I Vant To Svank Your Bum! ~ Kinklab Leather Vampire Gloves

In my innocence, I'd never heard of vampire gloves before another chicky offered up a pair she'd gotten by mistake for swapsies.  I'm not sure if I'd had taken the risk on the price - £35 at LoveHoney - had I just stumbled upon them, so I really am thankful that her misfortune le to me getting a pair on the cheap.  After doing a bit of research, they appeared to be quite popular, possibly because they are pretty simple to use and can work for both light sensation play and for causing actual pain, depending on how you wield them.  And so I came to be the proud owner of a small pair of Kinklab Leather Vampire Gloves.

I have pretty small hands so, shockingly, the Small were almost perfect; they were slightly larger than your standard small-sized leather gloves, so my stubby fingers leave them slightly unfilled in the finger tips.  Definitely do not be tempted to go up a size, unless you're planning on wearing them over other gloves.

Hidily ho! Not quite second skin, but comfy.

They're really comfy to wear - very buttery, supple leather, with a soft backing inside, really light without any real lining except another layer of thin leather behind the spikes. The tacks are in groups of four so there's plenty of freedom to flex fingers without hurting the stability of the spikes. And the popper button at the wrist ensures that they're easy to slip on and less so to slip off without intending to.

For using them, they're deliciously fun. I had my guy blindfolded and quite unnerved as to what I was doing, which really just added to the thrill. The spikes are sharp, but not enough so to penetrate the skin without some force. Gently stroking the flesh resulted in a slightly uncomfortable - though not at all unpleasant - prickling, and after a good period working on the same areas left some red marking, severe sensitivity, and some temporary 'dimpling' where I'd squeezed softly.

Sexiest porcupine in the room.

To the other end of the scale, spanking did result in lots of pinpricks of blood. I'd say it'd take a lot of effort to build up to a point where there's real bleeding, but it did add a whole new dimension to a standard spanking (and a bloody stain to my ill-conceived cream sheets!). Even at the point of bleeding, it wasn't too painful - although my fella has quite a high threshold - because it's millions of teeny tiny pinpricks instead of one massive gash, but it did make me feel decidedly evil, and provided an interesting change, especially with my OH not knowing exactly what I was doing to cause the sensation.

Pros

Look deceptively vanilla until you get your claws out;

Really comfy to wear;

Good balance between light sensation and genuine pain;

Easy to keep clean.

Cons

The thumb's spikes bite into the leather of the palm while stored;

Little bit on the big side for us smurf-handed types;

I have more than once picked these up thinking they were my everyday gloves, and spiked the crap out of my car door.