Cécile and Damien are sex toy testers, they tell us

• World leader in the sex toy sector, the German group Lovehoney is looking for 500 testers.

• On the occasion this Wednesday of World Orgasm Day,

  20 Minutes

  screens this very special mission.

“And the color, do you find the color pretty?

"And the shape, do you like it?"

".

“And the handling, is it quite intuitive?

» When you walk into a naughty shop looking for the sex toy that will transport you to seventh heaven, you would never imagine all the questions that had to be asked during the long research and development (R & D) phase. that adult toy brands have to go through first.

Throughout this process, the opinion of the first people concerned – future users – is essential.

It is for this reason that the Lovehoney Group, an international leader in the sector with its Womanizer, Arcwwave and We-Vibe brands, offers volunteers the opportunity to masturbate for science.

And is looking for 500 people in France to join its panel, which currently has 17,000 testers in 90 countries.

What exactly is this mission?

On the occasion of International Orgasm Day,

is interested in these good souls who voluntarily advance the science of enjoyment.

“I love to give my opinion”

For the Lovehoney Group, these tests have the “objective of developing products that meet the needs and wishes of customers,” explains Elisabeth Neumann, head of user testing for the firm.

Our brands offer innovative, stylish and high quality sex-tech products.

But this is only possible if we take into account the opinions and comments of our users”.

Among them, Cécile, 46 years old.

More than twenty years after buying her "very first sex toy in Pigalle, at the time of vibrating ducks", she joined the panel last May.

“I have been participating in consumer panels for many products for years.

I love to give my opinion, and I find it fun to participate in the development of a sex toy”.

Already a Lovehoney Group customer, Damien, 40, became a tester just over a year ago.

“I had bought connected sex toys, as a gift, so I was already registered on the site.

That's how I got an email asking me to join the panel, and I thought it was funny”.

In practice, “we register, we answer a few simple questions to determine our profile: age, sex, sexual orientation, if we are in a relationship, the type of sex toy we are ready to test”, indicates Cécile.

Then, “we receive questionnaires every three weeks, one month.

It takes about ten minutes, and it's not intrusive,” says Damien.

“Speaking freely” and “democratizing sex toys”

And sex toys, Damien has been a fan for ten years.

“But finding some for the guys, at first, wasn't easy.

Today, there are advances, but the choice is much more limited than for women.

This panel is a way to democratize sex toys for everyone, especially men, for whom it may be more complicated to talk about them, or to consider using them”.

Because it is with his female friends that the young quadra speaks about it the most freely, “without any taboo”.

He also gives it to his friends.

“During the first confinement, my best friend was alone at home and bored, so for her birthday, I had a Womanizer delivered to her.

She thanks me again and told her friends about it.

So, I offered them some too, ”says this caring friend.

“During the health crisis, we were afraid, suffered a lot of constraints.

Dating was no longer possible, recalls Cécile.

It has fueled a quest for well-being in many people.

And just like a yoga session, a sex toy provides peace and joy.

I have girlfriends who use theirs every day, it has become an essential part of their general and sexual well-being.

So being able to talk about it freely is good.”

Her voice in the panel, Cécile therefore wants to make it heard.

“We are in a hypernormalized society, where everyone sees themselves sticking a label.

With this panel, we are free of our word, our opinion counts, she underlines.

In 2022, I find it great that people ask me for my opinion on these products”.

“It will be a little thanks to me”

Cécile takes her mission as a tester very seriously: “I think it's great to have an impact on the design of future sex toys, their shape, their color, their touch.

I love the idea that my feedback contributes to other women having a product adapted to their desires, their experience.

I tell myself that it will be a little thanks to me ”.

So many details to which Damien is sensitive.

“Over time, I could see the differences in the design of the different sex toys.

For women, they are glamorous, colorful and sexy objects.

Whereas for the guys, it's often hyper technological objects, very grey, even led.

It looks like electric razors.

As much as I like this techno and slightly geek side, I would like male sex toys to have an aspect that inspires more pleasure, otherwise it dehumanizes the experience.

So I want to push to make the object more human”.

If for the time being, she has only answered the questionnaires, Cécile is ready to masturbate for science: “I can't wait to test a sex toy being developed and to give feedback!

And she already knows the points to which she will be most attentive.

“The main thing is comfort, if it's pretty, so much the better, but it's something you use first, so it has to be comfortable, simple and quick to clean.

“I had to watch a tutorial”

Damien has already had this chance.

"I received a forced-air penis masturbator," he recalls.

But it turned out to be a bit too technological.

I tested it instinctively, but after 30 seconds, I had to go grab the manual and watch a tutorial to understand how the thing worked, because it wasn't intuitive at all.

So my feedback was: technology is good, but you have to be careful to keep the intuitive pleasure side”.

Small detail that does not spoil anything, “it's a new version of a model that exists and is worth 200 euros, so it's cool to have it for free because male sex toys are expensive.

And it's also cool to discover new things, to have the opportunity to explore precisely what I like sexually, and possibly to test it together,” says Damien.

Small additional reward, "we have points when we answer the questionnaires, which we can convert into toys", rejoice Cécile and Damien, already thinking of the next one who will join their collection.

“Testing sex toys makes people talk about them a lot more around us,” adds Damien.

And the more you practice, the more you want to practice, it feeds a certain appetite”.

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