Time flies when you're reviewing (and testing!) sex toys.

When I start­ed my col­lec­tion, recharge­able sil­i­cone vibra­tors were very much in a lux­u­ry league. In 2014, LELO and L'Amourose stood as the industry's dar­lings, and the Leaf+ line by BMS Factory had just won an inno­va­tion award for the best new brand.

Rechargeable, eco-​friendly, and equipped with Powerbullet® technology.

It sound­ed deli­cious, con­sid­er­ing that BMS Factory also now makes the Pillow Talk Sassy, the best bud­get G‑spot vibra­tor, and the rumbly AF Swan Wand.

I expect­ed a lot from the Leaf+ Bloom vibra­tor, but I should have tak­en it with a grain of salt. What was con­sid­ered a lux­u­ry vibra­tor back then is very dif­fer­ent from now. It's not hard to find a rumbly vibra­tor at a decent nowadays.

As such, I also put the Leaf+ Bloom to the test against a budget vibrator that looks superficially similar: the Cal Exotics Marvelous Lover.

Both toys look like mod­i­fied leaves, with a point­ed tip and THICC stem for inser­tion, if the user wishes.

In this Marvelous Lover & Leaf+ Bloom review

• Cal Exotics Marvelous Lover
  • My past expe­ri­ence with Mini Marvels
  • Vibration qual­i­ty induces squirting?
  • How does the rest of the toy feel?
  • Marvelous Lover measurements
  • My ver­dict on the Marvelous Lover
• BMS Factory Leaf+ Bloom
  • Leaf+ Bloom vibra­tion quality
  • Other toys I'd recommend
• My ver­dict on the Marvelous Lover and Leaf+ Bloom
  • 10% off Betty's Toy Box coupon code

Cal Exotics Marvelous Lover vibrator review

Please don't under­es­ti­mate the Marvelous Lover for its hot pink hue; it's what's inside that counts.

My past experience with the Mini Marvels line

I rec­om­mend­ed its sib­ling, the Marvelous Flicker, to anoth­er review­er — and she infa­mous­ly had an asth­ma attack because of the great orgasms. (She had her inhaler next to her, so it's fine.)

I've also com­pared the California Exotics Mini Marvels' vibra­tion qual­i­ty to the lux­u­ri­ous Dame Pom's. In nice terms, it's mod­er­ate pow­er with a slight flut­ter. The bru­tal­ly hon­est may call it "the weak side of rumbly."

There are some trade-​offs in qual­i­ty — only three steady speeds and one but­ton to cycle through them — but you get sim­i­lar pow­er for a way low­er price.

Powerful and induces squirting from clitoral stimulation alone?

The Cal Exotics Marvelous Lover is one of the few toys that have ever made me squirt. For female ejac­u­la­tion to hap­pen for me, the most impor­tant fac­tor is pin­point cli­toral vibra­tion. And while the Marvelous Flicker brought me to the edge, the Marvelous Lover actu­al­ly pushed me over, thanks to its more focused shape.

When I tweet­ed about my squirt­ing expe­ri­ence, the respons­es seemed focused on the "with­out pen­e­tra­tion" part.

But that's not what shocked me — it was that a sub-$50 bul­let that did it. For con­text, the only toys that had done that before were the Fun Factory Volta, Velvet Thruster, and Eroscillator — all expen­sive and luxury-​priced toys.

And it's not even that it was espe­cial­ly pow­er­ful or rumbly. It's good — it has zing — but it's no Hot Octopuss Amo.

The ejac­u­la­tion caught me off-​guard because of the Cal Exotics Marvelous Lover's mod­er­ate pow­er. It's strong, and I come eas­i­ly with it, but I can con­tin­ue stim­u­la­tion after orgasm with­out feel­ing over­whelmed. I relax instead of con­tin­u­ous­ly clamp­ing down my pelvic floor, giv­ing the squirt a chance to come out.

How does the rest of the Marvelous Lover feel?

If you're won­der­ing why I'm focused on the bul­let por­tion and not the actu­al leaf part, it's because the lat­ter has no motor. I expect­ed some­thing that could be bent into a We-​Vibe-​esque "cou­ples'" toy, but the exter­nal por­tion only gets resid­ual vibra­tion from the inner motor.

Bummer. Its pos­able neck's met­al wire gave it such poten­tial for versatility.

The Marvelous Lover's out­er part was like a mini Clandestine Mimic+, clear­ly con­toured to fit between the labia for cli­toral grind­ing. The motor con­fig­u­ra­tion seemed kind of back­ward to me. From my under­stand­ing, more peo­ple care about exter­nal vibra­tion than internal.

So what can you do with the Cal Exotics Marvelous Lover's pliable core?

You can still wear or thrust it inter­nal­ly, of course, as a vagi­nal bul­let or slen­der butt plug the size of a fin­ger. It still makes a great toy for vul­var grind­ing and dou­ble pen­e­tra­tion with some care­ful posi­tion­ing, espe­cial­ly if you can get the inter­nal prong in the right posi­tion for your G‑spot.

I'd say it's best for some­one with a short (less than 1.5") clit-​vag gap, like myself.

Marvelous Lover vibrator measurements

• 7" total length
• 4.5" insertable length
• 1" diam­e­ter (insertable end)
• 2.25" diam­e­ter x 1" thick (leaf end)

My verdict on California Exotics Marvelous Lover

Overall, the Cal Exotics Marvelous Lover is a ver­sa­tile bud­get toy for those who want a petite insertable with decent vibra­tions. It's by no means spe­cial­ized in any­thing it does but will give you plen­ty of options for explo­ration, from a clas­sic bul­let to butt plug­ging to dou­ble pen­e­tra­tion warm-​up with a partner.

Other budget-​friendly picks

Check out my revised list of afford­able sex toys! It's sort­ed by cat­e­go­ry and type of stim­u­la­tion so that you can find the right toy for your preferences.

The Marvelous Lover is more for those who have no idea where to start and want to cast a wide net. I'm impressed, even though it wasn't quite what I expected.

BMS Factory Leaf+ Bloom rechargeable vibrator review

Meanwhile, the BMS Factory Leaf+ Bloom fell far short of my expec­ta­tions. The actu­al leaf-​shaped por­tion is about par with LELO, which was good in 2013, but we now have bet­ter options. The Swan Wand and Pillow Talk Sassy are both rumbly. The Leaf+ line? Meh.

Also, unlike the Marvelous Lover, the Leaf+ Bloom's neck doesn't main­tain its curve when bent — the core is all silicone.

Leaf+ Bloom vibration quality

It's pow­er­ful but on the bor­der between rumbly and buzzy. I found the Leaf+ Bloom's vibra­tion qual­i­ty hard to work with because it was — some­how — too much but not enough at the same time. I need­ed deep­er stim­u­la­tion, but the high-​frequency buzz was pinchy and irri­tat­ing at times, leav­ing me in the No Man's Land of the pre-​orgasm plateau.

The motor on the thin end is even worse. It's only a lit­tle more pow­er­ful than the buzzy AF VeDO Bam Mini, and I can't imag­ine myself going out of my way to use it. The two sides have inde­pen­dent­ly con­trolled motors, but I expect­ed more rum­ble, more pow­er, more speeds, more every­thing. I can't rec­om­mend it for the price.

Other toys I'd recommend

You might as well get a Pillow Talk Sassy or Racy or Flirty or lit­er­al­ly any­thing else in BMS Factory's new­er, more afford­able vibra­tor lines.

As an insertable, the Leaf+ Bloom gets the job done, but I'd rather get some­thing a bit firmer or more fill­ing, like the Pipedream Icicles No. 69 or 70.

My verdict on the Leaf+ Bloom dual motor vibrator vs. Cal Exotics Marvelous Lover

Between the two vibes in this review, my top pick would be the Marvelous Lover. In case the pud­dle on my boyfriend's chest didn't speak for itself, let's recap.

The Cal Exotics Marvelous Lover is ver­sa­tile, insertable, wear­able, butt-​safe, grind­able, and it made me squirt. And the price? Hard to beat for every­thing you get.

The Leaf+ Bloom, in con­trast, is decent, but I would have been dis­ap­point­ed to spend near­ly $80 on it. The vibra­tions don't jive well with my body.

I pre­fer some­thing lower-​pitched so that I wouldn't con­stant­ly away or brace myself in irri­ta­tion from the vibration.

It's cool for 2013 stan­dards but didn't stand the test of time as the full-​on Swan Wand Classic did. Let bygones be bygones.

Where to get the Cal Exotics Marvelous Lover

For a Cal Exotics Marvelous Lover, your best bet is SheVibe!

Super Smash Cache

PLEASURE PRINCESS. COMPACT, HIGH-​CAPACITY HUMAN. CERVIX SORCERESS.

I've test­ed over 400 sex toys and love div­ing deep for cer­vi­cal orgasms, A‑spot stim­u­la­tion, and kinky odysseys into the subconscious.

Mesmerizing mind­fuck­ing or phys­i­cal fist­ing? Opening books or legs? Why not all of the above?

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