Hot Love from California Exotics are two warming gel packs that have a multitude of different uses. They're a hot pink color with white writing on them. One says "Hugs" and the other says "Kisses". They're the perfect size to fit in the palm of your hand. They're bigger than I imagined them to be as they fill up my entire palm, which was a nice surprise. They're reusable and easy to activate by pressing a disc inside them back and forth until crystals starts to form. It's pretty cool how it happens actually. The crystals start forming from the disc and continue until all of the gel is then crystals. Before the discs are activated the packs have a liquid filling and are very flexible. Once they're activated they lose some of that flexibility and as the crystals continue to expand they eventually get pretty solid where they don't bend much at all.

The heat that these packs give off is nice and hot without being burning. You can place them directly on your skin without being burned. Well, I guess I should say that I could. I love heat though and my husband says that my baths and showers are scalding. So, if you're a bit more sensitive to heat then you might want to use them with a cloth covering them at first. But I thought that they were just fine right from the start. The heat lasts about 30 minutes at its hottest and then starts to taper off. I would say it got down to only being warm after about an hour. This seems pretty on target with how long my microwaveable heating pads last.

Once the heat wore off I was a bit worried about putting them in boiling water as the instructions say to do. You do this to dissolve the crystals so that they are ready to use for next time. I was a bit skeptical and thought that they were going to end up melting in my pot. Of course, they were fine though. You boil them for 7-10 minutes, or until the crystals are fully dissolved. It took mine about 7-8 minutes. I found the easiest way to get them out of the boiling water is with tongs. I just take them out and set them on a plate until they cool. They stay hot for quite a while, and I suppose you could use them as a heat pack at this point too, although they are really hot after coming out..too hot even for me to handle them much without a cloth between them until they've had a chance to cool down. If you use them this way they won't have the same consistency as they do when they are "activated" because they'll be liquid inside. The heat is still the same though, and they do glide easily enough along the skin so you could use them as a heating pad or for massage this way just fine.

They're made out of a vinyl material and the packaging states that the contents are non-toxic. They do still recommend that you keep these packs out of the reach of children and pets. There's also a warning that you should never heat the gel pack in the microwave and that you should not use them if the vinyl is punctured. Other than that there aren't really any other safety concerns with these packs. The packaging that they come in is pretty simple, it's just a cardboard box/envelope that you can keep your gel packs in between use if you want. They're nice and discreet too since the packaging just says they're for "magical massage" and the packs just say "Hugs" and "Kisses". The only thing that really suggests sexuality about them is the packaging's colors and the words "Hot Love". If you dispose of the packaging though they're really discreet and no one would think these were anything but heating pads.

What can't you use these two packs for?? They're great for a relaxing massage or rub down. It's hard to get them to glide along the skin if there is too much pressure applied to them, so I found it worked out best to just kind of run them along our bodies. That can be incredibly sensual though, and while it's summer time now so we're not in much need of heat I can just imagine how handy they'll be in the winter time on those cold dark nights. Even if you don't want them for the actual massaging they're great to warm your hands with. There's nothing worse than a massage with ice cold fingers.


They're also great for muscle aches and pains. They're small enough that they're not bulky and they can be great for menstrual cramps since you can kind of stick them right inside a pair of sweat pants. I also get ovulation pain on each side, where my ovaries are. These can be tucked into each side to comfort those areas perfectly. I'm also prone to nerve pain. The last few days I've been having some trouble with my one finger to the point that I couldn't really bend it and it hurt to type with. I activated one of my packs and set it underneath my finger while I watched some tv. Now, I can't say that the pain is 100% gone but I have had more mobility in it since I warmed it. It was nice to be able to just pop the disc and have some nice heat in such a small package, especially with it being summer time. I didn't want to have a big heating pad out when it was just a finger bothering me, so these gel packs worked out perfectly.

Since this is a sex toy site I of course had to try them out as such, or an accessory to sex toys anyway. First I tried using them to heat up a toy. Sure there's easier ways to do that, but not all of those ways will always be convenient. So, that's another use for them. They worked great to heat up glass before use and also some plastic toys. I also tried using a bullet with one of these packs pressed against my pubic mound. The combination between the heat and the vibration was amazing and I'm sure that won't be the last time that I do that. You can also use these for temperature play with a partner by alternating these hot packs with some ice, or holding them against their body while giving oral.

So, basically there are many things that you can use the Hot Love packs for. Whether it be something sensual or just something comforting they work out great and they're such a great price that I think I might buy some more just so I can keep some upstairs and downstairs and even some in my purse in case nerve pain flares up or we find ourselves in the cold and in need of some warmth.

The Hot Love warming packs have proven to be an asset for us time and time again. We took a road trip in August and it just so happened that I was going to be getting a visit from Aunt Flo the same week that we were away and my most painful of days was the day that we were actually on our 16 hour drive. It left me a bit worried about how I'd manage the pain since I always need to have a heating pad and I don't have any that have car chargers. I have microwaveable ones but how do you microwave while you're on the road? That's when the Hot Love packs came in really handy. I boiled them before we left and they sat next to me in the car door pocket waiting to be needed. Sure enough I ended up needing one of them about halfway into our drive and it stayed warm for a good couple of hours. It wasn't HOT the whole time, but it definitely was enough to be soothing.

They're also of course still good for heat play during more sexier times, but I think our main use for them continues to be as travel heating pads :)