This silicone ball gag both looks and tastes the part of seriously awesome bondage. The bright red of the silicone is very classic, but overall this toy is an improvement in every way to the more traditional products that have been on the market for years. The ball is removable with very little effort, and the components snap back on very securely. I was more than a little hesitant to believe that it would have no taste at all, but I was very pleasantly surprised to find that it had no natural taste, and didn't hold any tastes either!

I washed it several different ways, testing for problems with holding smells/tastes. I used plain antibacterial hand soap first, with hot water, and gave it a quick hand wash in my sink. That left no smell or taste at all. After I tested it out on myself, I gave it a more thorough scrubbing after boiling it in hot water. I used lime-scented dish soap, and again, it left no detectable taste at all. After using it on my sub, I tossed the ball in the dishwasher and it came out sparkling clean and taste-free!

As for the leather, I have zero complaints. The buckle is strong and sturdy and very secure on the strap. The holes are a perfect fit with very little excess length, so it doesn't look sloppy when tucked into the keeper ring. The holes are small enough to stay nice and snug, with no wiggle room. I wasn't expecting the leather to be as soft and quality-feeling as it is; honestly, I kind of prefer the texture of vegan leather to real leather after my experiences with this gag! The straps themselves are EXTREMELY soft, strong, and gentle all the way around. Despite looking a little wide on the website, they're actually pretty slim, so they fit quite comfortable and flex to conform to the way human lips move when in delicious pain. They didn't chafe even my overly dry lips at all, nor did the gag affect my boy's skin conditions one bit. Those are huge pluses for me.

I tried it out first before using it on my sub, to make sure it was suitable for the kind of pressure I was about to put him through. Aslan doesn't make second-tier quality stuff, and I was expecting a fantastic product, but this was immensely reassuring. First of all, the silicone is VERY high quality. It had absolutely no smell to it out of the box. I gave it a quick wash with some antibacterial soap, and popped it into my mouth. No taste whatsoever. Awesome, I thought; now for the real test - the "I'm being caned with a Christmas tree" bite test. I sank my teeth into that thing like there was no tomorrow, then examined it thoroughly. It had a nice, satisfying give to it; the silicone is obviously nice and solid all the way through, but there's enough flexibility to provide a satisfying bite. The seam running through the silicone is noticable and attracts the tongue almost uncontrollably, but it wasn't uncomfortable or sharp, merely present. When I withdrew it I was expecting to have left a good set of holes in the silicone... Not a single mark that didn't fade within minutes. Perfect.

The size is pretty much perfect. Both my boy and I have pretty moderate jaw problems due to poor dental treatment as kids; my jaw in particular pops out of place embarrassingly easily. The ball forced my jaw open just under the point where it would feel uncomfortable, but it was a nice stretch that definitely would keep a sub feeling vulnerable. I didn't notice any massive amount of drool, either - even after a good twenty minutes of wear, head down and ass up, my boy was quite capable of controlling his drool factor. You might want to replace the ball if you're into major jaw-stretching slobbering (which is effortless to do - the strap for the ball unsnaps from the head strap so you can slide the ball off and easily replace it with another one). I, however, don't get off on that, so I was very happy to find my sheets nice and dry when I finally let him lift his head.

So once I was satisfied it wouldn't create the need for an emergency orthodontist trip, I popped it in his mouth and went to work on the boy with a leather belt. He responded quite favorably. I could clearly hear his "mm-mm!" and "mm-hmm!"s behind the gag, though he couldn't speak at all despite plenty of attempts to do so. His review of it was just as glowing as mine - not a hint of that bitter rubbery taste, plenty of give without losing that nice firm quality a good ballgag must have, and very comfortable straps that never made him feel chafed. Keep in mind, my boy has eczema and psoriasis, both of which affect the skin on his face, arms, back, and chest very noticibly. To not have those problems aggravated by this ball gag was a HUGE success, as we've used natural leather toys and straps before that have really irritated his skin. I wasn't expecting the vegan leather to be as comfortable as it was, but I almost don't want to go back to "real" leather now that I've tried it!