Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand are home to a growing number of incredible sex toy makers. If you live Down Under, you don’t have to look far for amazing fantasy sex toys—there are shops right in your backyard.
I’m lucky enough to have toys from three such shops. The quality is excellent, as expected from artists working with platinum cure silicone, and the creativity is out of this world.
Darque Path
Darque Path‘s offerings match their name: Witchy, kinky, and gothic. Classic knots and tentacles with unique twists are presented alongside skulls, cauldrons, and coffins. They’ve got all your Halloween and horror needs in one spot, whether you’re after dildos, grinders, penetrables, or even kink gear. Darque Path is based in Australia on the NSW South Coast.
Maera, their tentacle grinder, is iconic. The shape stands out and the detail is gorgeous. Tentacles with tiny suckers curl over each other in a way but in a completely different shape and style. It’s a little larger than many small grinders, making it easy to hold and use in hand, but also bulky enough to grind against when propped up on sex furniture. Mine is in medium firmness 00-50 (a bit firmer than my usual preference for grinders) and a custom color of green, light green, and white that turned out looking like carved jade.
The only section that I use is the center, and it’s a damn good grinder. The texture is intense. The suckers are prominent, but smooth in a way that keeps them from overwhelming me too fast, unlike Uncover Creations’ Tentacle Grinder. I barely need any added pressure to get a lot of sensation, in part because the thick tentacles on either side provide their own pressure. With the growth I have from T, the size and shape of this is perfect for my dick, and it works with just the head or with foreskin included.
Maera feels exactly how I imagine real fantasy tentacles would feel.
The cock rings fit right into the shop’s theme. The Lycan Cock Ring features the fanged upper jaw of a werewolf, while the Wrath Grindable Cock Ring is made of thorny vines. My Lycan is in soft 00-30, a custom color of purple colorshift with blue shimmer and white, while Wrath is in medium 00-50, a custom color of pearl blue and black.
The inner diameter is about 1″ on both rings. At that size, they’re too large to fit my t-dick, but an excellent size to fit on prosthetics or a dildo. They’re finicky to get on while stretching them, but they can stretch to over 2″ diameter. While they add some texture in use, I enjoy them primarily as decoration. And, hey, why not? The cool factor is worth it.
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Erotic Effect
Erotic Effect showcases beautiful detail work with their texture-intensive fantasy-themed designs. They take their own approach with quirky takes on traditional shapes and designs that depart from the mold. Erotic Effect is based in New Zealand.
Aearvon is their most stunning model. Inspired by shellfish, it’s made up of nine sets of detailed gills with a lip at the top of each set. The lips are prominent and similar to ribbed texture, while the gills themselves are thin and delicate. It reminds me of the gills along the underside of a mushroom.
My Aearvon is a medium size toy in soft firmness 00-30 and is a very smooth fade of shimmering light blue to white. It has exceptionally strong glow-in-the-dark; after just a few seconds of sunlight, it glow so brightly that I can see it through a cotton bag. I ordered it as a pastel surprise, so did not know the exact colors I would get.
As a texture fan, Aearvon’s strong texture works very well. Each set of gills has a solid amount of oomph when it goes inside. The lips at the top are where I get the most stimulation, while the ribbing seems more decorative.
It’s very flexible at the spot where the shaft connects to the base, so in soft firmness, it wobbles around when trying to thrust. Considering the friction from all that texture and the extra force needed as a result, the wobbliness gets pretty awkward and it takes quite a bit of pushing to use. Adding more lube and going slower than usual makes the toy easier to use.
That said, Aearvon works exceptionally well for frotting. The gentle curve fits right over my pubic mound. I can sit back with the base against the floor and my hand to the outside of the curve, pressing it against myself. Or I can lift it up and hold with two hands, one for stability and another to move it up and down with a scooping motion (think scooping ice cream) so I can feel each lip move across my dick one by one. The flexibility, high texture, and overall shape make it the best dildo I have for frotting purposes.
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Faux Phallus
Faux Phallus features fantastical floral friends. Their site includes sections for Botanical Delights (plant-inspired toys) and Unearthly Pleasures (monstrous creatures like the four horsemen). They’re one of the few shops out there focusing on plant themes. Faux Phallus is based in Tasmania, Australia.
Not only does Faux Phallus’ have gorgeous toys, but they also showcase their workflow on Twitter. They’re the only shop I know of using wood carvings and wooden cores for the initial sculpting process and it’s really cool to see.
Dahlia, a flower-shaped grinder, has smooth, rounded petals to grind against. Size-wise, it’s as big as my palm, making it easy to hold and use as a handheld grinder while also being usable when propped up. The leaves on the base are a clever design choice that helps hold and move the grinder. Mine is in extra soft 00-30 with the colors eminence, mango, and jade.
As far as texture goes, the stamen in the middle are thin enough to be just a tad pokey, but overall the textures are smooth and rounded, helping them glide without catching anything or overwhelming me. Moving Dahlia around slowly is pleasant, while moving it more quickly increases the intensity without adding discomfort. I can’t really press it against myself to get pressure the way I prefer to with grinders, but with the sheer amount of texture, I don’t need to do so for a good experience.
Dahlia doesn’t quite do it for me—I can’t get off with it alone, which is something I hope for with grinding toys—but it’s a neat toy in use and a beautiful design.
The Lilac plugs contribute to the growing market of vaginal plugs and showcase Faux Phallus’ fantastic detail work. Flowers climb along the side of these models for a toy that’s part textured and part smooth.
V-plugs are designed for comfortable vaginal wear while doing something else, such as external play or walking around. They typically have minimal or no bases to prevent irritation and not get in the way of external play. This makes them unsafe for anal play, so they should not be used anally.
I have a medium Lilac V-plug and a small Lilac B-plug. Both are in extra soft 00-30. The V-plug is medium size with a fade coloration of tutti frutti, sea glass, and pearl. The B-plug is small size with a marble coloration of mango, pearl, and black pearl. I use them both vaginally.
The medium plug is an incredibly nice fit. It’s very filling and provides a constant stretch. I find it a little painful to insert, as I tend to do with wide knots, and this is made worse with the texture on the widest part. Once it’s in, however, it sits very comfortably. Unlike smaller plugs, which are very comfortable in an easygoing way, this one presses right up against my G-spot and does not let me forget about it. I absolutely love that.
The small plug is much more low-key. I don’t have any pain or discomfort while inserting it despite having texture at the widest part, but the trade-off is that I don’t get as much fullness as I prefer. Since the toy sits in place, I don’t feel the texture very much outside of insertion. It doesn’t stay in place perfectly since it’s on the small side for me, but it doesn’t pop right out either.
The V-plug stem is a good length for me, but there’s nothing stopping it from sinking in further. When it does, the bottom of the base catches on my inner labia, which is very uncomfortable as it isn’t rounded; it’s flat with a trimmed edge, like the base of a dildo. At that point, even if I adjust it, it will end up sinking in again, so I have to stop playing.
The B-plug base, which is T-shaped, is mostly comfortable. It naturally sits with either edge front-to-back, which gets in the way of external play, but does not stop me from doing anything. If I rotate it so the base goes side-to-side, then it does not get in the way of external play, but feels a little awkward on the outside.
Both sizes and versions have their ups and downs. For now, I’ll be sticking with the small B-plug.
& More
I’m impressed with the creativity and unique models from these three shops, both the toys that I have and the ones that I don’t (…yet). I highly recommend all three shops. Whatever you may purchase, you’ll end up with a work of art in gorgeous colors.
Kraken Monster Lab, Midnight Menagerie, and Vaquero Toys are also creating gorgeous toys in Australia, and Rouge Obsessions is based in Aotearoa New Zealand. This shop list is not kept up to date, so check out the shop lists at the bottom of my Guide to Fantasy Toys in the future for additional shops that may join the scene.
Darque Path Website
Erotic Effect Website
Faux Phallus Website
This article includes affiliate links and I may earn a commission from qualifying sales. I was provided Lilac B-Plug and Dahlia from Faux Phallus in exchange for inclusion in this article.