faux leather Archives - Coffee & Kink

This month I’ve partnered with Lovehoney to bring you a series of reviews for Sex In Full Colour in honour of Pride Month. I’ve been reviewing bright and colourful toys. Today we’ve got something a little different: a glow-in-the-dark collar and lead set from the Bondage Boutique range!

Vegan Leather Collar and Lead

Bondage Boutique is Lovehoney’s own brand line of affordable bondage and BDSM gear. While I’ve liked some pieces from the range more than others, they’re generally pretty solid quality beginner-friendly pieces. The new glow-in-the-dark range includes a blindfold, a silicone ball gag, a pair of cuffs, a flogger, a paddle, and this collar and lead set.

The Bondage Boutique Glow-in-the-Dark Collar and Lead set is made of vegan-friendly faux leather. As you might be aware, I have mixed feelings regarding real leather so it’s great to see more and more alternatives being offered. The collar and leash feature a black central stripe surrounded by two stripes that are white in daylight, and glow luminous green in the dark.

It’s really hard to get a picture of it in the dark with the mediocre camera I have, so here’s one from the official product page:

BDSM collar and leash glowing in the dark

The collar and leash are connected by a 35.5″ chain which can be unclipped from the D-ring at the front centre of the collar. The leash features a looped handle in matching black and white faux leather. Comfortable to hold and convenient for keeping your pet close to you!

The product copy says this collar is “submersible” but honestly I wouldn’t recommend getting it wet. Splashes won’t do it any harm, but I wouldn’t wear it in the shower or swimming pool.

Look and Style

The black-and-white look of this collar is just unusual enough to be eyecatching, but also means it will work with most outfits. The aesthetic isn’t either particularly masculine or particularly feminine (in my opinion), so it can potentially work for a wide array of different gender expressions.

Kinky collar and lead set BDSM toy in vegan leather

The glow-in-the-dark effect is fun and quirky. You’ll never lose your submissive in a dark sex dungeon again! Overall, this collar looks stylish and understated in the light, then fun and playful in the dark.

You tell me what you think, but I think it looks really cute on me!

Woman wearing a BDSM faux leather collar vegan leather

Make and Quality

One of the things I like about the Bondage Boutique products is that they generally provide well-made items for a fraction of the price you’d pay for bespoke kink gear. While I love a high-end piece as much as anyone, it’s vital that beginners and kinksters on restricted budgets have access to safe, quality toys.

The Bondage Boutique Glow-in-the-Dark Collar and Lead set appears well made and robust. The stitching is neat and strong, and the hardware pieces are securely fastened to the faux leather. You can safely tug on your submissive’s collar or leash without any worry about damaging them. (Obviously be very careful – this collar isn’t delicate, but necks are!)

Fit and Comfort

The Glow-in-the-Dark Collar and Lead set is fully adjustable. The collar features 7 sizing holes and you could probably add another easily enough with the right tool. But it measures 20.5″ in total length and will fit the vast majority of neck sizes as it is.

I found this collar comfortable and enjoyable to wear. The material is soft and flexible and doesn’t irritate my skin. The band is narrow enough that I can wear it comfortably for hours without it affecting my posture. (I have intermittent neck and upper back pain, and collars that are too wide can exacerbate it if I wear them for too long.)

From a comfort perspective, the only downside is that the material doesn’t really “breathe” so my neck gets very sweaty after a while. If you’re wearing it in a warm environment, you might want to take it off for a few minutes occasionally to let your skin breathe.

Verdict: Enjoy Your Glow Up

This is a really cute, fun, and versatile collar and lead set. It’s also well made, strong, comfortable, and should last you a good long time. Best of all, it retails for an incredibly affordable £14.99 ($19.99 US).

Don’t forget that you can get 10% off at Lovehoney with the code “coffkink10” at checkout!

Thank you to Lovehoney for sending me this item to review. All views, as ever, are mine. This post contains affiliate links and using them supports the site at no extra cost to you.

Update 15/09/23: sadly Self & More has now closed down. Links have been removed or amended to reflect this.

(I hope it goes without saying that what follows is a personal stance only, and I cast absolutely no judgement on people who make different choices – ethics are complex, personal, and multi-faceted, and we should all trust one another to make the best decisions for ourselves and our circumstances.)

I’ve mentioned before that I have complicated feelings about leather as a material. I love the look, the feel, the smell… but it also poses an ethical dilemma. I don’t eat meat and have recently been changing aspects of my diet to move closer to veganism, and for a long time I’ve only purchased vegan and cruelty-free cosmetics. So if I don’t eat animals, is it ethical to wear or use products made from them?

Even though leather is a meat industry byproduct (kind of, it’s actually more complex than that), I still worry that buying it supports that industry – even indirectly. The process of leather tanning is also environmentally problematic… though so are many leather alternatives made from polyurethane and similar plastic-based materials.

There are no easy answers to any of this, and I don’t have a hard and fast personal stance on leather for myself yet. I’m leaning towards continuing to love and use what I already own, but not buying any more new items. But that could change.

I share all this to provide a little context to my interest in faux-leather, leather-alternative, and vegan-friendly kink gear. Like this Saffron Layer Paddle from Sportsheets that I’m reviewing today, courtesy of my new friends at Self&More – a woman-owned, gender-inclusive and body-positive sex shop.

Sportsheets Saffron Layer Paddle

The Saffron Layer Paddle comes from Sportsheets’ Saffron range of vegan faux-leather kink products in black and red. It features three layered straps which are coated in fuzzy suede-like material (also vegan) on one side. The stitching is strong and holds up under use.

The paddle is black and red, which are pretty much the quintessential “kink colours”. The outward facing surfaces are red, and the front side of the handle features a polka dot design.

The Saffron Layer Paddle features a loop handle which you can wrap around your wrist while you’re wielding the paddle, or use to hang it for convenient storage. A small tag bears the Sportsheets insignia.

This paddle is 12.2″ long from tip to tip, and 2″ across. It’s super light, which makes it comfortable to hold and easy to wield. I don’t really top very often but on the rare occasions I do, I like toys that I can use until my bottom has had enough (as opposed to when my weak arms give out!)

Its Bark is Worse than Its Bite…

This probably isn’t a paddle for serious pain players, as the impact it delivers is on the gentler side. Pro tip: if you hit with the longest layer impacting the body first, you get a more impressive sting. The impact is pretty surface-level. Since the paddle is so light, you’re unlikely to get any significant thud out of it.

Vegan leather BDSM paddle from Sportsheets Saffron faux leather range

This is one of those paddles that sounds worse than it is. Thanks to the three layers smacking together, it provides a loud and satisfying THWACK even without putting much force behind it. If you’re looking for something that sounds impressive without needing to actually hit very hard, layered paddles are the way to go!

Safety Considerations

Paddles are one of the safest impact toys you can play with (floggers are slightly more dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing, and whips are yikes-just-don’t-go-there-without-expert-tuition!) You’re really unlikely to do any damage with a light paddle like this one, so you can play without worrying – even if you’re a complete beginner.

Just remember the golden rules: never hit the joints, spine, lower back and kidney area, head, or face. Aim for fleshy and padded areas like the butt, thighs, and shoulder blades.

Verdict

This is a well-made and reliable basic piece that will serve you well and last a long time if you take care of it. If you’re new to kink or prefer playing on the lighter side and are looking for a vegan-friendly paddle, this is a solid buy.

The Sportsheets Saffron Layer Paddle retails for £24.

Thanks to Self&More for sending me this product to review. All views, as always, are my own. Shopping using my affiliate links makes me a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Tag: faux leather

[Kink Product Review] Bondage Boutique Glow-in-the-Dark Collar and Lead