and is strung through with a nylon cord. The cord can be wrapped around the wrist, or used to hang the paddle for storage. The cord was a little stiff at first, but after working it a bit it became much more pliable.

The Impressions Paddle hearts performs very well at the task for which it was made. It can deliver a good hard spanking, or leave those heart-shaped marks for up to an hour, depending on the skin. It was easy to use, though learning to leave clear, unblurred marks had a bit of a learning curve. It was light, with just enough weight for a good swing, so long sessions weren't as tiring as with heavier paddles.

When used gently, it gave a light, stingy tap. However, to leave hearts, it has to be used with a good deal of force. The slaps have a good, hard sting to them, backed by just enough thud to deepen each blow. The skin quickly reddens beneath the paddle. Make sure you know your partner's skin before you begin. I have very pale delicate skin, and instead of just reddening, I found bruises blossoming later that evening and skin that stayed red for hours. He, on the other hand has much darker skin, and the marks faded in under an hour.

In trying the Impressions Paddle hearts on each other, we noticed that while both of us were quickly able to leave hearts on me, it was almost impossible to leave them on even the palest bits of his skin. Bear in mind that the darker the skin of the spankee, the more difficult it will be to leave hearts; also, hairy skin blurs the marks too.

For teasing between blows, rubbing the front or the back of the paddle along the reddened skin gave rather different sensations. The back was cool and smooth, soothing the flesh. The front, while still cool and smooth, has those cutouts, which feel like drawing ones nails gently across the skin. It's not painful, but it sent shivers up his spine every time.

One thing to keep in mind is when used with much force, this paddle gets loud. It can definitely be heard through doors and some walls.

For leather, the paddle was surprisingly easy to care for. Usually, all that was needed was running a damp cloth along the paddle to remove any sweat, then patting it dry. Always clean your paddle as soon as possible after use, as allowing bodily fluids of any kind to dry on the leather may cause staining. Leather conditioner can be used periodically if your paddle begins to show its abuse.

The leather, metal, and nylon hold up well to moisture as long as they are dried carefully right after play, but the paper is another matter. Like most paper, it warps when wet. Luckily, unlike most paper, if you are very careful when cleaning and drying the paddle it dries flat. It is fragile while damp, though, so take care or you could easily rip the paper. If it does get wet, gently blot fluids off with a damp cloth, then gently blot off the water with a dry towel, and allow it to air-dry.

The design could have been significantly improved in this area (though unfortunately made more expensive) by replacing the paper with suede, a thin layer of smooth leather, or even vinyl. Any of these would have been easier to clean, and less prone to ripping when wet.

The wrist cord can be used to hang the paddle to store, but it does just find stored in a box or drawer. Because it is leather, storing in a cloth bag is better than a sealed plastic bag, as these can lead to mildewed leather, which is a definite mood-killer. Here, honey, let me spank you and smear you with mildew. Sexy? Not really.

While we loved the idea, and the workmanship, of the Impressions Paddle hearts; but in the end it just wasn't for us. For now, it delivers more pain than either of us is ready for. Also, while we enjoy spankings that redden the skin, redness is as far as we're comfortable with.

When we tried to leave impressions of the hearts, with my delicate skin it only took a few hard slaps with the paddle to raise bruises as well. Some may find this a turn-on, but it's not our cup of tea. For us it was too much, so we're going back to our gentler flogger and keeping this paddle on the shelf; just in case.