Garden of Edo Massage Oil

WOOHOO!!!! I'm posting the final product in the Garden of Edo Collection!  It's taken me a while, but does anyone really care?

The Shunga Organica Erotic Massage Oil can be purchased separately at Shunga for $24.95 or at EdenFantasys for $18.99.  I'm not sure if I would have bought this on it's own had I not received it in the Collection.  It seems rather ordinary.

Keeping with the organic theme, Shunga has made this a oil extravaganza.  This particular massage oil contains: cold pressed sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, grape seed oil, sesame oil, avocado oil, natural vitamin E and flavor/aroma.  If you're like me you might have thought, "I cook with some of these...".  It's a lot of oils to make up one massage oil, but each have their properties and uses.  The sunflower and rapeseed are the only certified organic ingredients, but for a massage oil I really don't care if it's organic. 

The packaging is typical of bottled massage oil.  I often have problems with the packaging because the oil tends to seep around the edges of where the cap and bottle meet.  I have this problem with the KamaSutra oils and have to take extra precautions when I store them.  Each scents gets it's own ziplock bag.  It's bulky and completely annoying.  With the Shunga oil, I've found that it doesn't have that problem.  Perhaps the cap and bottle fit more closely together?  I'm not really sure.  The cap on this is the standard disc top cap and you can see it in the picture provided.  It does it's job rather well.  If you open the cap and tilt it upside down it will drip one drop at a time in a steady, but slow stream.  There's no gushing oil all over the place.  To make more oil come out of the bottle all you need to do is apply light pressure and you've got a perfect amount of oil.

I find the scent very interesting.  Most of the products in this collection are "green", earthy, and meant to smell like green tea.  I find green tea to be very distinct and yummy and none of the products smell like green tea or the intended scent.  This oil smells kind of like honeydew melon.  It smells sweet but crisp.  I'll be honest and say I haven't tried their normal massage oils because I've been using KamaSutra's massage oils.  In comparison to the ones I own verses the Shunga oil, I'm more inclined to like the Shunga brand more.

The oil looks very ordinary in the bottle.  It flows just like a cooking oil, feels like a cooking oil, but please don't eat it like a cooking oil.  However ordinary it may seem, the moment it's on the skin the magic happens.  The oil gives a nice slip to the hands when you go to massage.  It feels silky as it glides on the skin and it makes the skin wonderful to touch.  I do find that the oil soaks into the skin rather quickly, but even though that happens there is still a small amount left of the surface so your hands still glide effortlessly.  When the oil is mostly gone and rubbed into the skin it has a velvety feel to it.  I've never had a massage oil feel like that before and this gives Shunga a one up on KamaSutra.  KamaSutra's oils just feel oily and I have a tendency to use them as a bath oil instead of a massage oil.  With the Organica Massage Oil I use it for massages and sometimes when I get out of the bath.  If you use it as a moisturizer, let it settle into your skin before going outside.  If you have fair skin and you leave when it's still slick on your skin you'll crisp up and burn in the sun.

A little goes a long way when you use the Organic Oil.  Just for my hands when I use it as a moisturizer, I only use 4-6 drops.  If you're going to massage parts of the body, you need to start out with less oil and add more as you need it.  I've found that for a back massage you only need a small amount.  To measure, all you need to do is cup your hand and your palm forms a bowl.  All you need to do is fill that bowl (your palm) with oil.  It's about the size of a large coin.  That amount has always been perfect for doing the expanse of the back and shoulders.

If you're unsure about giving a massage or have never given a massage there are easy ways to get started.  The first thing you need to do is make the person comfortable.  Decided if it's a sexy massage or a relaxing massage.  Depending of the reason for the massage depends on how you give the massage.  Then you need to figure out if you want to start with the feet and work your way to the temples or start at the temples and work your way to the feet.  For a sexy massage, keep the strokes light and play with the skin.  Find the places that turns the person on.  These places might be behind the ears, inside the wrist, the bends of the elbows, the backs of the knees, lower back or the feet.  When and if you touch the feet, use the pads of your fingers instead of the tips.  The person getting the massage might not appreciated being tickled.  If you want you can also massage the breast, butt or groin area as a added benefit of the massage, but save those moves for the end of the massage.  It's all about foreplay.  If it's just a relaxing massage it's nice to use long smooth strokes.  It's also ok to put some force behind your hands as you massage because there might be tight muscles that need some love.  You can still do the moves from the sexy massage, but I find that when I want a relaxing massage I want less sex and more romance.  So maybe that how you should think about it when you give a massage.  If you want to end up with sex, be light, flirty and sexy in giving the massage.  If you want to romance your partners body you can be firm, smooth and fluid with your massage.

Since this is the last review for the Garden of Edo Collection, I hope you can get a feel about the products.  I know I didn't do the reviews close together or in time for Christmas, but I'm sure you guys can make educated guesses on if the products are fantastic or drab.  I know that I will, in the future, buy this set.  If there are any question about the set or I didn't explain something clearly, just send me an email or comment below.

Garden of Edo Collection - Ahprodisiac Oil

You all are a very silent bunch.  However, it suits me just fine if you are comfortable with silence.

Today I'm going to review the next product in the Garden of Edo Collection - the aphrodisiac oil.  I will tell you know that my heart really isn't into this right now, but I've put off reviewing this long enough.  If there is something I neglect to mention or you want to know just tell me.

Continuing with the organic theme the Aphrodisiac Oil doesn't disappoint.  Containing glycerin, propanediol, flavor, sodium saccharine, FD&C Blue #1 and FD&C Yellow #5.  The only thing that made me question the overall safety is the propanediol.  As I recall it's in other products in the collection and it's not really that bad, but I suggest you don't guzzle the whole bottle down at once.  Kissing and licking are ok.  Well more than ok, it's welcomed!

The bottle is sold on it's own on Shunga for $24.94, but you can buy it from EdenFantasys for $17.99.  The bottle it 3.5 fluid ounces and is made of glass.  Be sure to take care and not drop it.  That would be disastrous.  There is a stopper that acts like a cork, but isn't made of cork.  It feels like a dense, spongy plastic.  The bottle its self it rather beautiful because you can see the almost sorbet lime green liquid inside.  The label is the characteristic entwined lovers.  There is a minor dislike about the packaging.  The stopper is rather difficult to remove even with non-oily fingers.  The best way to remove it is with one or both thumbs on the stopper and push it away from you.  When you've push the stopper, twist the bottle a little and push again.  You don't need that much force because if you do, you might break the stopper and get it stuck inside the neck of the bottle.  If you try to pull the stopper straight out you might cause the bottle to jostle and make the oil to spill all over.

When you manage to get the bottle open (hopefully you didn't make a mess) you might find that the oil smells like bubble gum or bananas.  I know it sounds weird, but that's what it smells like to me.  It's not really unpleasant, but not anything like any green tea I've tasted.  Perhaps Shunga took an artistic approach in interpenetrating the flavor of green tea.  I haven't had any spill of anything I like (sheets, towels, clothes) but I would imagine that it would stain.  Not green, but I think it would leave an oil spot.  Keep that in mind if you have anything you really love.  It might be best to lay down a towel or a protective cover.

As you pour it out of the bottle it has the consistency of oil from a massage candle.  It flows, but yields a little as it's poured.  However, that's where the similarities end.  When it's on the skin it beads up and the more you work it into the skin the less it pulls apart.  When it's on the skin it will have a tendency to run like a thin oil, but it wont move as fast as water.  Does that make sense?  It also has a warming sensation to it when it's first applied to the skin.  I'm not sure if it's meant to do that, but it's not unpleasant.  It still smells like bananas (to me at least) on the skin and when you kiss or lick the oil it tastes like cotton candy.  Very sweet.  I haven't allowed it to dry on my skin, because there isn't really any left to have dry.  I find that it tastes really good, but I also like sweet things.  I imagine that it would get sticky before drying completely.  When what's left is wiped away, my skin feels soft and it has the light scent of the oil. 

I really like this oil.  Would I do a whole massage with it?  Not at all.  It would be too messy.  This oil is perfect for target areas on your partner.

Good Morning To Everyone In Cyber Space

Good morning!  It didn't start that well for me, but after trucking about town for a bit, the morning air has done wonders for me.  I just wanted to touch base on a few things while they're still on my mind.

I know I have 2 more reviews coming up for the Garden of Edo Collection - the massage oil and the aphrodisiac oil.  I want to get those up before Christmas, but with the holidays who knows what's going to pop up or if I'm going to get distracted again like I already have.  With that being said I have all kinds of things I need to review.  If you guys want I can post a list of the things I own and if there's something you really want to know about you can just tell me.  I just need you to tell me if that's something you want me to do.  Otherwise I'm just going to pick something at random to review.

I want to thank Red for commenting and for giving some insight as to what Na4 EDTA was and where to find it online.  Still not 100% sure what it really does, but I appreciate the effort.  If you have any comments or questions you don't have to hesitate or feel embarrassed.  You can leave a comment at the end of a post or you can contact me via email which you'll find in the Contact Me tab.  Also, if there is something I'm not talking about in my reviews that you would like me to do, I'm open for suggestions.  I try to be as detailed about the things I was concerned about when I bought the products so that you won't have to wonder like I did, but I know that I might forget to say something.

Please also keep in mind that you are not obligated to use your real name.  Anonymity is perfectly ok.  If you send me an email asking a question or requesting a product review I will give you a name (tasteful of course) to protect your identity unless you say otherwise or you give me a pen name.  Keep in mind that if you post a comment you are in charge of your name.

Valentine

Garden of Edo Collection Lotus Flower Bath Salts

Hey everyone!  Today I'm continuing the Garden of Edo Collection and I'm super excited about this one.  I think it's because I've never really had such bath salts before.  Shunga calls it "Oriental Crystals", but I only ever call them bath salts.  You can purchase the salts alone for $22.50 and there are 3 different scents.  Today I'm talking about the Lotus Flower scent, but I'm sure they all smell awesome and leave the skin feeling just as wonderful.

Now, as with all the other items in this collection the main theme is organic.  I checked all the ingredients that I can look up because looking up fragrance and colors are not something I could find.  The main ingredient is the Dead Sea salt.  I thought that was pretty self explanatory.  It also contains sodium lauryl sulfate which makes the salts bubble up and foam, sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate is a colorless salt that is an emulsifying (or binding) agent, and the last ingredient is glycerin.  Again I find that glycerin is as self explanatory as the Dead Sea salt.  All are organic or organic based.  Even if it wasn't I don't think I would give a fleas breath of difference.

The container it arrived in, other than the main container that housed everything, is perfect.  It's all made out of plastic with the typical entangled lovers on the label.  It's really sturdy so if you drop it you wont have to worry about the plastic cracking or the lid flying off.  The jar is 14 ounces by weight and it's rather heavy when you hold it in your hand.  I love that the lid screws on tightly without a lot of force.  The last thing you want is to strip the lid and not be able to close it again.  Enough of this logistics mumbo jumbo!  I want to get to the good parts.

The first thing you will notice when you open the jar is the scent.  It smells heavenly.  It's actually really hard to describe, but I'm sure you would get a kick out of the scene I'm making.  I've got my face inches from the jar trying to figure out the scent and if you hardly find that amusing I know I do.  It's very distinct, but difficult to describe.  I guess I would describe it as an earthy flora smell, but it smells sweet.  Not a candy sweet, but like the sweet smell of the rain on the wind before it gets to you.  It also smells cool and not because I think it's awesome.  For instance there are scents that smell warm to do patchouli or sandalwood, but this specific bath salt smells cool.  It's also feminine and masculine all at once.  I would love for it to be a perfume because it smells so damn sexy.

You will also notice that there is a shell inside the jar.  You will find that it fits in the palm of your hand.  Mine is just about the same size as my palm so you get good sized scoops out of it.  I noticed this a little late because the shell got buried and I was a little enamored with the scent and color.  It happens.  The shell is a huge plus in my book.  This helps with portion control and keeps your fingers from getting green and salty feeling.  Use your discretion when dishing out the salts though.  2 small scoops usually take care of my bath tub, but I know I can get away with one.  If you're worried about the scent not being strong enough with such little quantities, you're being silly.  The scent is strong enough to handle the smallest amounts in bath water.  Now a word of caution and if you're like me you need to pay attention.  USE THE SHELL!!!  If you use your fingers for anything your hand will come away green.  This sucks because if you touch the salts and this plan to do other things while the bath fill up your going to get icky fingers all over everything.  The color of the salts is a algae green and if you want to pull up your hair or grab a book then you're going to feel it in your hair and see it on the pages of your book.  Trust me.  I know.  The one thing you don't have to worry about is staining anything.  At lease when it's already in the tub.

The water will turn a very beautiful green color "reminiscent of green lagoons" when the salts dissolve.  If they're being stubborn, just use your foot to swirl the water about to dissolve the salts.  This is the fun part.  Being in the water.  Now if you're on a mission to wash your hair, shave, exfoliate or anything other than just relaxing you need to take a shower before hand.  If you want to know, I have used a white washcloth to keep my neck warm with the sweet smelling water and it didn't get stained but it wasn't that pleasant smelling the next day when I took a shower.  It could have been a number of things that made the washcloth stick, but I just don't use one because I don't want the hassle.  That is the only con.  There was no colored ring around my tub or the tub being super slippery when the water drained.

The one thing you will notice is how your skin feels.  Can anyone say silky?  I don't want to say that the water gets oily like when you use a bath oil, but it's something similar.  You don't see an oil slick on top of the water, but something in the salts makes the skin just feel so soft and fun to touch.  You might also feel like your a little slimy when your skin is under the water, but I can assure you that the moment you dry off (it won't stain your towel) it feels like you've already used lotion.  The scent of the salts is very fragrant and it fills the whole room and it sticks to your skin when you dry off.  I've found that when I use the salts in the morning (just because I want to) people can still smell it well into the afternoon.  Not like an in your face, just used applied smell, but if someone hugs me they can smell it on my skin.  Perfect for those who have lovers.  I find that there is nothing more sexy than a good smelling man.  Not a pretty boy smell, but the "I've been working hard and smell like sweat,and what I used in the shower that morning" smell.  The bath salts offer that kind of clingy scent is just exciting.  Again I wish it was a perfume or a cologne.

Anyway, before I become to hot and bothered by the thought of a sexy smelling man to type properly I just wanted to say this.  There are a lot of bath salts on the market.  A lot of them are cheaper than the Shunga salts, but I can't seems to recall any other bath salts I've used that has made this kind of impression on me.  I've been using this for about 3 weeks and I've hardly made a dent in the jar.  I've never had my skin feel as beautiful with any other bath salt and I've never had a bath salt smell so intoxicating.  I will buy this again on it's own when I run out.  No questions asked.

With that being said, I'm not sure that if you were to buy it separately that it would be exactly like the one from the collection.  I hope so because I love the green color and the plastic jar.  Also, I have been told that KamaSutra has bath salt and if you find that you can't handle strong scents then their salts might be up your ally, but it only comes in one scent.

Got a Giveaway Surprise in the Mail Today!!!!

So happy to go to the mail box today.  It was unexpected to see my gift from the Undercover Condom giveaway they hosted on their Facebook page.  I had expected it to arrive well after Christmas, but lucky me!  They advertised the giveaway saying that 5 winners will get get a gift worth up $50.  I had thought it would be a condom celebration when I got the gift but how I love to be wrong.  They sent me the KamaSutra Getaway Kit worth $29.99 on their site.  I just looked it up in KamaSutra.com and it's $24.99.  Totally cheaper to buy it at KamaSutra than Undercover Condoms.  Oh, well!!

For those interested to know the kit comes with: 1 french vanilla creme body souffle, 1 vanilla creme oil of love, 1 sweet honeysuckle honey dust with feather duster, 1 love liquid lubricant, and 1 romance scented candle.  All mini of course.  I can't wait!

What about you guys?

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*photo taken from KamaSutra website

Blossom Organics Revitalizing Breast Cream

Alright!  I know I get distracted easily!  This wont be a review for the Garden of Edo Collection as I'm sure you can see from the title, but rather for Blossom Organics.

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In October since it was breast cancer awareness month, there were loads of companies and bloggers giving away items in support of self education and a cure for breast cancer.  On such blogger was True Pleasures.  True Pleasures was giving away 4 gifts to 4 separate people.  As you signed up to win you had to say what one you would want to win most and that was what you were going to get it you won.  I signed up for the Revitalizing Breast Cream.  I've heard about it from other reviews and from the Blossom Organics website and I really wanted to try it!  I am however very cheap and I won't spend $30 on something that seems ordinary.  Imagine my joy when I won this from a hardly winable giveaway.  1,756 people entered and I was certain that I wouldn't win, but there you go.  Hehehe!

When I finally got it in the mail I was like a kid at Christmas.  I was surprised to find the box it was in to be so small.  I was equally shocked to see how small the jar of cream was - only 1.7 fluid ounces.  The jar is made of heavy duty plastic and is rather stylish.  No one would know what it was for unless they take the time to read it.  When I first opened it I thought that the cream looked very unappealing.  It's a muddy cream color instead of white.  Now I love that it's not white because I know that Blossom Organics didn't bleach or un-color the cream.  However, the scent was a curve ball.

I was expecting a soft feminine scent.  Something floral and sweet.  Denied!  It smells just like what I remember Play-Doh to smell like.  It brought back so many memories of when I was a child and I figured I wouldn't be able to use it because of the scent.  After a few days of using it, I found that the scent is heavily concentrated inside the jar, so when you apply it to the body it smells very nice.  Of course this is coming from a woman that buys the Original Carmex Jar because I love it so much and because it reminds me of when I used to live and visit Colorado.

Now, I'm sure your wondering the real purpose of the cream.  Blossom Organics says is rather plainly on their website and on the box.  You can use it when you do your monthly home breast exams so that your fingers glide across the skin and/or you can use it everyday to promote soft skin and breast health.  (You can also get your honey to help you with the application if you wanted to.)  Another good thing is that Blossom Organics advertises that their products are organic or are organic based.  I really believe them because I was looking up some of the ingredients and I wasn't frightened by any of them.  They choose ingredients that are good for a woman's body.

Just so you know, I've been using this cream for 2 weeks and I will be devastated when I run out.  The texture if the cream is very thick, creamy and silky.  If you read the EroStick review you will remember that I turn my gloss tubes upside down to see how viscus it is.  I do the same for lotions and creams.  This cream didn't move at all.  You don't need to use much of the product to feel the moisturizing effects.  I started off using it twice a day and I see no need to change that.  Since my 2010 summer trip back to Colorado, I've gained a lot of weight.  I went from a size 4/6 to a size 10 and I've maintained that because I like being a little more curvy and I feel more healthy.  Does that make any sense?  Anyway, moving on.  I've had a lot of stretch marks on my breasts so I thought that this might help.  I have used Mederma for stretch marks and that got rid of most of them, but I was still left with some.  I've found that Mederma is really wonderful for getting the most of the work done, but it didn't make my skin feel nearly as soft and supple as the cream did.  If you ask around, most people would say 2 weeks to see results is impossible, but I have noticed the fine stretch marks slowly get lighter.

I'm not to bothered either way because it makes my skin feel so wonderful.  The more I use it the more I love the scent because of reasons I don't really understand.  Just one of those things you recognize and move on.  Will I buy this again when I run out?  Damn right I will.  If you want to buy any of their products Blossom Organics does not sell their them from their website, but rather through affiliates.  You can buy it online through companies like Walgreens, Drugstore.com, JimmyJane, Babeland, Wal-Mart and Amazon.com.  If you go to the Blossom Organics website they show all of the specialty stores and their locations that sell their products as well as natural food stores like Whole Foods.  I find their products to be very agreeable, female friendly and well worth it.

On a side note, for every Revitalizing Breast Cream that is purchased, Blossom Organics donates $5 to the Breast Cancer Fund.  Super awesome plus!!!  Also, as a courtesy and for education, in every box of cream Blossom Organics puts a self-exam instruction card.

*Photo taken directly from the Blossom Organics website

Garden of Edo TOKO Lubricant

Second part to the Garden of Edo Collection from Shunga.  This review is for the TOKO Organica Lubricant.  If you want this particular lubricant it is offered on its own for $19.95 instead of having to buy the full collection.

Since this whole collection talks about being organic I did some research to see if the products they really used and show on the ingredients list is organic.  The Organica contains only five ingredients: water, glycerin, propanediol, hydroxyethyl cellulose, and Na4 EDTA.  I know water and glycerin.  Pretty straight forward.  Prpanediol controls the viscosity and hydroxyethyl cellulose is the thickening agent.  As for Na4 EDTA...still not 100% sure on what it really does because I'm not scientifically inclined enough to really understand what the internet says about it.  Something about being a binding agent at an atomic level.  All that I understand is that it's an organic compound.  If you know what it really does, please let me know.  Other than my own super fast search on what each ingredient is, I see no reason why they wouldn't categorize this as an organic lubricant.  Another thing to note is that it's paraben free and safe to use with latex.

It's a rather large bottle of lube and doesn't pass TSA requirements, but it's no big deal.  At 5.5 fluid ounces I feel like your getting your moneys worth.  The actual lubricant itself has a thin to medium trace.  When a few drops are placed on the back of your hand and you tilt it, the lube runs rather freely.  Not as runny as water since it does have a thickness to it even though it looks and moves just like water in the bottle.  You will also find that the lube will bead up on the skin when it's first put on.  Not so unusual I guess since the more it's worked into the skin the less it beads up.  It does feel very slick and silky and I like that it doesn't have a scent.  TOKO lasts a very long time, but you might find that you want to apply more as you go along.  No one's going to stop you.  The lube does feel sticky as it dries, but if you are still lounging around as it dries you might not even notice.  If you get up and start moving about, you will notice the sticky feel.  Simple as that.  Although, once it does dry your skin feels soft and moisturized.

The bottle is just like the Lotus Noir but better.  Flip top that does it's job by staying tight and the full top doesn't pop off nearly as easy.  You have to muscle it around to get it off.  So have no fear of leakage.   

I really do like this lubricant.  It ranks in my top 5 favorites.  It's compatible with all my sex toys and is latex friendly.  I find that it's not irritating to any of the skin on my body and doesn't make my body unhappy in anyway.  It feels like my natural lubricant and a little goes a long way.  As a woman, I'm pleased because I don't feel gross afterward and have the overwhelming need to shower.  I'm sure a man will like it because of the longevity and feel.