March. It's often said that it "comes in like a lion, goes out like a lamb." Well, considering the current state of the world, we feel like the lioness of March may be here to stay for awhile.
Luckily for us, we have happy and exciting news to share with you: Our Sex Blogger of the Month!
This month's featured sex blogger is Grace of Princess Previews! Princess Previews was voted by our readers as one of the Top Sex Toy Review Blogs of 2019!
If you're on the hunt for a new toy, you should definitely make a stop at Princess Previews. Grace provides honest, in-depth reviews about all the newest and hottest sex toys on the market. One of the most awesome features on her blog is that you can sort through her reviews based on toy type, material, brand or power-source.
Princess Previews is an amazing source of knowledge for all things sex toys, and we're super excited to present these 10 questions with Grace to help you get to know her and her blog better!
Kinkly: Give us three words that describe your blog.
Grace: Detailed, body-safe, and Australian.
Kinkly: What inspired you to start the blog?
Grace: I’ve been interested in the sex industry since I was a teenager, so when I turned 18 it wasn’t long before I attended my first sex convention. The whole experience was so exciting and I bought quite a few sex toys, which were my first.
I decided to save using them till a trip I had planned with my then-boyfriend, but was completely unprepared for what ended up happening. The first toy I tried was made from jelly, and the chemical burns it gave me caused some of the worst pain I’ve ever experienced. But that didn’t even compare to the fear and confusion my 18-year-old self experienced that night, with no idea what had gone wrong, and sure that whatever it was must have somehow been my fault.
That trip quickly turned into a nightmare and was cut short so I could go to a medical centre, where I was diagnosed with a nasty yeast infection despite being too embarrassed to tell the doctor or my mother how I got it.
After that experience it motivated me to learn what went wrong, and I couldn’t believe it when I found out that the sex toy industry isn’t regulated, and thus allowed to sell products that are not only non-body-safe, but toxic. I then took it upon myself to start my blog so that I could help educate people about this fact and promote body-safe toys, so that hopefully one day no one ever has to go through what I went through again.
Kinkly: What’s behind the name?
Grace: When I first started my blog I was a cam girl and went by the name Princess Grace, so I wanted there to be a connection between the two brands. Alliteration was also something I felt made a good website name, and since my reviews were originally like previews for toys I used when camming, the name Princess Previews was born.
Kinkly: Who’s your target reader?
Grace: I try my best to make my blog as inclusive as possible, so that everyone can find my posts useful. This is particularly true with my guides and articles, where I try to cover a range of subjects from a broad viewpoint. But in regards to my reviews, they’re always going to be of the most benefit to people who are similar to me, because at the end of the day I am an able-bodied cis-women in my 20s and my opinions are going to reflect that.
Due to this I am always careful to note, especially when I dislike something, that sex toys are highly subjective items and just because I may not like something doesn’t mean the reader won’t. Ultimately the best way to ensure you’re getting accurate reviews for sex toys is to find a blogger who is similar to you both in terms of their preferences and body, and that is why I created a page on my website dedicated to that information about myself, which I always recommend new readers check out first.
My partner has also recently shown more of an interest in sex toys, which resulted in the first penis masturbator review at my blog last year, so if this continues I should be able to start catering to an even larger audience soon.
Kinkly: What’s unique about your blog?
Grace: I think one of the biggest things that makes my blog different is the level of detail I go into with my reviews. I like to imagine that if someone has lost the instruction manual for their toy, my review would include all the information that they need.
This means covering aspects like controlling the toy, charging it, cleaning it, and pretty much everything else you can think of. Then, of course, there is also my own opinions that I’ve developed from testing the toy, and this can also be pretty broad as I try to cover as many ways to use it as possible. This generally means my reviews are a lot longer than what you’ll typically get from other bloggers, so if you’re looking for a quick read then my blog probably isn't for you.
A more obvious difference between my blog and other’s, however, is definitely my location, which is all the way down here in Australia! Sex bloggers, but particularly sex toy reviewers, are extremely hard to come by over here, and so that definitely gives me a unique perspective. Plus, it means I am able to try a lot of local products that international bloggers can’t get their hands on as easily.
Kinkly: What is the topic you find yourself covering most often and why?
Grace: Definitely sex toys and my reviews of them. I initially started the blog solely to review toys and after five years I am still incredibly passionate about it.
Although I will say I find myself writing more and more articles and guides that aren’t related to sex toys lately, and this is certainly something I am interested in continuing to do, as the response for these pieces has been great.
Kinkly: What was your most popular post ever? Why do you think it drew so many readers?
Grace: My most popular post is definitely a guide I wrote within my first year of blogging called Butt Plugs for Beginners. I love butt plugs and put a lot of research and effort into that guide, but I’m still surprised at just how well it has done, since it is now on the first page of Google’s search results when you look up beginner’s guides to butt plugs. I’m so glad it has helped so many people though and continues to be a personal favourite of mine too.
Kinkly: What’s the best thing about writing a sex blog?
Grace: For me my blog combines all of my passions: writing, photography, web design and sex. Plus, it gives me the freedom to set my own hours, be my own boss, and work from home. Never in a million years did I think the little blog I made as an outlet whilst in university would be anything more than a hobby, but now here I am making a living from it.
Then, to top it all off, is the fact that I get to spread awareness about body-safe products and help support Australian stores and manufacturers, which makes any hard times absolutely worth it.
Kinkly: What’s the worst thing about it?
Grace: Terrible sex toys are definitely the bane of my profession. I just have so many fantastic adult products at this point that every now and then I get sent an item that makes me go “really, I have to use this??”
Testing toys numerous times in a variety of different ways is also core to what I do, so unfortunately I can’t just decide to not use something because I don’t like it, especially since my opinion may vastly change over time. This can be particularly tedious when trying a toy that cannot bring me to orgasm (since I’ll generally just keep trying no matter how long it takes), but occasionally I’ll even receive a toy that is actually painful to use… and that is never fun.
Kinkly: OK, now for the good stuff: Give us your best tip for great sex.
Grace: It may be an obvious answer since I’m a sex toy reviewer, but my best tip is definitely finding ways to incorporate toys into your sex life. Adult products are still very much seen as items for solo sex and masturbation only, and for a lot of people the idea of involving them in partnered sex can bring up feelings of inadequacy and jealously. But they should instead be seen as a helpful tool and something that can be used to enhance an experience without taking away from anything you’re already doing.
My personal favourite way to use toys during PIV sex is to apply a small bullet vibrator to my clitoris, as I need clitoral stimulation to orgasm and find this far less distracting than putting in the effort to manually stimulate myself. But even if this doesn’t sound appropriate for you, there are so many products these days that are designed with partnered sex and couples in mind, and they are definitely worth looking into until you find the right one.
