Toy Review – The Chic Jasmine by California Exotics

Brace yourselves – this one’s a weird one. The toy is weird, my reaction is weird…it’s all weird! I also have to start this off with a warning that if you are to embark on your own journey using this toy, you MUST. USE. LUBE. Lot’s of it. Apply it liberally, because you do not want to experience a silicone-to-flesh friction burn. Lube is going to be your best friend here. I’m not kidding – douse yourself in something slippery and have more on-hand for later, and only then can we begin.

The Jasmine from California Exotic’s Chic line of toys is a small-but-mighty clitoral toy that technically vibrates, but what really does the stimulating is the little central nub that flickers back and forth – quickly, aggressively...and effectively.

It’s a similar idea to the movements of the Eroscillator or the Zumio – the toy isn’t just buzzing with vibration, but some part of it is actually moving around – just with far less refinement than either of those examples. Despite the bluntness of the Jasmine’s mechanisms, I surprisingly kinda like it. I found that as long as I was sufficiently lubed up so that the semi-violent flickering didn’t hurt (and yes, I did make the mistake of not using lube initially, and yes, it fucking hurt!) it really didn’t take nearly as much pressure or oomph from the motor as I would normally expect from CalEx toys to bring me to a satisfactory orgasm. I say “satisfactory” because it hasn’t given me the best orgasms – they feel sort of more surface-level and not as intense, which tracks with my experience of the Zumio as well – but they’re definitely good enough. I took the Jasmine through all of its levels in order to properly test it of course, but in recreational use I don’t have to turn it up even half-way, which is very unusual for me using any toy. It’s not my absolute favourite toy or the easiest toy for me to use (I can use my Pro40 without any lube, I’ll always give preference to something that requires no clean-up) but it’s definitely staying charged and within reach. I’m intrigued, and I’m always happy to have another toy in my back-up arsenal for those times where something funky is going on with my body and for no apparent reason my go-to toy(s) can’t seem to get me off.

The Jasmine’s business-end includes a flexible silicone hoop overtop the flickering bit. I imagine the hoop is helpful for sort of holding back the labia or creating a little vibrational enclosure over the clitoral hood as you press down to make contact with the flicker bit – either or both of which would help to maximize stimulation of the flickering bit to the clit. I have a feeling the toy should be held like this with the flatter edge pressed against the body, the flicker bit slightly offset to be higher than the bottom rim of the hoop so the hoop can enclose some tissue without jamming the flicker bit into the body, but frankly I don’t know for sure – I don’t have the right anatomy to judge exactly how it’s supposed to work. I tried it in both directions and preferred this one. I guess it also depends on which direction or angle you want to hold the handle at or have the flicker bit attacking the clitoris from.

While the whole thing vibrates, I think that’s really secondary to the flickering, and since they can’t be operated separately, it’s not possible for me to say that the vibrations are good or bad. They may be helping the whole experience along but no part of the toy that only vibrates is what you’re using to make contact with the clitoris, so they’re really not the part you’re going to be paying attention to. For that reason I don’t rate this toy on a buzzy to rumbly scale, I think it’s just too different from a traditional vibe.

I’ll say that I think the toy is strong. The low settings aren’t slow in the flickering department, there’s nothing sensual or soft going on here that you can steadily build up to a higher intensity like some of the toys that mimic licking, for example. For someone who is very sensitive – especially to direct clitoral stimulation – the Jasmine could easily be far too intense even on the first speed. I’m harder to please, so while the first touch of the Jasmine even gave me a little bit of a jolt, once I warmed up to it I could tolerate all the higher/faster/stronger (I’m honestly not even sure what part of the toy’s function is ramping up when you hit the button – I’m assuming the vibrations are supposed to get stronger but I’m not sure if the flickering gets even faster or not, it all just sort of blends) settings with ease. I think that my preference to keep the settings low when I use it for my own personal fun is simply that – for once – I don’t have to turn it all the way up.

The only thing I don’t love about the Jasmine is that when you turn it on, it resumes at whichever of the 10 settings you turned it off at, which leads me to cycling through and back to the lowest setting. Especially with a toy like this one whose higher settings are so…rough… I genuinely can’t imagine most folks turning the toy off post-orgasm and then wanting to start their next session at that same intensity. Even I – who usually floats right to the middle of a toy’s settings before I even make contact – don’t want to begin masturbating with the Jasmine’s 5 or higher. This may be a useful feature for people who struggle with getting enough privacy and need to turn a toy off and back on again in a hurry, or the more niche group who engage in edging or orgasm control/denial/torture, but I think the majority of people would prefer to turn a toy on and it be at its first setting, not somewhere in the middle. Of course I have to take this moment to advocate for AT LEAST TWO BUTTONS – one to go up and one to go down. Oversensitivity is definitely a possibility with the Jasmine and being able to back off without outright quitting if that happens would be a huge plus. You can ease up on the pressure or move the toy away, but some people have to target a pretty specific spot and removing the toy from that area can make finding it again when you’re ready a real pain.

Overall I find the Jasmine to be an unexpected win! The rest of the toy holds up to everything else I like to see – waterproof, relatively quiet, simple and unobtrusive design, USB rechargeable, appropriately priced (in my opinion) and it has a travel lock.

Big thanks to Betty’s Toy Box for sending me the Jasmine for review! You can get your own by Clicking Here. Shopping from Canada? Check out at Naughty North instead.

The California Exotics Chic Jasmine – Tl;dr