California Exotics iTap Touch Activated Vibrating Egg - Review

California Exotics iTap Touch Activated Vibrating Egg

Since seeing this product on the market, I have wanted to try it. Receiving mixed reviews all round, the only way to find out the truth was to obtain one myself. The iTap Egg is made by the US company California Exotic Novelties and is sold in the UK through Sex Toys as well as other retailers.

Sex Toys offers free discreet packaging and delivery within the UK.

The iTap Egg box is very professional looking with a clear description of the contents. Upon opening the box I removed the egg which was wrapped in a polythene wrapper with a small battery fitting instructions slip. I thought the egg would have been safer set into a polystyrene or plastic moulded insert, personally, to stop it banging around in transit. As it was the box appeared huge compared to the actual toy in a small bag rattling round inside!

Despite this I was excited to fit the bateries and give it a go. Please note that this egg, although described as a vibrating egg, is made for external use only, not internal. There is no cord to remove therefore it would be dangerous to insert.

After a few tries fitting the batteries (always get them to wrong way round despite the instruction slip) and almost cracking the plastic screw lid in the process, I was ready to begin.

Touching the end lightly, I was pleasantly surprised how powerful the vibrations were. Scrolling through the settings, I noted that there were five different modes:

• Fast constant vibration
• Even faster constant vibration
• Two shorter pulses of vibration followed by a longer length pulse vibration, in a constant loop cycle
• Continuous short same length bursts of strong vibration
• Dot-dash style vibration pulses in a continuous cycle

This makes for a very adaptable massager style sex toy. The egg can be used over all parts of the body, nipple play as well as the entire sexual area, but for direct clitoral stimulation this is fantastic. The large size means that the egg fits in your hand nicely.

This egg is not only for female use either. Using it against the man's balls, the perineum and up the shaft over the frenulum gives some delightfully pleasant thrills for him.

The negative points are the fact that you cannot use it internally. Also the smooth plastic material means that the egg does get slippery with the use of lube. You have to be careful with lube use and washing the egg afterwards as the toy is not waterproof.

The touch sensitive rounded end of the egg means that a lot of care is required when you are either using or storing it. For instance you may find that you have a perfect setting for you, during use, then one slip or accidental knock or tap changes the setting and the tempo you have been building towards your climax instantly falls.

I have this egg at the top of my toy box, carefully positioned, as I found if it was in with my other eggs and bullet style toys, all too often the end would get knocked and it would activate the vibrations. This could be solved by removal of the batteries each time but I guess I'm too lazy for this! At the moment I am just being careful how I position it.

Looking at the box again I read that batteries are to be removed when not in use, so it is entirely my own fault! I don't remove batteries from my other sex toys but I can see I should really start doing it with this one.

Also I was expecting to just have to hold my finger to the sensor end for a few seconds in order to turn the vibrations off. This is how a lot of my other toys work, such as the RO-80 and Supersex bullets. With this egg though, I must cycle through all the options each time until I get to the 'off' setting after all five.

The egg comes in a choice of lilac, pink or white. I chose the pink as the lilac one was too sweetly powdery for me and the white lacked something, but this is merely an aesthetic observation. A lot of women seem to prefer the pink colour in sex toys, I find. Perhaps subconsciously they are more endearing due to the colour's connotations of safety and being non-threatening.

I do like the fact that the toy takes AAA batteries and not any unusual sized or watch types. AAA batteries are a pretty standard size to find in any shop or supermarket and they are usually found in every home. Batteries are not included so you will need to make sure you have some before you buy!

In summary I think this toy has the best intentions, being touch activated without buttons or switches. I will be using the egg in future, it does work perfectly and the vibrations and settings give a variety as well as being intensely arousing. Personally I feel the end product is not worth the price tag and I would honestly expect to pay £10 maximum for this toy.

You can find the iTap Touch Activated Egg in the UK at Sex Toys as well as other major suppliers.