First off, let me say that the design of the heart is adorable. It's probably one of my favorite parts of the product. If you happen to spill something on it, clean up is very easy as its outer coating is made of a plastic-like material. Use is very simple, just snap the metal piece back and forth a few times until the crystals start forming, and you're good to go! This can get very, very hot. The packaging says it can reach up to 129 degrees Fahrenheit, and I'm inclined to believe them from holding it in my hand to move the crystals around as it's warming up and spreading. You don't have to move them around to fill the entire thing, but I find that it makes the crystals spread through the entire heart more quickly.

I would advise, at least at the beginning when it's so hot, to keep the product on a thin towel or fabric (I've made a little cozy for it, but that's just me and my craftiness). Once the product begins to cool down, I think it's fine to have it directly on your skin. If redness begins to show on your skin, remove it from your skin and put a barrier between it and your body to avoid getting a mild burn. The heat from the heart lasts about sixty to ninety minutes, and for the most part stays pretty flexible within the first hour. After that point, it begins to harden slightly, so if you intend to have it in a strange position (like, wrapped around your ankle) then you should have it in place before the crystals begin to set and harden.

Once the product has cooled down, you're left with a hard heart. I've actually put that in the fridge before and simply used the hardened heart as an ice-pack type thing. However, once you want to reuse it again, you need to wrap it in a towel and put it into boiling water for a total of ten minutes until all the crystals dissolve away. Once they're all gone, remove it from the water with plastic tongs and set aside on a towel to cool down. Never, ever, ever put the heart directly into a pan as it will damage the heart. It's a bit of a pain to have to do this after (or before, if you're lazy and forget) every use. I'd recommend getting several of them. I've got three, total.

General uses for this product include soothing cramps, tense muscles, and general aches and pains. Also, I'm sure it would be useful during some sort of couple's play involving temperature or simply during a cold night. I've also found that, instead of snapping the metal piece when it's in the gel state, to put it inside the fridge, so there's a cool product to use if you ever need it.

All in all, this is a fantastic product, and at 8 dollars a piece, I can see myself buying more of these in the future.

I still absolutely love these things. It's months and months later, but I'm still using them all the time. In fact, I've bought another one.