Nov 132013
 

Julie Stewart Headshot Epiphora

This week’s episode of Sex Out Loud with Tristan Taormino features an interview with Julie Stewart, President of Sportsheets, recorded live as part of the CatalystCon West series. Stewart talks about what brought her to Sportsheets and what she’s learned from her 19 years in the industry. Then we’ll feature a special segment with Epiphora, sex toy reviewer extraordinaire, who will give you the lowdown on all the best sex toys (to help you start planning holiday gift buying). You’ll love her honest, smart, and BS-free recommendations for what products give the best orgasms.

Julie Stewart has been part of Sportsheets for the past nineteen years overseeing finance, sales, marketing, human resources, strategic planning and working with product development. In 2012 she was promoted to President of the company. She grew up in Michigan and graduated from Warren Wilson College in 1993. In 1999, she received an Executive MBA from Pepperdine University. She enjoys the challenges of running a business and especially likes working with customers, the Sportsheets staff, and seeing our new releases excel in the market place. She loves that Sportsheets is about keeping couples connected and is rewarded by the joy Sportsheets brings to people. On her time off she loves being with her family learning from her six year old daughter Samantha. She likes music, traveling, shopping, reading and being with family.

For six years, Epiphora has been testing sex toys and writing about them on the internet. Her popular blog, Hey Epiphora, is filled to the brim with relentlessly honest sex toy reviews, matter-of-fact masturbation journals, industry critiques, and sex blogging tips. Highly trusted and well-known for her snarky style, she is the antidote to the coy, euphemistic sugar-coating that plagues bad sex writing. Many loyal readers entrust their future orgasms to her. As a trusted voice in the sex toy landscape, Epiphora has been featured on Slate and VICE, interviewed in XBIZ Premiere magazine, and quoted in Tristan Taormino’s book, The Secrets of Great G-Spot Orgasms and Female Ejaculation. . She was recently named Kinkly’s #1 Sex Blogging Superhero of 2013.

 

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Sep 262012
 

Honey Lube is, without a doubt, the most adorably packaged personal lubricant in the world. It comes in the standard bear-shaped honey-bottle, complete with a squeeze-top and a button nose. The only thing that could possibly make this lube cuter would be if it was delivered by a puppy. Holding hands with a kitty. Sitting next to a sneezing baby panda. So, as a sucker for smart marketing and cute animals, I had incredibly high hopes for Honey Lube—high hopes that it didn’t live up to.

That it not to say that this lube crashed and burned in my rankings (or in my vag), it just didn’t get an A+. Off the bat I was struck by the fact that this lube was unflavored. Ignoring the words “unflavored” clearly written on the label, I took a taste. Not only did it not taste like honey, it tasted straight-up bad. In other words, this is not the lube I would grab for oral play. To be fair, adding flavoring would probably require changing some aspect of its healthy list of ingredients—Honey Lube is glycerin and paraben free and contains honey extract, a naturally antibacterial super food linked to healing yeast infections.

Since it’s water-based, Honey Lube is compatible with condoms as well as most toys. However, if you choose to use Honey Lube with a toy make sure you clean the toy immediately afterwards. If you don’t take this crucial step your toy will turn into a fuzzy, debris-covered, fly-paper esque plaything—something that does not belong in your pussy.

The texture of Honey Lube is reminiscent of watered-down honey, the kind that slowly drips out from the bottom of a teacup. This was a pleasant surprise. I am always looking for a nice in-between lube—not to thick and not too thin. In the texture department, Honey Lube is just right.

Unfortunately, this initial texture does not last forever. It dries out quite fast and, once dry, becomes sticky. This problem can be remedied with the application of spit or water. But, being the lazy, stubborn person that I am, I prefer not having to stop mid thrust, pulse, flick, stick or vibrate to spit into my hand and reinvigorate my lube.

To be honest, if Honey Lube didn’t come in such a great bottle I would give it a clear stamp of disapproval. But the marketing folks got me once again! I loved reaching into my bedside table and lathering my partner with lube from a honey bear. The fact that this lube was mediocre seemed like a minor price to pay in order to have a honey bear involved in my sex life. So I recommend this lube for anyone who, like me, enjoys cute novelty products. But, if you’re just looking for a good lube, I’d pass on the honey, hunny.

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Abby Spector is a recent graduate of Wesleyan University, where she majored in Feminist/Gender/Sexuality Studies. She is currently interning for Tristan, a job that allows her to write about sex, research feminist porn, and play with dogs (among other, equally awesome things). When she isn’t working, Abby enjoys comfortable nudity and salty foods. Her dream? A world where she could sit around naked and eat overly-salted french fries. Her blog is Sexy Awkward Times.