The data reflects that sex toys are having a great moment. During the Covid pandemic, the sex toy sector made more than 29 billion euros worldwide, according to the consulting firm Grand View Research, which expects the sector to grow by 8% to reach almost 50 billion euros in 2028. Venus O'Hara, orgasm activist and well-known popularizer of the use of sex toys, tests these devices to review their properties and operation. She began to receive a large number of them thanks to her participation in Eros, an erotic blog from
El País
,
where her reviews were very followed. “Now I have 800 sex toys at home. I keep them in the guest room, where they are organized and divided into categories. It's impossible to say which is my favorite: if you always use the same one, your body gets used to it, and that's what happened to me with the very famous Rabbit (which became known thanks to
Sex and the City
). One day it broke, and it was a blessing, because it forced me to rediscover other toys and make a connection between mind and body thanks to which now, I can reach orgasm with any toy. I think it is essential to have variety. I would say that you have to have five different ones, and among them, you cannot miss the clitoris sucker, the microphone (known as
Wand
) and the Rabbit,” she tells
S Moda.
Experts on the subject usually recommend trying a sex toy several times to see if there is a learning curve and they also agree that there is no optimal state of arousal to try them. “It is true that there are aspects that must be evaluated being in a more neutral state, but it depends on what we want to find out. If, for example, we want the tester to check whether the different vibration modes of a toy, as well as the suction modes, work well, we are not interested in their excitement, but rather in evaluating how they fuse, analyzing the stimuli and letting us know if Does it bother you or not? In any case, I think both states are interesting. When a woman is excited, she allows a greater intensity than when cold,” says Lucía Jiménez, psychologist and sexologist at Diversual.
“I only masturbate for work, and I can't afford to repeat toys, because there is always something new to try. Sex
toys
now have many functions and can be used in various ways, and that is why I try to test them up to four times before making a review. I practice sexual magic and write down my orgasms: I have about 20 a month masturbating,” says O'Hara. He confesses that just as someone who works in an office doesn't always feel like going to a meeting, she doesn't always feel like masturbating, but as he assures her, "the bills have to be paid." After ten years of professionally testing sex toys, she knows which products to say no to. “As a couple, I don't usually use toys, because I want to take advantage of the sensation that comes from being skin to skin. I don't try anal toys and I don't like realistic dildos at all. Among the 800 sex toys that I have, I would say that I only have one like this, because I think they are somewhat vulgar and if that were not enough, they are difficult to upload to social networks, because they can cause problems. I also don't accept things that take up a lot of space. Right now there are many companies trying to send me dolls or torsos, but where do I put them? I don't have space, nor am I too interested in them. “I also do not accept sex toys with batteries,” she says.
Finally, are the testers paid? Responds Elisabeth Neumann, director of the user experience department at Womanizer and Lovehoney Group. “We carry out various types of tests and in all cases, the testers keep the toy they are testing, but sometimes they are also given vouchers if the effort to carry out the test has been unusually high for them. We are always very transparent about the reward we offer for participating. We also have a small number of testing processes where the testers have to do quite a bit of testing and where we need in-person interviews with them. These tests are paid for with money,” she says.
How a fitting room panel works
The
National Sex Study: Female Masturbation
of the sex toy brand Easytoys indicates that 35% of women participating in the sample masturbate at least every week, with a striking gap as 65% of men recognize that they do so in the same range. temporary. Another difference is that 39% of women claim to integrate sex toys when masturbating, while men prefer to do without them. But who tests sex toys before launching them on the market? How does a brand decide to incorporate certain changes to a specific model? How long does a tester have to rate a product?
The most important factor for the size of the product test is not actually the type of product, but the development phase of the product, since the more advanced it is in its development, the larger the sample of testers to which it is sent. design. Meanwhile, early-stage products or prototypes are sent to smaller groups of testers. “Typically, testers have 2 to 3 weeks to try out the toy and then fill out a questionnaire we send them. Sometimes testers receive more than one toy, or they receive a toy that is relatively complex, in which case we can extend the testing period. For us it is important that the testers end up testing the product a couple of times so that the results are reliable,” explains Elisabeth Neumann. She also points out that if it's a completely new toy, the testing process can last months or even years, with the tester repeatedly receiving new versions of the toy and evaluating progress.
Their human panel is made up of 17,000 international testers, and they call it the MasturbaTEAM. “We focus on testing toys on real users, because we want our products to be easy and intuitive for everyone. We want to test our products in the most realistic conditions we can get before launching them on the market. Therefore, the panel of testers is made up of a varied mix of people of different ages and backgrounds. The professional profile is not important, although it is a requirement that the testers be open to sex toys and willing to share their experience with us in the form of questionnaires that we evaluate anonymously,” he adds.
For its part, Diversual has an internal team, in which the majority of members are sexologists or sexual health experts, who have more technical criteria, and another external one, made up of a more heterogeneous group of people. “Having both samples, depending on the product, we evaluate. We do not manufacture from scratch, but rather we work on existing patents and make slight modifications. When, for example, someone makes a purchase at Diversual, they have a product survey, and of course, customer feedback reaches our system and the customer service team also collects their opinions,” says Lucía Jiméne.