Close Encounters With the Lelo Soraya

Twice in the space of a week, I was lucky enough to be offered the chance to review a vibrator that hadn’t hit the shops yet.

And, having a longstanding love of the beautiful Lelo range, I was really excited about this one from their Insignia range – a collection of the world’s most elegant Pleasure Objects: an infusion of form and function resulting in exquisite designs and a new statement of personal choice.

Removing the outer layers to find the familiar Lelo black box, I lifted the lid and was blown away by the beauty that lay within.

The Soraya appeals to the artist within me. Sculptured and defined, it is the Rolls Royce of rabbits. A dual-action vibrator that is breathtaking to behold.

Bright pink silicone, with undulating lines reminiscent of a woman’s curves and yet with a very male protuberance instead of the trademark ears of a conventional ‘rabbit’ vibrator.

The design is completed by a silver insertion which forms a proper handle that you can get your fingers around to direct proceedings.

The control panel is at the front of the bulging base, just under the jutting projection. This interface consists of three buttons set into the silicone moulding. Pressing the + button activates the device and you hold it down to increase the vibration intensity and release it when you reach the level that you require. Pressing the – button decreases the vibration intensity and if you hold it down, the toy will switch off. The LED lights up when any of the buttons are pressed to demonstrate that the interface is active.

And now comes the important bit – the stimulation modes. When you switch it on, it will automatically run the continuous vibration mode (and that applies if you accidentally switch it off in the middle of playing with it). Press the central node to move through the eight settings – this is how I wrote them down prior to using – cont, cock only, clit only buzz, cock then clit 1-2, clit only throb, gentle cock and clit throb, gentle cock then clit buzz, buzz n close encounters throb.

Once inside me (and it slips in so easily because of the well-thought-out shape), the permutations I remember are:

- the clit throb which I didn’t like at first because it was too jabby but which I quite enjoyed later

- the gentle cock and clit throb was like a 1,2,3 pulse up the length of your vagina and then a concerted push on your clit. 1-2-3-444444

- buzz and close encounters throb. OK, this is going to take some explaining but, for those of you who have seen the film ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’, it’s like the part where the space ship is hovering overhead making the coloured lights flash all over the place when it plays back the da-da-da-da-doooo. The whole toy is vibrating but there are studded pulses that flip from one part to another so you never quite know where you’re going to feel the sensation. Quite fabulous – especially if you build up through the other patterns first.

My only complaint is that it just didn’t quite seem strong enough for me in my current Menopausal state. I have noticed that things are not quite as sensitive down there as they once were and it takes more effort to get my rocks off these days. With Soraya, I felt as if I was hovering on the edge all the time. My juices were flowing, all the sensations of wanting to squirt but I couldn’t quite get past the point of no return.

Lying on pillows with my legs in dragonfly posture – I pushed my knees out as far as they could go, jamming the toy so that the clit part drummed against my pubic bone. It was wonderfully relaxing but incredibly frustrating at the same time. My body responded with the staccato judders that are the trademark precursors to a big climax but I just could not follow it through.

It took Ruf ringing in the middle and laughing his throaty growl as he listened to my gasped explanation, and a change of position to really make it happen.

Putting the phone onto speaker, I lay fully back, opened my legs wide and took it through the modes one final time. Perhaps it was just the change of angle allowing all the vibrations to reach the critical nerve endings, but something changed within me and I felt the familiar sensations building and it was 1,2,3,44444 that finally took me over the edge with a splash.

Speaking of which, I should also point out that the Soraya is waterproof so you can take it into the shower or bath. And, like all the Lelo toys I’ve owned, it’s rechargeable via a point in the base.

I think the Soraya is wonderful and, when it comes to sex and menopause, we just need to give it a bit more time. Instant gratification may no longer be so easy to obtain without all that oestrogen. But, in any event, I’d say that the Soraya is a toy for lazy Saturday mornings when a lady has time on her hands and lust in her heart.