Something I’m very conscious of is the fact that my reviews tend to be positive far more often than they tend to be negative. This isn’t because I shy away from writing negative reviews—I’m always honest about my experiences with any product, and I always will be—but I tend to choose to review products I think I’ll enjoy, simple because… well, products are part of how I’m paid for the work I do on reviews, and I’m going to get more out of that if it’s a toy or product I’ll use in my personal life.
That said, I sometimes make the wrong call when I choose products I think I’ll like, and I did make the wrong call with the two products I’m reviewing today—the Bound You Ⅱ Wrist to Collar Restraint and the Victorian Garden Bull Whip, both from Liebe Seele. I am a little disappointed that neither product worked well for me, especially as I’ve really loved some products from Liebe Seele I’ve reviewed previously, but I still wanted to write a review explaining what didn’t work about each product, and alternatives that don’t have the same issue.
Bound You Ⅱ Wrist to Collar Restraint
Liebe Seele creates toys in themed collections, and this Wrist to Collar Restraint is from the Bound You II Collection, which uses soft cotton to create a shibari-esque look. I can definitely see the appeal of this collection—while I love more conventional rope, I’m aware that the long tying process that I love is actually a turn-off for a lot of people, as is the rough feeling of rope. Quick, easy bondage that taps in to the look of ropework while making the jump into other kinds of play quick and easy is something I can see there being a demand for, and while it is something I have seen before, I’m happy to see more of it! Plus I love the natural rope-esque colour of the pieces in the Bound You II collection, which includes this wrist to collar restraint, a gag, a collar with a padlock, a collar with an attached leash, wrist cuffs with an attached leash, a hog-tie set, and a flogger.
While I am very much the kind of person who enjoys the process of tying rope, my partner is not, so I thought the Wrist to Collar Restraint might be a good match for us. It’s one size fits all—which I will talk about in a moment—with each wrist cuff and the collar adjustable using rope toggles that are made to look like knots. One of the things I was actually most excited about when it came to this restraint came from the packaging. While the anime design isn’t really my tastes (and is a bit jarring compared to some of Liebe Seele’s other packaging), reminded me of the hand positioning in the takate kote (or TK). I really like the TK, both as a rigger and rope bottom, and I was excited to see if using the Bound You Ⅱ Wrist to Collar Restraint would be workable this way.
So, remember that one size thing I mentioned? It’s relevant, because for a while I didn’t actually think I could fit into the Bound You Ⅱ Wrist to Collar Restraint. While my wrists fit into the wrist cuff part perfectly fine, I really struggled with getting the collar on. I actually emailed Liebe Seele to tell them I couldn’t fit into the collar and ask what they wanted me to do with this review—they were super lovely btw—and it was only as I was editing the previous version of this review that I decided to try wriggling in one last time. And this time I actually managed it! It’s a little awkward and hurts my ears a little bit, but it is possible. However, even though this meant I got to delete a bunch of my previous criticism of the Bound You Ⅱ Wrist to Collar Restraint, the new round of testing I did brought up meant I had some new criticisms, and they stemmed from the same source/design feature as the previous ones.
The flaw of the Bound You Ⅱ Wrist to Collar Restraint comes from the way it adjusts—that toggle designed to look like a knot that I talked about earlier. While this features on almost all the products in the Bound You II collection, it’s specifically an issue on the Wrist to Collar restraint, in a way that I don’t think it is for other products in the collection. My struggle with the collar (and its unsuitability for larger heads) comes from the fact the collar can only utilise the rope that connects it to the central o-ring when it comes to adjusting size, which is much smaller than the rope that can be utilised by the Collar and Lead from the collection. And because there needs to be this amount of rope for both the collar and wrist cuffs to be adjustable, it means that when tightened, there’s enough loose rope that the wearer has quite a lot of freedom of movement.
Again, I do want to state that I think the issues I have with the Wrist to Collar Restraint are with that product specifically, and this loose rope isn’t an exception to that. While the Hogtie Set also has a lot of loose rope, the movement this allows for likely isn’t such an issue because of the distance between the parts of the body it’s connecting. With the Wrist to Collar Restraint, however, I have enough slack that I don’t feel like I’m actually being held in bondage. There’s some limitations to my body, sure—and I can see this style of bondage being right for somebody else—but to me it doesn’t really feel like I’m actually being restrained in any meaningful way.
All my complaining aside, I do like some things about the Bound You Ⅱ Wrist to Collar Restraint. The cuffs are very comfortable, even if they don’t have the tightness or mark leaving that I enjoy from free rope. While the softer, easy to get out of style of bondage isn’t for me, I can see it working for other people, particularly those new to this kind of play. And I love that the collection is making the look of rope easier and quicker to achieve— I honestly feel a bit bad that I picked this specific product, as I think another product from the collection (maybe the Wrist Cuffs and Lead) would have been a total winner for me!
Victorian Garden Bull Whip
The Victorian Garden Bull Whip is another product I thought would be a total winner for me. Well, more accurately, I thought it’d be a total winner for my partner. The collection is all-vegan and dominated by black lace and red, which I thought would be a really good match for her, as a vegetarian domme who adores the colour red. Also, I’ve used the pseudonym ‘Victoria’ for her on this blog previously, so the collection’s name was a fun coincidence!
Victorian Garden is a larger collection than Bound You II, including a blindfold, ballgag, collar, collar and leash, wrist cuffs, ankle cuffs, thigh cuffs, flogger, hogtie connector, paddle, full sized riding crop, mini riding crop, and spreader bar, as well as this Bull Whip. As with the Bound You Ⅱ Wrist to Collar Restraint, I do feel a bit guilty, as I think another product from the Victorian Garden could have worked really well for me. The Lace and Velvet Collar especially is… purr.
To talk about what doesn’t work about the Victorian Garden Bull Whip, I’ll first have to explain what a ‘balance point’ is in the context of impact toys. At its most basic, the balance point is the point at which the weight of a toy is equal on both sides— you can find the balance point of any implement by seeing if you can hold it still on one or two fingers. The reason that the balance point is important when it comes to whips and floggers is that they’re easier to throw with strength and accuracy if held at the balance point, which is why—ideally—the balance point should sit in the handle of a toy.
On the Victorian Garden Bull Whip, the balance point sits beyond the handle. While it can be held at this point—and that’s how we’ve been using it—it’s still a design flaw. I’m actually really surprised that this is the case, especially with how nicely balanced the White Braided Cat O Nine Tails Flogger I’ve reviewed for Liebe Seele in the past. My working theory is that the Victorian Garden Bull Whip uses the same design as Liebe Seele’s leather whips—which does seem likely, from the squinting I’ve done at their website—but because it’s made of a much lighter material, has ended up a lot lighter in the butt than the leather whips, throwing the balance off. Which is a shame, because held at the actual balance point it’s really nice and satisfying to throw!
These products were sent to me by Liebe Seele, in return for a fair and impartial review. No affiliate links were used in this post.
