You may already be familiar with Tenga and their awesome line of male masturbation sleeves (check out my Air-Tech Masturbation Sleeve review!), but I personally lack a penis of my own, so I was pretty excited when Tenga introduced Iroha, their first line of female-oriented vibrators! Their clean, modern designs are super aesthetically pleasing, I love it.
Needless to say, I am a sucker for cute things. This toy could be a complete piece of shit (if you’ll pardon my language) and I would still squee all over it. Does it work? I don’t care, it’s cute. Does it help me to achieve orgasm in a pleasurable and efficient way? I don’t care, it’s cute. Is it plotting to take over the world by murdering all of its users? I DON’T CARE, IT’S CUTE!
Is this any way to review sex toys in an honest and informative manner? No, probably not. But… I don’t care. It’s so goddamn cute.
Just look at this darling, it looks like an abstract hedgehog. Or a seashell. Or a hedgehog who has dressed as a seashell for a costume party. Oh. For. Cute.
Beyond just being adorably elegant, the Kushi is also fantastically made, covered in a squishy, soft silicone and presented in one of the best storage containers I’ve encountered in a toy yet! Aesthetics-wise, the Kushi has a lot going for it. If I were to hold a sex toy beauty pageant and invite all my current vibrators to participate, the Kushi would be going home with the crown (The Je Joue MiMi would be the runner up, it looks like a tiny river rock.).
But, good looks alone don’t get me off (usually…).
The Kushi has five speeds and two rhythmic patterns. The two patterns I ignore completely, I’m not usually a pattern girl (with a few exceptions…), I mostly just like a steady stream of constant vibration against my clit, anything else can get frustrating real fast. The two included patterns aren’t bad, but there isn’t really anything note worthy about them either… use them if you like them, they are there… whatever. The five speeds are adequate. The Kushi’s strongest setting still falls well short of what I personally like, but it stills provides a surprisingly deep, rumbly vibration through all that silicone.
The “head” of the “hedgehog” is great for those times when I really want pin-point vibration concentrated right on my clit (or nipples, taint, etc). And, for those times when I’m just feeling a little too sensitive, I like to use the body to provide a broader spread of vibration, or to rub the textured ribs around/against my clit.
The Kushi arrived in a sturdy plastic box with a clear lid and a heavy black base. This both stores the Kushi in a clean, dust free environment, and also serves as the Kushi’s charging unit. The base charges the Kushi magnetically, all you do is connect the two control buttons on the underside of the toy to the two pins on the black base. Super simple! The base is powered by a USB cable, so easy to snap it into a laptop or USB compatible wall plug (my iPhone wall plug charges sex toys more often than it does my phone.).
Clean up is easy, even though gunk does get stuck between the ridges of the textural detailing, it is waterproof and can be easily dunked/run under water. Also, the folks at Tenga have clearly cast some kind of magical spell or created an tiny invisible force field around the Kushi, because honest to God, this is the first silicone toy I have ever owned that actually seems to repel lint. No joke, this is the least linty toy I have yet used.
At this point in my review I would just like to point out that whenever I share the Kushi with anyone, I make a “three seashells” joke. Because Demolition Man is one of my favorite movies and I will never apologize for that. NEVER.
Do I recommend the Iroha+ Kushi by Tenga? The design is unique, you’ll likely not own anything else quite like it in your toy collection, it is easy to use, clean and keep charged up and the addition of the storage case is awesome (however an added travel pouch would have been amazin.) For those reasons, I don’t think you can go wrong with adding the Kushi to your collection. But, are hungry for strong vibrations? Then, no… I probably won’t recommend this to you. For me, the Kushi falls short in strength, this toy doesn’t really see me all the way through to orgasm when I’m masturbating solo (unless I want to spend a long time at it.), but it does make a great warm up vibrator or works well when paired with one of my dildos. It is also a fun couples toy, the ribbed texture along the body make it great for sensation play. It is also not super awkward to hold and position during sex and does bring me to orgasm fairly easily during penetration. If you aren’t in the market for a vibrator with enough power to cause an earthquake, the Kushi will probably work for you. I’ll be honest, the vibrations were a lot deeper than I was expecting, I was kind of expecting it to look great, but only provide some surface level, buzzy vibrations. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. So if you are wanting a palm-sized vibe with lighter to mid-level vibrations, the Kushi might be exactly what you are looking for.
The Iroha+ Kushi by Tenga can be purchased directly from Tenga’s website for $111.43.
(The Kushi is currently listed as sold out on the Tenga’s webstore. In the meantime, you can also find it at Shevibe)
The Iroha+ Kushi was provided to me free of charge by Tenga in exchange for my honest review.