The Allegro was my first experience with tempered glass as a sex toy material, and even after listening to all hype about how glass is the Mercedes of the sex toy world, I was still incredibly impressed with how the Allegro performed. Glass deserves the reputation it has.

On the material itself: glass is non-porous, phthalates free, hypo-allergenic, and shatter resistant. No taste or smell. If you drop it, this will not explode like a wine glass, but break into large chunks. Glass is compatible with any lube and will not react with other materials. It also takes to temperatures very easily so it’s a great material for playing with extremes by leaving it in the fridge (not the freezer—think tongue on ice cubes, but worse) for a few hours or in a bowl of cold water before play. Or by running it under warm water (not boiling—don’t want to burn your bits), the glass picks up and holds the heat very well. It’s not recommended that you microwave your pyrex toys. Because it is nonporous, it’s easy to clean. Soap and water or any toy cleaner works for everyday play, but for sharing between partners it can be sterilized by either boiling it for 3 minutes, running it through the dishwasher (top rack, no soap), or wiping it down with a 10% bleach solution followed by a good rinse. Since it is nonporous and nonreactive, glass toys should be able to last you a lifetime, and that alone justifies the investment.

My Allegro glass dildo came in a not-so-impressive looking plastic clamshell case with the typical porn star insert. It also came with a crushed velvet drawstring pouch for storage. The Allegro was smaller than I expected, but felt very heavy in my hand. As a double ended toy, this one is certainly too short to be used simultaneously with a partner, but does give you a choice of heads for personal use: a tapered head for easy insertion and a more rounded bulb on the other side. The swirls around it are not very raised and I wasn’t sure if I would even be able to feel them.

When I put the Allegro to the test, I found out how unlike anything else glass really is. It was cold from sitting in my room but warmed to my temperature very quickly. The material was so smooth that it took very little lubrication to become slick. I could thrust this toy faster than anything else and not feel sore from too much friction. And I could definitely feel all those little swirls. They felt amazing--just a slight variation of texture, when I ran them over my clit, but felt best internally where they added just enough friction that with every thrust, it felt like the little ribs were catching and rubbing up against my g-spot. Perfect.

With such a hard material, it was easy to locate and get intense, pin-pointed g-spot stimulation while feeling in complete control of the toy. The tapered head is perfectly shaped for quick thrusting while the rounded bulb end lends that satisfying pop and is wider for g-spot stim. The middle bulge was placed perfectly for me that while thrusting, the center section as it thickened would intensely stimulate the entrance of my vagina with every thrust.

While the box did recommend the rounded end for anal play, with the toy not having any sort of flared base, not being extremely lengthy, and being very slippery when wet, I would not trust this toy for anal play. However, when switching heads in the middle of a play session, the subtle ribs made gripping the toy much easier than I expected.

This toy made me come again and again—I didn’t want to put it down. This is staying at the top of my toy box and would recommend it to anyone interested in trying out a glass toy. After watching me spend about an hour just working myself over with this one, my partner just asked me, “So this one’s getting five stars, right?” And I was too tried to do anything but nod.