I. Love these!

I've been apprehensive about getting ben-wa balls for a while, but when I saw the Desi, I thought 'Hey, these look worth a shot!'

They most certainly were!

First, let's discuss the 'cage' of the balls; It's soft, smooth silicone that feels AMAZING. It's about the same texture as my skin, which was pretty impressive. The tail is pretty long, 2.5" with a little nub on the end. This is both a blessing and a problem. The long length would be ideal if it were some type of cording, but the silicone was just a bit too stiff to make it consistently comfortable. However, it makes an ideal handle, especially with the nub. I was always able to get a decent grip on it, making removal relatively easy. However, there are also raised hearts around the cutouts that the balls are inserted into. I found that sometimes during insertion and removal that the edges (especially the points!) could be a little grating. Between the elasticity of the silicone and these little edges, I ended up yelping during removal a few times.

Next, the balls: I was impressed with the hardness of the plastic. It was completely non-porous, though the tiny little holes in the larger of them irked me. They had only a slight seam, making them amazing on their own outside of the cage, and much more comfortable for removal.


The cleaning itself was simple. As mentioned before, the cage is silicone, so can be boiled, bleached, alcohol'd, or even just plain soap and water can be used. Since these are only a single-person toy, I opted for just soap and water so I could wash the balls and the cage together. I ended up covering the hole in the larger with my fingers while I cleaned them off, and ran water through independently. When I used the balls by themselves, I soaked the larger one in vinegar for a few minutes, and shook it out. I wasn't sure about how badly lint or fluff would stick to them, as it's such a smooth silicone, but I decided not to risk it and let them dry in a clean sink, with the larger ball holes-down. I learned the hard way not to shake it dry.

Reassembly however... This had a bigger learning curve than expected. See, the balls are oval-shaped, so the direction they face matters. It took some fumbling, but I eventually figured out that by flipping the silicone cage so that the bottom of the cutout is exposed, placing it in carefully, and then stretching the silicone back around, was the way to go. Simple enough, but with no instructions, it took longer than I'd like to have figured it out.

The feeling of these. is. amazing. I knew when I picked up the package that the vibrations would be strong, but I wasn't sure exactly how strong they would be! When I wore these out and about, I caught myself looking around to see if anyone had heard them, because it feels like someone should have been able to! I've worn them for pretty much everything I've done: Class, the gym, walking, grocery shopping... These work anywhere, and I found my mood to be a lot better on some days. I was also always far tighter afterward, making me more sensitive during sex.

But beware!: I had to contend with my boyfriend shaking me at every opportunity, whether I was standing or sitting made no difference in his amusement.

While I still love Desi, the raised outline surrounding the cutouts has worn out its welcome. Most of the time, there's no problem, but some days in my cycle, the pointiness is just way too painful especially if the uses are close together. If you're the type who's not bothered by extremes in texture, uses ben-wa balls infrequently, or loves texture, I say go for it.

Sorry, Desi, you still mostly do it right, but you're just not for me.