Carmine from Synthetic Sensations is a tapered, depth-focused dildo with a mechanical design. It’s aimed at beginners and depth fans alike, with a forgiving tip, pleasant texture, and relatively long shaft.
Design & Specs
Synthetic Sensations is a UK-based brand with a small but creative lineup of models including Ryvian, a penetrable that includes a moveable internal cock (a concept that I am extremely into), and Alyx, a grinder or open-faced penetrable. I’ve already reviewed their knotted dildo Vang, which has a fantastic knot.

Carmine is a tapered dildo whose shaft gradually thins from the bottom up towards a gently pointed tip. It features a medial ring about a third of the way up, a line of bumpy texture along the underside, a subtly segmented shaft, and a hexagonal pattern on the balls. The visual details make me think of some kind of robotic deer.
In small size, Carmine has a usable length of 6.5″ and a maximum girth of 4.8″ circumference/1.5″ diameter. In medium firmness 00-50, it’s moderately squishy and very easy to bend thanks to its slenderness. The surface is matte and skinlike. (Carmine is a step down from my usual preferred girth—but as you’ll see in the review, it works well for me!)
My Carmine was a premade item from inventory. It’s a marble of matte white, light green, dark green, periwinkle, and purple. Not my usual color combo, but the colors are nice, I’m a fan of the marbled pattern, and it’s pretty neat that it matches my blog colors.
I received Carmine and Vang in exchange for review. I also received two plain black cotton drawstring bags. The standard-size bag is 11.5″ long (including drawstring seam) and 10″ across, and can fit toys up to 10″ in length. Both of these dildos can easily fit inside one bag. The bags don’t shed a ton of lint, but they do seem to pick up lint on the outside. As with most cotton bags, I would recommend washing them before storing toys inside of them.
The listing for my Carmine was £55 in inventory (dropped to £50 for a sale). At time of writing, £55 would be about $68 USD. Small-size Carmines in inventory range from £40-65 and customs start at £60.

In Use (Vaginal)
Carmine is great for warmup. I honestly wasn’t sure how much I would like it given how slim it is, but it’s got two strong traits going for it: Medium firmness allows me to feel its presence despite it being slim for my tastes, and the texture is prominent enough that it’s easy to feel.
The tip is a little fiddly to insert. Normally I don’t need to guide a dildo inside vaginally, but I do with Carmine, otherwise it pokes the skin around my hole instead. Aside from that, the tip is fine. Even fully inserted, the tip doesn’t poke against my cervix uncomfortably as some pointed dildos can do.
The base is very easy to hold, whether by gripping the balls or gripping the entire base. The model description advertises Carmine as stable and easy to ride. That might be true of larger sizes, but for the small, the base does not have enough weight to hold it down and it lifts with me when I lift my hips. When fully inserted, I can press my clit against the base, but the dip in between the balls and the shallow texture make it so that I don’t get much from grinding against it.

I love the texture along the underside. It feels like one long firm ridge along the underside, which is excellent against my front wall. The external part of the dildo rubs against my clit (depending on the angle), which is nice bonus stimulation. The matte finish makes it stand out so the texture is more intense than it looks. A bit of lube cushions the texture enough to keep it from being overwhelming.
The medial ring and the segments along the shaft are too subtle for me to feel in use, though I like the appearance of these details.
Because the shaft is slim, the tip is tapered, and the balls only stick out in one direction, it’s very easy to use Carmine for double vaginal penetration while I’m riding a larger dildo (Jackalope‘s a good partner for this). I just need to use extra lube so that the two dildos don’t rub against each other so much that it hinders use.
Carmine on its own doesn’t tick all my usual boxes—like having a great curve or thick girth—but it’s exactly what I want from a small tapered dildo.

In Use (Anal)
I don’t often use toys anally. When I do, I can get a little overeager, grabbing something that I want to use right now immediately with no warmup or stretching. I can use Carmine with little to no preparation since it’s a very comfortable girth and the tip is small.
With enough lube, the tip slips away, so I need to manually direct it to my hole in order to insert it. It’s firm enough that it doesn’t smush away when I try to insert, so I’m good as long as it’s positioned well. Once inside, the pointed tip doesn’t feel pokey at all.
I’m very sensitive to texture for anal use. Between the matte finish and the texture, Carmine pushes my limits, but going slow and using a thick water-based lube cushions the texture enough to make it comfortable. Although I can make it work out this way, I would have preferred a satin finish rather than a completely matte finish to make the experience gentler.
Despite my sensitivity, I cannot feel the medial ring when using anally.
I can take the shaft all the way. The taper makes it very easy to ease up to the thicker portion lower down the shaft, even though something that thick would otherwise take more effort for me. While the 6.5″ usable length doesn’t faze me for vaginal use, I definitely notice it for anal use; it takes time for me to sink down on Carmine, and I feel every inch when pulling it out. (That’s an excellent feeling when I’m really into it, but not so excellent when the texture feels like too much.)

Overall
Carmine from Synthetic Sensations offers just what I want from a small tapered dildo. It hits the sweet spot of having enough texture to satisfy me vaginally without having so much texture that it overwhelms me anally. The only downsides are that I cannot feel the medial ring and it can get a little too intense as a result of the matte finish if I don’t add enough lube.
The small size is a great warm-up for me vaginally, a very comfortable fit for me anally, and makes it an excellent option to combine with another dildo for double penetration.
Synthetic Sensations Website
Carmine Product Page
I received this toy in exchange for an honest review.