Tristan Taormino's Expert Guide to the Female Orgasm is one of many in her Instructional DVD series (much like Nina's, though not as extensive, as of yet). The purpose of this DVD is to help women and couples discover how to achieve an orgasm for the first time and better understand all of the different kinds of orgasms women are capable of. No single instructional DVD can be specific to your individual bedroom needs. So, this DVD (and many of Tristan and Nina's DVDs) try to cover many different possibilities and variations to help out different people. For the most part, this DVD succeeds for that aim.

However, the first and most obvious caveat for any instructional DVD like this is it does NOT guarantee Tristan or any of the Vivid professionals will be able to answer your specific questions, nor does it guarantee you will be able to achieve any or all of the different orgasms they talk about. Tristan and the Vivid professionals (adult film stars) discuss and demonstrate (vividly) the different types of orgasms they have (clitoral, g-spot, anal, mixed, etc) through different techniques (oral, manual, penile, vibe, mixed, etc). Unfortunately, a lot of Tristan's explanations come off a little too dry and clinical at times. When it came to explanations for how to achieve g-spot orgasms and female ejaculation, the process sounded very procedural - as if orgasms were like a cooking recipe. This approach may give the viewer an unreasonable expectation for achieving all of those (rather unique) experiences. However, the personal stories from the adult film stars appear very sincere and honest in their descriptions. These candid discussions convey a real sense of individuality and uniqueness which truly exists between individual women and the types of orgasms they can physically achieve.

Perhaps the best piece of advice given in the entire video is that each viewer (male or female) should experiment themselves to find out exactly how their body will react to any given stimulus.

The main "educational" instructions given by Tristan take up about 30 minutes of actual watching time. Interspersed throughout the sexual education instructions, by Tristan and the personal stories by the adult film stars, are actual video "demonstrations" by the adult film stars (Tristan Taormino doesn't participate in any). Another hour of the DVD is the various adult film stars actually demonstrating their own types of orgasms they have and what kind of stimulation they require to achieve them. Finally, the DVD has a number of extra features which are interesting as well. The extras include demonstrations and situations for appropriate safer sex, different Kegel exercises, video montages of uncut masturbation by the female adult stars, advertisements for other Vivid products (ie vibes), previews of other Tristan Taormino instructional videos (rough sex, bondage, etc), and even a mini-guide to different vibrators. All together, there's a lot of useful information on this DVD. Even if you think you're an expert yourself (experience does not equal expert), there might be something on this video for you.

Because this product is a DVD, I can't really say "how" this product performs since it is purely educational. The "personal demonstration" (ie porn clips) in the DVD aren't actually intended to be particularly sexy or stimulating. Though they are separated from the main discussion by Taormino, some snippets are mixed into the overall discussion. From an educational standpoint, it would have been easier to watch a much longer clip during the discussion with Taormino's (director's) commentary, than much shorter depictions. Then, the viewer (me) wouldn't have to fast forward and rewind to see the whole demonstration on that particular topic.

Yeah, I still think this is a great resource for beginning couples and even sex education. However, after one or two views, it's probably not necessary anymore. Like most educational materials, once you've learned it, you won't need it again unless you forget something. The personal demonstrations are nice, but not your usual high value production adult film. So, you might not have even wanted to watch any or all of them for foreplay. Other films or DVDs will fill that bill much better.