I have a leather glove obsession. Truly, I do. When winter comes around, I cannot wait to be able to pull out my leather gloves and wear them on a daily basis (and have an excuse to, because wearing gloves to work is just creepy when it's warm out). When I saw the Vampire Gloves which are of course leather, I could not resist purchasing them. Leather gloves with spikes to feed my fetish for leather and almost unquenchable sadism? Count me in.

Coming in four sizes (XS, S, M, L) and made by Kinklab, the Leather Vampire Gloves are a beautiful, well-made set of gloves for sensory play. Stroke your lover's skin with your fingers, giving delightful little prickles, or press them down for a harder bite. Each glove is made of one layer of thin, sheepskin leather and has 72 spikes (mine are the XS, so keep that in mind; larger sizes have more spikes). The spikes are positioned in sets of four (each peg-type shape has four spikes) and are not exactly the most even things. I didn't mind, because this will not be felt on the skin, but people who are perfectionists or have OCD may be set off by this. The gloves close by snap buttons at the wrist which form a little loop in the material.

Since there's no real sizing chart for these, buy what size you'd normally buy in gloves. I usually get a women's small (men's are too big for me), and even those are sometimes a little big, so I went with the XS. Thankfully, they fit me very well, but they are a bit loose even still. Good in the length, but loose (which is the opposite of the problems that I usually have with gloves, go figure). The measurements for the XS size are: 8" from wrist to the tip of the middle finger, 3 1/2" across the palm, and finger lengths of about 3" each (the pinky is a bit smaller, of course).

Using the gloves is, obviously, the most exciting part. Just putting them on gives a sense of power and excitement. I love the way that the sheepskin feels against my hands when I put the gloves on. The fingers are very firm due to the spikes' placement, but the rest of the glove is very soft and luxurious feeling. Mm-mm-mm good. The only problem with it being sheepskin instead of a thicker leather is that the folded over thumb sometimes presses into the palm of the glove, making little indents. They're not holes, but they are indents that haven't seemed to go away no matter how many times I use these.

There are a number of different methods to using the Vampire Gloves: lightly drag the spikes across your partner's skin, press down more to make scratches and marks, tap your fingers against their skin to make a prickling effect—the possibilities with these Vampire Gloves are endless, and I literally mean endless. There are certain things that I personally love to do with them that I simply will not write in a review (don't want anyone getting themselves injured, now).

Keep in mind that these can puncture the skin and they can leave scratches and cuts. The images make the points look more rounded and less intimidating, but do not let yourself be fooled: they mean serious business.

In a word, let me sum up how I feel about these gloves: amazing. I absolutely love my Vampire Gloves. I mean, really, they're just so attractive and beautiful. Yes, the gloves are my idea of beautiful. And how could I forget the smell? These smell absolutely wonderful, great for people who love the smell of leather. I keep them with my other leather gloves, and these are certainly my favorite out of the bunch. When storing them, make sure to keep them out of direct sunlight and in a dry area—they are leather, after all. And when cleaning, use either a slightly, slightly damp washcloth. These are very fragile since they are sheepskin.

Note: The spikes, though metal, cannot be sanitized because of how they're situated on the leather. Make sure to use these with caution when it comes to partner sharing.

The Vampire gloves have actually held up incredibly well over the time that I've had them. I will admit that storing them has been a bit of a pain because the spikes dig into the opposing leather (I just do not have the space to store them so that they don't touch), but thankfully, no holes have been made and they have stayed in good shape. I've had a really fun time using them for scratching, impact play, and a combination of the two.

They're a high quality glove that definitely last an extremely long time. I've had them for, what, a couple of years now, and they're still in the same shape that they were when I bought them. It's a shame that they've been discontinued because they're an excellent purchase for those into a darker form of sensation play.