Why oh why do I keep doing this to myself? I want to love the Iroha toys so badly…they are so beautiful and the silicone is like masturbating with a heavenly marshmallow sent to earth by the Gods themselves… but no matter how hard I try to force myself into being in love with Iroha toys… they always end up being a disappointment. Nearly every toy from Iroha ends up being too weak for me to get any real enjoyment out of them… and this bothers me to no end… because… like I said… damn these toys are lovely.
So then, why on earth when SheVibe asked me what I wanted to review next did I quickly (almost too quickly… zero thought was put into this on my end) volunteer to take home the Iroha Rin? I think part of me is just really holding out hope that one day I’ll find another toy in their collection that I like as much as I did the Kushi (which is the only Iroha toy I’ve truly loved thus far). But, as hopeful as I was that the Iroha Rin would somehow be magically more powerful than my previous Iroha toys, it just wasn’t in the cards. It has that same pillowy soft mild vibration that I’ve come to expect from an Iroha toy. It’s not bad… it’s just not quite enough (for me at least).
Even though I continue to complain about how the Iroha toys don’t work for me… I enjoy owning them. I really enjoy the playful and out of the box designs of the Iroha toys, from the adorable little candy drop looking Mini to the traditional tea whisk design of the Zen. The designs are usually sleek, clean, with a bit of modern elegance to them. Honestly, the Iroha never fails to appease me visually… and if my eyeballs could have orgasms, Iroha toys would definitely be giving me plenty of eyeball orgasms. And the colors… geez… don’t even gertme started on those! Too late… now I’m getting started on those… the color choices are always so super fantastic and unexpected for a sex toy! There is no basic pink or boring flesh tones with terrible food names to be found in this collection. Instead you’ll find playful yellows, salmons, muted greens and soft off-whites, all with great names like “Fuji-Lemon” or “Matcha.”
Aesthetically, the Iroha toys are a feast for the eyes and the Rin is no different. I thought that its design was perhaps a nod to the Japanese Kokeshi Doll, with its similarly simple trunk and ball like head. But I have since read that the origin of the Rin might be even cooler than that! In what seems to be classic iroha style, the Rin’s inspiration is subtle, feminine, and steeped in Japanese culture and history. While the Iroha Zen was inspired by the Chasen bamboo tea whisk and the Iroha Sakura takes its shape from the cherry blossom petal, the Rin has probably the coolest inspiration of them all… Kanzashi. What is Kanzashi? I’m glad you asked! This is something new I learned and I think it is pretty darn neat… so, Kanzashi comes from the believe that a single thin rod or stick had protective properties and had the ability to ward off evil spirits, eventually these Kanzashi began to be worn in the hair (because who doesn’t like a hands free mode of protection from evil?) and if you’ve ever seen images of Geisha or a bride in traditional Japanese garments you have likely seen these Kanzashi in their elaborate hairstyles (also, apparently a Kanzashi could also be used for actual physical protection… like pull it out of your hair and literally stab someone with it…. much like a Victorian hat pin). Okay, so we know that the Kanzashi has become a catchall term for Japanese hair ornaments… what does this have to do with the Iroha Rin? There is a type of Kanzashi called Tama which is a straight stick with a simple decorative bead at one end… this… THIS… is the inspiration for the shape of the Rin! Super fascinating! I got really lost in a rabbit hole of reading on the subject… learned all kinds of cool things today. The inspiration for the Rin’s shape isn’t the only cool part of the Rin either… its name is also pretty badass. The word “rin” is used to describe a kind of solid, bracing, deep-set inner strength; intelligence, wisdom, grace, elegance and dignity. Knowing all of this about my humble little vibrator makes me really love the whole concept of this toy… this is a fucking badass toy…
I certainly can’t deny that the Rin is an interesting toy with an interesting concept to it. Created with the tag line “just as our bodies are different, so are our senses of pleasure.” As I understand it, the Rin is meant for people to explore their bodies and discover sensations they find most pleasing, using the toy not just externally but internally as well. For me, this toy is mostly a dud when used externally. The head of the Rin is made of an absolutely dreamy ball of the softest silicone you have ever felt in your life… which while is very pleasing to my fingers (egads, how I love to squish the ball between my fingers), doesn’t work so well against my clit. I feel like vibrations really get damped by the marshmallowy head. But, if I was wanting a mild vibrator (that was mild because it seems meant to be mild, not because its cheap and shitty) then I would probably absolutely adore the Rin. Used externally, the Rin produced zero orgasm for me… I never even got close. HOWEVER, that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it… because I know that Iroha toys don’t work for me, I wasn’t expecting an orgasm, so instead I just kind of enjoyed the gentle vibrations and spent a lot of time just running it around my vulva, my inner thighs, around my nipples… just taking the time to enjoy the exploration of it all (which does seem to be what is being encouraged with the Rin).
Okay, but what about internally? Well… I’ll tell you… I felt a little weird about inserting this toy at first… I’m just not used to inserting my Iroha toys… they have all just been pretty little external vibrators. But I was pleasantly surprised by it once inserted. Somehow, I feel like the vibrations do better internally… like… they magically became more rumbly inside my vagina (it is possible that my vagina is full of evil spirits and this is the Rin fulfilling its purpose). It wasn’t anything knock-out amazing and I never actually orgasmed from it internally either, but I did enjoy pushing and pulling the Rin in and out… feeling its marshmallowy ball push against my vaginal walls, giving me squishy little silicone hugs with each thrust. Size-wise, it has a total length of 5.82 inches with 4.5 of that being insertable length, while the diameter measures in at 1.37 inches. There really didn’t seem to be anything “hardcore” about this toy, everything felt so… sweet… subtle… mild… it was really more of an experience I had to tune in to and really pay attention to each sensation… rather than when I used my heavy duty vibrators… where all I want to do is turn off my brain and orgasm by sheer force. So, while I could never use the Iroha Rin as my “main attraction” it does a great job as a little warm up toy for when I want to take things slow and easy.
The Iroha Rin is unfortunately battery powered. I would have LOVED to have seen this toy be rechargeable… I really feel like it could have harnessed a bit more power that way… maybe turning it into something I could actually truly love… but as it is, the Rin is powered by a pair of AAA batteries. When I first unpacked my Rin I was practically livid over the battery situation… first off… I hated that it was battery powered… and second… I hated that I had to go find mutha-fuckin’ batteries. AA batteries I can find… almost everything in my house that needs batteries has a pair of AA inside of them… but AAA that is a horse of a different color. After a good 15 minute search, I did finally locate a pair of AAA in my foot pumice stone skin grinder thingy. Now… after all that… imagine how pissed I was when I sat back down and discovered that there were two AAA batteries taped to the bottom of the Rin’s inner packaging (these are only tester batteries though, they are pretty short lived). BATTERIES MAKE ME SO ANGRY. Inserting the batteries is at least easier than finding the batteries. The bottom of the toy (the colored cap at the end) unscrews, revealing a chamber for the batteries to slide on in too. If you look REALLY close there is a tiny little picture depicting which way the batteries go in… or you can be like me and just try every combination of battery positioning until you get it right. Once batteries are in just screw the cap back on and you are good to go.
Operating the Rin is beyond easy. At the very base of the toy (the underside) you’ll see a pretty little flower design… that is the button… the only button… this is a one button operation my friends. Press and hold that button for a couple of seconds and the Rin will power on up. Continuing to press the button will cycle the Rin through its four vibration modes. It has three (low, medium, high) steady vibration settings and one rhythmic pulsing pattern setting. I personally only ever used it on high (and it wasn’t high enough) as the other modes were just beyond frustrating to me (like seriously… I think my iPhone has stronger vibrations when it rings than the Rin does when set on low). You have probably already figured this out by now… but press and hold the button down again when you are ready to power the Rin back down. Easy.
The Iroha Rin is waterproof which means you can use it in the shower and it also makes it pretty easy to clean! Although I have noticed I’ve got to pay special attention to the little crease between the body and the head as good does seem to like to collect in their. Also, the Rin is covered in some kind of anti-dust magic that keeps it looking pretty pristine at all times (unlike some of my other silicone toys which could pull double duty as a lint roller… Dr. Manhattan… I’m looking at you… ).
My particular Rin is the Kogané model, which is a very pale (like super pale… like so pale I thought it was white until I got a good look at it in the light) pink body with a sort of goldenrod colored base. If deep yellow isn’t really your thing, the Rin is also available in Akané, which has a more off-white body color and a deeper red colored base. Both are equally lovely in my opinion. Both toys obviously function in the exact same way, so just pick whichever color speaks to you!
So, the Iroha Rin is slightly better than expected but not nearly as good as I think it could be. This delicate little vibrator isn’t going to win over many friends from the power-house set, but if you are a person who enjoys mild, tame, and delicate… you have found yourself a wonderful toy in the Rin. If I accept the fact that the Rin will not provide me with any orgasms and just concentrate on it solely on it being a “sensation” toy… I get along with the Rin alright, the squishy ball is a dream… I enjoy running it around my body… the vibrations are nice (but nice doesn’t cut it when it comes to my orgasms)… and I don’t mind using it to sooth, tickle, or tease. The Rin really does seem to force the user to take a more subtle, exploratory approach when using it (or at least that is how it felt to me) which can really feel empowering, it is good to slow down and really key into what your body likes… sadly, what my body likes is not this thing. The Rin isn’t a bad toy, and I can definitely recommend it to someone who knows they like a more diffused, mild vibration. In the end, I love the idea of the Rin… but in practice… I’m much less enthused about it.
Want to give this adorable vibrator with the badass origin story a try? You can find the Iroha Rin (in both colors) at SheVibe!
The Iroha Rin was provided to me free of charge by SheVibe in exchange for my honest review.
