Elevating the Dildo
Meet Erica, Creator of SEXPLETIVE, Ffion, Founder of Fine Bone, Isabelle Presidente of Désirables, and Sophie, Director of Clean Satisfactions - a group a women located around the world who have something that brings them together - ceramic dildos.
Ceramic dildos are a bit different from the typical sex toys on the market today. In a world filled with mass-produced vibrators promising you an orgasm in 5 minutes, these ceramic artists make their products with love and attention to detail, and invite you to slow down and connect with your pleasure.
Continue reading to find out what makes ceramic dildos and their creators so special.
Tell us a bit about yourself and what you do!
Ffion: I’m Ffion, the founder of Fine Bone, Porcelain pleasures based in the U.K. My background is in event design and visual merchandising but I’ve always been involved in and around the kink community alongside this … My overall mission is to curate a good time with intention. I came at ceramic sex toys from the pleasure angle, basically I’m a hedonist.
Ffion, Founder of Fine Bone.
Erica: My name is Erica (she/her) and I am the creator of SEXPLETIVE, a business I started to address some of the many gaps I notice in the sexuality industry. Through SEXPLETIVE I offer factual, unbiased, tailored sexuality education and create sustainable, beautiful, functional pleasure products such as ceramic dildos and wax play candles!
Erica, Creator of SEXPLETIVE.
Isabelle: Hello! I’m Isabelle (she/her) founder of Désirables, we specialize in body safe & luxurious handmade products designed for intimacy. Everything we create is made with love in Montreal, Canada. I’m an industrial designer (product designer) and and I started Desirables with my bachelor final project where I discovered that there is no law or regulations regarding the quality of material that are used in the creation of sex toys (leading to many of them being carcinogenic or simply unhygienic). We strive to create toys and tools that are always safe and pleasurable to use.
Below, Isabelle is pictured on the left, and Désirables Chief Content Officer Ariane is pictured on the right.
Sophie: Kia ora! My name is Sophie (she/her) and I’m the creator of Clean Satisfaction ceramic sex toys. My partner and I founded Clean Satisfaction to provide a sustainable, body-safe and locally-made sex toy option in New Zealand. I have worked in the adult toy industry for over four years, and I’m incredibly passionate about sex education, pleasure positivity and inclusivity. Our ceramic sex toys are created with a focus on functionality and are not gender-specific, with the option of being personalized. We believe that sex should be fun, and so should your toys!
Sophie, Director of Clean Satisfaction.
What made you interested in ceramics?
Ffion: The ceramic part of the adventure was more of an experiment for me. I knew that I liked hard sex toys, so when I’d crafted some shapes that worked for me; I got prototypes made in different materials. Porcelain was by far the warmest; Just such a lovely thing to hold.
Erica: I had finished my graduate schooling in sexuality studies and was feeling lost in deciding what career I would make out of my education. A dear friend of mine was living abroad and told me about a friend of theirs who makes pottery dildos. The idea of crafting my own products out of such a rich material has ignited me ever since, and I wrote down “pottery dildos” in all my journals for years until I finally got to this point where I am making it happen! Ceramic on it’s own is such a sensual material, and the ways it can be molded and the infinite possibilities keep me coming back. I am always learning in my pottery practice and it is so beautiful.
Isabelle: While researching for my final bachelor project, I finding the “acceptable” plastic for your sex toy can be a headache. I started researching all the other materials available and found that ceramic (more precisely porcelain in our case) has incredible properties for a sex toy (heat/cold retention, strength, durability, sustainable, easy to clean,...). Also the look of porcelain is simply so luxurious and sexy on its own.
Désirables Dalia Lovedust incorporates body-safe glaze dots for added sensation.
Sophie: I’ve always found ceramics to be interesting and therapeutic whenever I had taken classes previously, but it wasn’t until I left my previous job that I found a real passion for it. Combining my passion for the adult toy industry and ceramics seemed like a must-try, and I haven’t looked back since! I love how versatile the design process can be, as well as being able to bring an idea to life within moments on the pottery wheel.
A mug and dildo pairing created by Clean Satisfaction.
What are some things that you hold important in your work?
Ffion: I had a bit of a bee in my bonnet when I first started out with Fine Bone, (although that was 6 years or so now and and a lot has changed) I felt that the sexy stereotypes of female identifying people seen in toy/lingerie branding were all totally unrecognizable to me. I wanted the image of a femme taking agency over her desire to be more than empowering, I wanted it to feel fun.
Prudence, by Fine Bone.
Erica: It is important to me to approach my work (sex education and product creation) in the most transparent, factual, non-judgmental way possible, because that is something that was lacking for me when I was younger. Every aspect of my work is approached with intention (I make my products in small batches, I use only locally sourced materials, I collaborate with the communities I am facilitating workshops for, etc.) because I feel like that is something that is often missing.
Locally sourced beeswax X organic coconut oil wax play candles alongside BLISS dildo, by SEXPLETIVE.
Isabelle: Source and produce locally in order to create high-quality products while providing work for local craftsmen and potters. Working with people that you can meet face to face is definitely best when you want to create high-quality products, and it’s also simply so rewarding.
Sophie: When creating our products, inclusivity and sustainability are at the forefront of our design process. All of our materials are sourced locally, and our production processes ensure that any excess clay and water is recycled. Each of our designs feature a flared base, and are harness compatible. It was important to us to create designs that are inclusive of the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as those whose dexterity may be impeded.
A beautiful array of dildos from Clean Satisfaction.
What would you like the world to know about ceramic sex toys?
Ffion: Taking your time with slow pleasure is a nice antidote to the fast paced world we live in. Ceramic sex toys demand you stop and connect with your body. I personally have to limit my vibrator use – because I get assimilated really easily and experience numbing. Therefore, I try to use different tools alongside manual stimulation and that’s where ceramic really comes into its own.
Erica: I would like to echo what Ffion mentioned about ceramic being an amazing way to slow down and experience your pleasure in a more mindful and embodied way. I absolutely value and see the purpose of vibrators, but I also see so many ads claiming that their product will make you “cum in 3 minutes” and I think there is more pleasure available when we give ourselves the time to connect to our bodies and the tools we are using.
I also want people to know that when made properly (with love & attention to detail) - ceramic is a safe(r), durable material to use for a sex toy and can be a really good option in a world where sex toy production is rarely regulated.
SEXPLETIVE Jello cake with a dildo inside.
Isabelle: I couldn’t agree more with Ffion and Erica. The only other thing I would add is that people should know more about the power of ceramics and the strength of Porcelain; a LOT of people will at first be afraid that the porcelain might break inside them. But when done right, porcelain is extremely strong in use. I might also add that I would love people to realize how much work and dedication each hand-made ceramic dildo needs, of course it’s going to cost more than a cheap, full of phthalates plastic dildo that smells like a new car.
Dalia, by Désirables.
Sophie: After working in the adult toy industry over the past four years and trying many different sex toy materials, I’ve never experienced anything that matches a handmade ceramic toy. The love and time taken to craft a ceramic toy brings a different level of intimacy to using a sex toy as well as a mindfulness to pleasure that most conventional toys are missing. The idea of ceramic can be daunting at first, but I often compare using a ceramic toy to using a massage stone - except instead of massaging the outside, you're massaging the inside!