I bought this massager primarily for use on my head, neck, and shoulders. A few years ago, I got bucked off a horse and landed on my head. Thankfully, I was wearing a helmet, but I've been saddled with regularly occurring neck and shoulder pain and blinding headaches ever since.

Although I use this product as a solo massager, I'm sure it would work wonders as a sensual aid for partners as well. Taking the time to give one another a long, luxurious massage with the InfraRed would certainly be a relaxing and immensely enjoyable experience, enhancing intimacy and bringing a little something extra to slow, sensuous foreplay. With its array of different attachments, the InfraRed massager provides something for a wide variety of muscle soreness and tension as well.

For the sake of this review, I did give the massager a go as a sex toy. While I definitely think it is best suited to sensual massage, alone or with a partner, I have provided a description of my thoughts on perverting this item in the "Experience" section.

The vast majority of this item is composed of plastic of various textures and firmness. The head and handle are hard plastic, with the neck and the interchangeable heads being of firm, but flexible plastic. The heads smell lightly of plastic, but only if you bring them right up to your nose and smell them. The foam on the buffer head had a distinctive smell when it first came out of the package, but it now smells of the lotion that I used for a gentle facial massage. I do notice a vague electrical type smell if I put my nose right up to the heating element when it's warm. Otherwise, there is no noticeable odor when using this massager.

The various textures of the attachments are discussed in detail in the "Design/Shape/Size" section.

Weighing in at 1.5 lbs, the InfraRed is fairly lightweight, enabling comfortable extended use. The full length of the massager is about 13", with the bulbous head being approximately 3"x3", and the handle measuring in at 8 3/4". The bottom 4" of the handle is slightly textured to provide a better grip. I wish the entirety of it was textured because I find myself holding it most often near the middle where the control switch is located.

The head of the massager has a band of matte, lightly textured black plastic around the top of it. This can also be used for a slightly different sensation, with a little more drag. One side of the head houses the infrared In addition, the massager comes with five interchangeable attachments, for the side opposite the heating element.

1 - "Focus" Single Cone: Provides focused, pinpoint massage where you need it most
2 - "Dualer" Dual Cone: Straddles tense muscles to surround them with vibration
3 - "Large Bump" Studs: Flat head with seven blunt nubs for gentle pressure and general massage
4 - "Buffer" Foam Dome: Rounded foam intended for use with lotion, especially for facial massage
5 - "Wide Nubbed" Tickler: Narrow, flexible fingers that are perfect for head and scalp massage

The neck of this massager is slightly flexible, with ridges of plastic surrounding it. I really dislike the flexibility aspect. I wish it was just stiff so that I could really press the pinpoint massager head into my sore muscles. It takes extra exertion to get the same amount of pressure with the flexible neck giving when you push on it. Also, I've managed to get massage oil and lotion in between the ridges and it's sort of a pain in the behind to clean.

The 110 Volt cord is approximately 6.5' long. My bed is pressed right against the wall and with this massager plugged into the socked directly beside my bed, the cord barely stretches across the width of my queen size bed. I've found myself wishing more than a few times that the cord was longer. A simple solution would be to use an extension cord, but I don't have any on hand and I can't imagine going out to buy one specifically for use with this massager. If you have one handy, I would definitely recommend it!

So, what's so special about infrared massage? According to information provided by the Mayo Clinic, massage is "an effective form of therapy for stress relief and for relaxing stiff muscles, improving circulation and blood flow, pain relief". The heat of infrared massage is said to "reduce the pain of arthritis, spasms and joint pain". Other benefits of massage may include aiding in the "management of depression and anxiety, improving blood pressure, enhancing the immune system", etc. (This information was all found on [LiveStrong.com][https://www.livestrong.com/article/186376-infrared-massage-benefits/].)

This InfraRed massager has very simple controls. They are conveniently located and very easy to use. Too easy, in fact. There is one sliding switch on the side of the handle. One click upward turns the massager on, with low vibrations and high heat. One more click up turns the massager to high vibrations and low heat. These are the only two combinations and there is no opportunity to tweak the exact amounts of vibration and heat or combinations thereof, which is my number one beef with this massager. I can't stand the lack of customization. At the very least, I wish that the combinations were high vibration, high heat and low vibration, low heat. That would make more sense to me and would be infinitely more helpful. The vibrations are fairly powerful and somewhat noisy. On high, it's enough to make my teeth rattle when I use it on my neck!

Another issue I have with this massager is that the heat only radiates from the one side. I wish that the heat transferred also into the various attachments so that you could combine them at once, rather than having to alternate between heat and texture. When you turn the massager on, the black dome of the heat side glows red. The heating side itself is a little lacking, in my opinion. I wish it got a little hotter. It definitely warms up, but when it's on low I find it to be barely hot enough to feel it. When it's on high, it's noticeable, but not warm enough for my taste.

While the detachable heads are waterproof, the entirety of this massager is definitely NOT. Do not submerge it and never, never, never use electrical items in or around water, unless you'd like to get electrocuted!

I wish this thing came with a storage bag, at least for all the heads! Mine are currently in a ziplock freezer bag, rubber banded to the handle of the massager. It's not the most classy storage option, but it is effective and keeps me from having to dig through my toy box to find the attachment I'm looking for.

Plastic is a non-porous and phthalate-free material with a firm, smooth texture. It can easily be cleaned with antibacterial soap and hot water or by wiping it down with isopropyl alcohol. Since the heads are so flexible, they are quite easy to clean. The one with the ticklers looks like it would be a big pain to clean, but it can flex enough to fold it and get between all those little tendrils. The only place I've had trouble cleaning is that darned neck, which got lotion in it when I was using it on my shoulders.

Foam is a very soft, elastic and flexible material. It is considered hypoallergenic and does not promote the growth of mold or bacteria. Toys made of foam should be cleaned before and after each use with the warm water and antibacterial toy cleaner or mild soap. By definition, foam is a porous material. As such, if you intend to use this massager for masturbation, I would consider restricting the use of the foam head to just facial massage, in the interest of hygiene.

Both the plastic and foam heads have worked well with lotion, oil, silicone-, and water-based lubricants.

The massager comes in a plastic clamshell package that pops open easily. I suppose you could use it for storage, but it's a bit of a pain to nestle everything back in there each time. There are few instructions included beyond the backdrop of the packaging, which states the names and locations of the various parts. The extent of the safety instructions are as follows; "Wash massager and heads before and after each use. Do not get cord wet. DO NOT IMMERSE IN WATER."

It also says "Please set to 'low' for infrared heat when applying on face or other sensitive areas." This confuses me. If I'm massaging my face, I want the vibrations on low. If I wanted to use the heated side (and put the infrared heat on low), I have to turn the vibrations to high, which is just not comfortable for use on your face.

In the interest of completing this review, I tried the massager as a vibrator. I tested each of the heads, with the exception of the porous foam facial attachment. The tickler attachment was a little too pokey. The dual cones were spread just a bit too far apart to surround my clit with vibrations. The single cone provided more accurate stimulation, but was difficult to maneuver for little payoff. The nubbed general massager did nothing for me. My favorite thing was the gentle warmth of the infrared side in combination with the high vibrations, which was a very new sensation for me. However, I prefer pinpoint stimulation, as opposed to my whole general area vibrating. While I did eventually reach orgasm, it wasn't an especially powerful release. I don't believe I will find myself using this massager as a sex toy again in the future when I have so many other excellent options!