Liberator - Esse

Rating: 4.5/5
Impressions: Makes sexual positioning effortless (and pain-free) and opens doors to new positions you'd (most likely) never have managed to get yourself into otherwise.
Price: $425 from manufacturer, $465 from Wild in Secret

Liberator's behemoth, the Esse, a less fancy (and less expensive) version of the Tantra Chair has been on our wishlist for quite a while but it kept getting set aside because of the price involved in actually buying such a thing, but finally, after much hemming, hawing, justifying and procrastinating, we're the proud owners of our first piece of Liberator "bedroom adventure furniture" as the manufacturers call it.

Why spend so much money on what's essentially a hunk of high-density foam covered in a microfiber cover (and an inner nylon cover)? Because the Esse is more than the sum of its parts. Yes, it is a hunk of foam with a removeable cover (two removeable covers, technically), but it's a hunk of foam with a removeable cover that's been carefully sculpted into a body-friendly sexual playground that opens new doors to sexual pleasure.

What makes the Esse worth the top shelf price tag, you ask?

Well, to start with, the foam that the Liberator shapes (the Esse included) are made from isn't your garden variety lightweight, air-filled foam, nor is it that ubiquitous memory-retaining squishy stuff that seems to be in everything from pillows to mattresses to dog beds these days. It's somewhere in between; an extremely dense, supportive foam that feels a bit hard at first contact but supportive and comfortable in the long-run.

Initially, I was a bit worried about how unyielding the Esse's material was, since I have fibromyalgia and near-constant body aches that demand comfortable support, but I have to admit, now that I've thought about it and really experienced its supportive abilities, that its texture is ideal. It's not so hard that it hurts to lie on it, but it's dense enough that you don't find yourself sinking into it when you're actually using the Esse for its intended purpose. While a softer, squishier, memory foam would certainly have been comfortable for lounging, the denser material is ideal for maintaining sexual positions in that it keeps you from sinking into the material and losing your balance or the angle you had achieved.

Another reason is that, simply put, Liberator makes a quality product (be it their Shapes, the Esse or their Fascinator Throes). Granted, it doesn't sound that hard to take a chunk of foam, shape it, cover it in a couple of removeable covers and slap a $500 price tag on it, but Liberator's products are superior to any other comparable product I've come across. Yes, they're expensive, but you really are paying for quality in this particular instance. The foam is extremely high quality, the covers fit snugly and grip one another and the carpet to prevent any unwanted migration across the floor (and any slipping between Liberator shapes if you're using more than one, such as the Mini Scoop - which is included - with the Esse) and everything (from the foam and the covers to the zippers and liner) is made to last a very, very long time.

And if you aren't to be swayed by the quality of the Esse (and, really, if it were just well-made and didn't live up to the hype sexually, that would be a good stance to take, unless you wanted to use it as a chaise lounge...or, if you had two, a loveseat, in which case it's effectiveness as a piece of sex furniture would be irrelevant) there's the fact that the Esse makes sexual positioning effortless. The Esse is the answer to the prayers of women (and men, I imagine) like me who have chronic pain (or flexibility issues, which I don't have anywhere other than in my hips and my jaw; as a matter of fact, I'm double jointed almost everywhere else, oddly enough) and find it hard to achieve and maintain some of the less traditional sexual positions without pain and frustration.

The Esse serves a dual duty for me: it both allows me to achieve new positions that I never would have been able to get into without pain (and frustration) and makes positions I (and my husband) already know and love more comfortable, with less stress and pain on my joints and muscles.

Simply put, the Esse removes the obstacles that keep you from having great (pain-free, comfortable) sex.

Even if you're not like me and have absolutely no physical issues with maintaining (and attaining) the more exotic sexual positions (and I envy you - believe me, if you don't have fibromyalgia, you don't know how lucky you are), the Esse could still have a very welcome place among your bedroom furniture. It opens doors that you never knew were shut until you crossed paths with this oh-so-contemporary hunk of foam and microfiber.

And as a side note to those of the masochistic/sadistic nature: the Esse also works beautifully as a spanking/flogging/paddling/ caning couch.

(Buy an Esse from Wild in Secret)