Given my love for all things fancy, it’ll probably come as no surprise to you that I’m a Liberator junkie. A proper fangirl of the highest order. I love their products, be they toy mounts, position aids, or blankets, and every night when I go to bed I send a little wish out to the Blue Fairy that one day I’ll get to own an Esse Chaise. Yeah, I want one of those so bad, but for now, I’ve got to tell y’all about the brilliant Liberator Pulse.
Whenever I see conversations about Liberator, folk are nearly always talking about one of their Shapes. That’s fair enough, cos they are fantastic additions to any sex toy collection. But, although it works perfectly well as one, the Pulse isn’t a position aid. Like the Liberator BonBon, the Pulse is a toy mount, but a slightly different take on the shape has transformed it into a completely different animal.
As with most Liberator products, the Pulse comes vacuum compressed. This is a great way of keeping packaging to a minimum, not to mention keeping shipping costs reasonable. Said packaging is ace, too. Largely black and white with a tasteful hot-model-in-the-background product photo, it’s classy, and as you open it up you’ll reveal sexy little messages from Liberator to you. It’s a simple thing and obviously not at all personalised, but something about it is strangely ego boosting.
Once everything is unpacked the Pulse will expend to its full size in mere seconds. What you’ll have is the shape itself, already wearing a zipped on, water-resistant cover. That must remain fitted to protect the foam from body fluids and lube. The microfibre cover that you see and feel during play comes packaged in a separate bag. Slip it on over the protective cover, zip it up and Bob’s your uncle; you and your Liberator Pulse are ready to rock and roll!
Size-wise, the Pulse is 20” in length, 13” in height and 12” in width. I have to say, I was surprised by the size of this piece, cos it’s a biggun. Yeah, I did read the dimensions on the product page, but I’m no good at envisaging the size of something just from reading numbers on a screen. I nearly always imagine something much smaller than I actually get.
On the top of the Pulse, you’ll find a few funky things. Firstly, as part of the shape itself, there’s a rise at the front that’s a perfect place to put your hands while you play. Just pressing against it or clutching it helps bring a great feature into play; the rocking nature of the Pulse.
Yep, the underside is curved in much the same way as a rocking horse base is. This is what makes the Pulse completely different to the BonBon. The latter is static meaning that the rider has to do all the work, but with the Pulse it’s a joint effort. It moves with you (you choose whether that’s actually in sync with or in counterpoint to your rhythm), thus giving you a much more realistic feeling fuck.
In the front of aforementioned rise, there’s a pocket. That pocket is intended to house a smallish vibrator, offering clitoral stimulation while you play. I’ve used bullets in the photos for this review, but pebble shaped toys that you can grind against (like the We-Vibe Wish) or something that curves to reach your clit if you’re not a grinder (maybe the Je Joue G-Kii 2) are great to use.
Next, you’ll find a slit in the microfibre, just in front of the pocket. If you put your hand in you’ll find a corresponding hole in the foam itself. That hole is shallow and it flares out a little, making a rim. This is where you’d mount your chosen insertable, be it dildo or vibrator. When I mentioned rocking the Liberator Pulse earlier? Doing so moves the dildo inside of the body, thus mimicking a thrusting motion.
Liberator recommends using toys with a base diameter of between 1.25” and 3”. If your toy has no base, you can get away with using something much thicker, though harness compatible bases do work a lot better with toy mounts. They slot beneath the rim in the foam and that holds them pretty secure. With a baseless toy, you run the risk of it slipping free.
Finally, behind the dildo slot is another little pocket. I’ve tried unsuccessfully to slip a dildo in there for a bit of double penetration, so this pocket is best suited to vibrators. That might not be as exciting as double penetration, but a bit of extra stimulation from outside vibes never goes amiss.
So, how does the Liberator Pulse fare in use?
Well, it’s pretty fantastic, actually. Using it as intended (dildo in between two vibes) is great fun. However, for me, it can be a bit of a struggle, depending on what size dildo I choose. I have short legs, you see, and at 8” in the center, the Pulse is quite high. Rising high enough to ride a lengthy dildo can be a challenge, so I often choose smaller, girthy or curved ones. Either that or I lean forward until my hands touch the bed, giving myself more of a rear-entry feel. That way, the front pocket vibe can’t miss my clit.
And I have managed to get some double penetration from it, too. I pop a dildo in the correct slot, then put a curved glass one in the front pocket. Using my thumbs, I press the sides of the pocket closed, making sure the glass stays put. It’s more of a grinding play like this, but it’s ace all the same.
It’s been excellent for partner play, too. Sometimes, the Fella hops on and pleasures himself on a dildo of his choosing while I give him oral. Other times, he gets oral while I ride the Pulse. It’s fun, versatile, and works brilliantly whether we’re playing together or solo.
So, as a toy mount, the Pulse gets five stars.
But you don’t have to use it as a toy mount all the time, you can also use it as a position aid, getting the best of everything Liberator has to offer. This is what makes stuff like the Pulse and BonBon truly great (maybe even better than a made for purpose position aid).
The shape of the Pulse is fab for boosting the hips during doggy-style, and not just for me. If the Fella has it beneath him, I can put him in the perfect spot for reaching his butt during pegging. Because he’s propped up his hips don’t lower, and I can stop him raising too high with my hands. This has gone a long way to preventing dildos popping out during play, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that. I feel like I can let go without worrying that he’ll shift too far, ruining my rhythm, and that’s a beautiful thing.
After you’re finished playing, all you need to do to keep your Liberator Pulse in tip-top condition is unzip the outer cover and whack it in the washing machine, and wipe the protective cover down with a cloth sprayed with toy cleaner. Every now and again a quick wash for that inner cover won’t go amiss, just to keep it completely hygienic.
I won’t lie to you, peeps. Storing Liberator stuff is a fucking nightmare. The microfibre gets manky shockingly fast, for a start. And then there’s the sheer size of them. They’re not something you can fold up and stick back in their box, so if you can’t leave them out in the open the likely spots to stash them will be in cupboards, wardrobes, or under the bed.
When mine was under the bed I’d leave the outer covers off, but now that they’re in the cupboard I leave them all assembled. If you want them ready to go when you are, something you could look into is Liberator Gear Bags. Store your piece inside then just whip off the bag and you’re ready to go.
If you’d like to get your paws on your own Liberator Pulse, click the banner below and go check it out at ManShop.
The Liberator Pulse was sent to me by ManShop in exchange for an honest review. This in no way influences my opinions, which are now, and will forever be, my own. No affiliate links have been used in this post.
A Word About Why I Chose to Work with ManShop
I know some folks will question my decision to work with a place with a name like ManShop. I mean, it isn’t very inclusive, is it? When I first received an email from them offering me the opportunity to do a review, I almost said no, purely because of their name. The hyper-focused gendering concerned me. I had all the feels concerning the exclusion of all other genders and worried that I would be promoting cisnormativity.
But the fact of the matter is, whatever products they choose to stock, every store needs a demographic, and ManShop’s just happens to be men. Kinda like Lovehoney’s happens to be couples, CloneZone’s happens to be gay men and Sh! Womenstore’s happens to be women.
I would love to see all adult shops just be adult shops one day, no gendering in sight, but right now that isn’t gonna happen. Too many people need to be educated first, and the mass adjustment of an entire world of people doesn’t happen overnight.
Even though it’s 2017, many cishet men are still afraid of sex toys because, despite our best efforts to kill it dead, the stigma that surrounds them using them is very much alive and kicking. So, for now, if a place like ManShop can work toward educating men and putting that stigma to bed once and for all, I’ll chalk them up as a positive.
