Ever wonder what it’s like being a sex toy tester for a pleasure company like LELO? I’m an open book ready to share my experiences with you.
When it comes to this topic, it’s hard to know where to start. At least, in writing this. When people ask me on Tinder, it depends a lot on WHAT they ask – I’m open about my job because it’s actually a great tactic in weeding out overly-intimidated or overly-intrigued men, and let’s just say I’m often unamused by the pick up lines and dirty puns they try on me. I’ve pretty much heard it all at this point.
When it comes up at dinner parties – it invariably is brought up by someone – I do my best to brush it off, both because really, it isn’t THAT interesting, and because I don’t always want to have explicit conversations with a group of people I may or may not know well. It’s also pretty much guaranteed that someone will approach me after with their personal questions or physiological fantasies, and sometimes I just need a break from mixing business and… well maybe not pleasure, but, social life.
It’s primarily in the casual and private conversations with women who don’t know about my profession that I realize how important my job really is. I don’t glamorize it (because if it’s anything, it’s not that) but even I can start remembering both how exciting and intimidating it can be to look for your first sex toy. In the end, I want to make women more orgasmically aware and break down the taboos of sex toys since masturbation is both physically and emotionally beneficial.
Keeping all this in mind, I’ve compiled a list of the most important things to know about being a sex toy tester.
You Try Some Weird Stuff
‘Weird’ is, of course, extremely relative, so perhaps I would do better to applaud some of the more ‘creative’ shapes that my vibrators have come in. A lot of times these odd angles and edges get quite literally smoothed down in the refining process as I give feedback about where the controls are in relation to how I would hold it and such, but still sometimes we end up with some really unique looking sex toys. You’d also be surprised at how far sex tech has come over the years. There’s some neat-o and genius stuff out there, and the pleasure landscape is always changing as we discover more about masturbation through science.
You Spark Some Fun Conversations with Your Partner
As LELO has quite the collection of couples’ sex toys, my boyfriend already has some idea of what to expect when I come home and say ‘Look what I’ve got from work!’ and I like to think he still finds it fun – my grilling about the experience directly after the fact perhaps less so, but impressions the day after aren’t always as specific as I need!
…And Friends!
Of course, it’s hard not to talk about work with my friends. It’s actually really useful because as someone involved in the product refining process, I get feedback from friends who have different perspectives than mine – since we are all different (especially when it comes to sexual preferences and desires) after all! I’ll admit, sometimes I do feel like I’m living out a “Sex and The City” episode. And I’m of course Carrie Bradshaw.
You Don’t Always Feel like Testing
Everyone always makes the assumption that my sex drive is insanely high. Seriously, even if you’re thinking it, maybe don’t ask a relative stranger how many times a day they masturbate. It’s not a switch that you can just turn on (well, on the toy it is) and there are definitely days when you really just aren’t in the mood to test. Sometimes you can procrastinate, sometimes you can amp yourself up, and sometimes you just need to get down to business – like nearly any task at any job!
But Sometimes You’ll be Surprised!
Most impressive might be the products that you aren’t excited about testing, but actually end in an amazing orgasm anyway! Faking it til you make it can account for a lot, but others, like SONA, use an amazing mix of technology that will take you completely by surprise! Laying in your bed and orgasming is definitely a perk of the job, but there is so much more to it. In the end you realize that a sex toy is a tool to what the root of an orgasm really is, which is about being vulnerable in order to achieve a mind-body connection.