Play 'O' by Durex

Introduction

Many women can achieve highly satisfying sensations and total arousal with or without orgasm, though most would agree that it is certainly ‘the icing on the cake’! However, a significant number of women seem to have an incredibly difficult time reaching these levels at all. Either way, most would benefit from additional help in achieving higher levels of sensation, especially those necessary to experience a full-fledged orgasm, But even if there isn’t a problem, who can have too much of a good thing!?

The most common reasons for not regularly reaching orgasm - and what women can do about it - are subject to much debate. Check out our article on Female Orgasm for more information and advice. You may also want to refer to our Female Masturbation Guide in order to develop or fine-tune your repertoire.

There are two major types of orgasm women can have ...clitoral and G-spot (otherwise known as vaginal orgasms). Most women do not orgasm from penetrative sex alone … during penetrative sex (or when masturbating) women usually learn to orgasm using their clitoris.

This is where Durex comes in with their new product ‘Play O Orgasmic Gel’ (know in the U.S. and Canada as ‘Play UTOPIA Arousal Gel’). According to the sales literature, “Play O has been created and tested by women for women using a unique combination of ingredients designed to stimulate, increase desire and bring you the most intense orgasms”. The U.S. literature is virtually identical except that its claims are slightly more modest in that it will “bring you intense sensations”.

Durex claim that their Sexual Wellbeing Global Survey showed that Play O gel heightened sensitivity for 68% of women, and that 40% said the gel made it easier to orgasm, and that 79% of women achieved orgasm by using it. That sounds very impressive, but we can neither confirm nor deny those statistics, so we will focus instead on our own independent findings and leave you to try it for yourself and make your own judgement.

Play O is water-soluble (and therefore safe to use with condoms), doesn't leave stains and is easily washed off.

Presentation

Play O is discreetly boxed in appealing packaging so you shouldn’t feel much embarrassment about picking it up at the store. Inside is a glass bottle, with a screw top that you remove - and put the pump top onto - so that the gel stays fresh. The bottle looks quite similar to a small perfume, so you might even feel comfortable leaving it out on your bedside table or on the bathroom shelf with other toiletries.

Opening the packaging reveals that the bottle is rather smaller than you might think, but the good news is that a little ‘O’ goes a long way. Inside the box also comes a user-friendly little booklet with all sorts of bits of information and advice about Orgasms in general and how the gel works to enhance them.

How It Works

Play O is an unscented gel using a combination of ingredients designed to stimulate, increase desire and bring you intense orgasms. The clitoris is a bundle of more than 8,000 nerve fibres whose sole purpose is to bring pleasure, but it can take up to between 15 to 30 minutes for a woman to orgasm this way - so you may have to apply the gel more than once. The good news is that you can’t over-use this product, so feel free to add more as the sensations wear off.

A squeeze on the pump puts a small pea-sized amount on your finger-tip; this is then gently applied to the clitoris and (if you wish) the sensitive surrounding area. A SexInfo101 tip … you might also find that the gel provides pleasant (though less intense) sensations on other erotic body parts such as the nipples or your partner’s penis.

A lot of women find they need a degree of friction on the clitoris to reach orgasm and some find that moving their fingers in small, concentric circles is effective. The gel can be used this way by itself, or with a vibrator - on your own, or with a partner to ‘share the fun’!

Many women tend to tense up if they feel an orgasm approaching and try to 'will' their orgasm to happen, but the sensations will be far more intense and last longer if you consciously relax, and breathe deeply into your stomach muscles.

Critique

A little bit of gel went a long way and gave a very pleasant sensation! It was quite thick, but not sticky or uncomfortable to use. It tingled (somewhat strangely) both hot and cold, and it certainly enhanced sensations quite noticeably! It stimulated the labia to swell, thereby becoming even more sensitive, which added to the enjoyment and increased the production of natural vaginal lubricant.

The gel worked well on its own and with a vibrator. We found that the effect wore off after about 10 minutes, so the pump action bottle was good because it was possible to top up easily as needed! Also, the taste is okay; it tingles on the tongue a bit, but is not something you would want to spit out.

A word of advice … although the gel is fine to use in combination with other more general lubricants, you will probably find that the dilution will quickly diminish the unique effect of the gel. Our advice is to apply other lubricants elsewhere as needed, and then apply the gel to the clitoris - keeping the substances (as much as possible) separate from each other. This might mean that for toy-play you need one toy for the clitoris and a separate one for penetration. But hey, what girl doesn’t welcome the opportunity to use more than one item from her toy-chest at a time?

We initially had doubts about whether any product could do what this one claims to do. But for us, the gel worked effectively and ‘as advertised’, providing an even more intense and heightened level of orgasm than usual. We consider this product is a definite ‘keeper’ and it will undoubtedly become a firm addition to our product treasure-trove. Indeed it could be argued that this is a sex-toy in its own right!

Final Thoughts

Every woman is different and your response to this product will vary accordingly. It remains to be seen whether this item will in fact be a cure-all for the missing or under-par female orgasm, but at the very least (based on our experience) it is definitely worth giving it a try.

At £14.99 (for Play O) and $21.99 (for Play UTOPIA) this product is not cheap, but neither will it break the bank; how good a value-for-money it is will depend on what you get back out of it. If it delivers for you as it did for us, then you certainly won’t mind parting with your hard-earned cash.

A definite treat for the ladies and a great stocking stuffer! (Innuendo intended). We award it 8.5/10.

Where to buy?

If you are interested in purchasing Play O (or Play UTOPIA), (for the U.K./Europe at LoveHoney), or (for the U.S. & Canada at Eden Fantasys).