For the past month or so, the erotic novel 50 Shades of Grey by E. L. James has been a hot topic, bringing bondage talk to the mainstream. This July, Cal Exotics has been exploring 50 Shades of Cal Exotics, with fun and sexy products to spice up bedroom play. As a Cal Exotics sexpert, this month I got to review the lovely Tantric Binding Collar and Cuffs, from their Tantric line.
This collar and cuff set comes in a large cardboard box, with the product shown in use on the front, and by itself on the back. Inside the box, the set is packaged in a small plastic bag, about 7” x 4”, showing that this will take up minimal space when storing.
This is a three piece set, consisting of the collar, cuffs, and back piece, all in black with red bow accents.
The collar is 17” long and 1 1/2” wide. It’s simple and stretchy, essentially a wide piece of elastic, and it closes with Velcro. The Velcro covers 3” of each end, and is securely sewn to the elastic. The collar can fit as small as 12” (you’ll have an overhanging piece at this size), or as large as about 16” without stretching. It will fit larger, but be aware that it may be too tight or uncomfortable. It slides easily through a loop at the top of the back piece, and can be oriented for wearing the back piece down the back or the front.
The cuffs are 6 1/2″ around unstretched, and 3” wide. They will work best for smaller wrists. The cuffs will stretch to fit about a 7 1/2″ wrist, but at that circumference they will be fairly tight. They don’t open – rather, you stretch them over your hands and onto your wrists. The seam is roughly finished on the inside and will scratch, and the material, a 35% rubber 65% polyester blend, will tend to buckle and scrunch a bit after each use, so the cuffs do become trickier to align and spread out. The top of each cuff has a pretty red satin bow which is securely fastened to the cuff.
Each cuff has a connector that is easy to attach and remove from the back piece. You’ll want to make sure to put the cuffs on with the connector aligned by your thumb, and, for display behind your back, the bow should be on the underside to side of your wrist. For front display, the bow should be on top.
The back piece, which ties the set together, is 21” long and 2” wide. It’s made of what feels like nylon strapping. The top has a loop through which the collar slips through, and the bottom has a bit of a flap where it’s sewn together. Down the length of the piece are 3 red satin bows that match the wrist cuffs. Behind the bottom bow are two nickel-free heart shaped D-rings attached by thick elastic loops to the piece. These D-rings are nickel-free and won’t tarnish.They have a little bit of stretch, but not much. These loops are sewn securely to the back piece, so they won’t pull off during use.
The set is easy to care for. It can be wiped clean with a damp cloth, if necessary, and dried flat. They could be washed in a laundry bag on the handwash cycle of your washing machine as well. They can be folded up and stored in a very small space.
So, Did It Work? Yes and no. Overall I really like the look of this set, and my husband does too. It’s simple, yet decorative, and it adds that touch of eye candy that can be fun for a light bondage session, especially paired with black thigh high stockings and red heels. The collar is comfortable, and it can be replaced with another collar if you’d like since it’s not attached to the back piece (you might want to do this if you want or need a ring on the collar front for a bit of leash play).
I like the length of the back piece. It’ll depend on your torso length how it will fit you – it hits me right at the small of my back, keeping my arms somewhat bent and my wrists pulled behind my back a bit. It’s not uncomfortable to be bound this way for a period of time, and it looks sexy.
What I didn’t care so much for were the cuffs. They’re pretty, but they don’t have much stretch and were tight on my wrists. In addition to that, the seams were rough (this I fixed by slipping a small piece of material underneath), and they were much harder to get on the second time due to the cuff not wanting to spread out – it wanted to bunch up and, since it was tight, it was tricky to get it spread out right. The simple solution? Use another pair of cuffs, and affix the bows to them. I have a lot of “light and simple” cuffs and, even though they aren’t quite as wide, with the bows attached it still keeps the cute and sexy look.
Thank you to Cal Exotics for sending this to me to review during “50 Shades of Cal Exotics” as part of their Sexpert program! Don’t forget to check out Club Cal Exotics , where you can join a community of people who want to explore their sexual health and wellness in a comfortable environment.
This product was provided to me for free in exchange for an unbiased review. This review is in compliance with the FTC guidelines.
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