Exclusive Interview with Alexandra Fine – Dame Products

I had the incredible opportunity to talk to Alexandra Fine a co-founder of Dame Products in Sydney, Australia. Alex is a 29 year old, confident brunette from New York.

She began her studies by gaining a Masters in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University in 2011.  Focused on her lifelong dream to become a sex educator and sex therapist as she volunteered much of her time hosting a sex talk radio show for the Red Cross. From experience helping other companies startup, she became motivated to begin her own venture.

Alexandra Fine Exclusive Interview

She placed her hand’s together pairing her fingers in a fist.

“When I met Janet, (Janet Lieberman) it was really like a marriage. She was a product engineer who had all of the knowledge on how to make products. I handle the sales and marketing.”

Alex’s and Janet’s unique skills combined together to create the company “Dame Product”.

Dame Products has two sex toys

• Eva is a hands-free clitoral stimulator. You can fast track your bliss with Eva and that can be used during couples sex.
• Fin is a handheld finger vibrator that can be used directly for pinpoint stimulation. Or used so the vibrations are sent through your fingers.

Alex demonstrated the Fin which she wore snugly and comfortably on her hand.  Unbeknown to me she placed a part of the vibrator on my arm and said “See that!”  I was taken back to how powerful the small vibrator was and how much it felt like a finger.

This sex toy came with an strap which can be used in two different ways. She took the strap off and held it comfortably between her fingers.  Then she placed it on my arm again. It’s vibrations that were sent through her finger were incredibly strong.

I told her “I have not felt a finger vibrator like that before!” and I was blown away. It made me really want one of my own.

What are your favourite accomplishments since working for Dame?

“Dame has been funded through Kickstarter when they had no platform for sex toys. There was difficulty to get sex toys funded online. Kickstarter did a policy change for Dame.”

Through the efforts of Alex and Janet, the Dame Product’s Eva and Fin were successfully funded through people worldwide. People who had also envisioned their product’s to be incredibly pleasurable and useful within their sexual lifestyles.

Dame Product’s have now made it easier for people within the adult lifestyle industry to follow in their footsteps to access Kickstarter.

Alex said,

“Everything is important. What I love the most is that we wake up everyday to make it better. It’s challenging with products are you have to be able to stop to sell it.”

What does your company value the most?

Alex knew this one straight away.

“Dame products values sexual equality, tolerance and transparency. These are all the qualities that relate to our mission. We encourage people to value their sexual lifestyle. Which should be seen as something equal to brushing your teeth or going for a shower.

We will only ever have equality when we have sexual equality. In most cultures, sexuality has often been governed by societies rules. Men are encouraged to express themselves sexually whilst women have not been. This is the original thought that had been the building blocks of our culture. I want that to go away.”

Alex looked around the ARexpo to see how everything was going.

What are the favourite quote’s that inspire you?

She pondered wide-eyed with a smile on her bubbly face.

“I love Oscar Wild’s dying quote but I am not sure how suitable it is! I go or the drapes go!!”

She laughed and her smile became even bigger.

“He was unapologetically himself, who knew what he was thinking!”

Who are your role models?

Alex took sometime to thoughtfully and honestly answer.

“All humans, no ones perfect and that’s okay”

She added.

“Sheryl Sandberg and my Grandma’s are amazing.”

I bit of intrigue slipped into Alex’s eyes as she thought about the question.

What was it about her grandma’s that inspired you?

Alex said with strength and determination in her voice

“My grandmothers are strong women in completely different ways. One of my grandmothers is a bold women who is defiantly herself and a hoot. I have another grandmother who is a holocaust survivor, she is quiet, kind and artistic.”

She added.

“I see the women who you work with”

She said as she pointed to me and people within the expo looking for my work colleagues from the Adult Lifestyle Centre.

“I am able to see that I am blessed for the women who came before me in this industry. I want people to know that there is nothing wrong with you and that it’s okay to like it (sex).”

Check out all the Dame Products at adultsmart!

Finally, A Dame Toy We Love! Meet Fin.

Dame is the brainchild of Alexandra Fine and Janet a company that prides itself on being designed for women by women.  Alex has her masters in psychology and Janet is a mechanical engineer.

In 2014 they released their first product it was crowdfunded via IndieGoGo and it was christened as the first hands-free, feminist sex toy. It rivalled products providing stimulation for couples like the We-vibe and traditional cock rings. But still remained completely unique.

One thing I extra love about Dame is they take an average product and make it more functional, more comfortable and more ergonomic!

Recently I received their latest product Fin

Which was also crowdfunded but this time on Kickstarter which is an impressive accolade. As it is the first adult product to be fully crowdfunded via Kickstarter.

Awkwardly so I am a little too familiar with IndieGoGo and Kickstarter, I basically trawl both websites once a week looking to better my life with intuitive or zany crap. Which is why I basically begged to review Fin (NO RAGRETSSS).

Design and Look of The Fin

I love the design and aesthetic that accompanies functionality which has been especially achieved with Dame’s Fin.

Quality of this design is ridiculous I am so into the way it looks right down to the colour scheme. I struggled to decide between coral and jade because they are both such beautiful colours. Love that Dame stays away from traditional pinks and purples and takes on a more contemporary palette for their products.

Their retail packaging is a bit bolder with blue and coral tones yet I’m still loving it. It’s packaging gives a pretty detailed idea of how the toy works and its features.  Easy to read and has cute little illustrations of the product.

Inside the retail box

There is an off-white hard box with a bright white illustrative print of the product. Once the top is off you find the Fin sitting in a plastic tray. Underneath it is the charger, satin pouch, manual and a cute as a button sticker.

I discarded the retail packaging but I did keep the hard box for storage.

Fin Is A Simple Design

There’s the body with the button on top and the optional tether.  I found the tether a useless inconvenience. It took away from the Fin’s charm making it less of an extension of the body and more of a tool.

Dame has put so much thought into this product you can utilise Fin at any angle. Flip it upwards your fingers carry the vibrations through them or use the silicone vibration pad.  You can apply fin’s vibrational pad directly to your body utilising the two sides. One being squishy and the other being pointed to provide unique stimulation.

What I Preferred Personally

Personally I preferred the squishier side as I rely heavily on the pressure to get off with this product.  I found the point was too direct and too hard when applying pressure. But I did alternate between the two sides.

I didn’t use the tether at all when using Fin solo. But when partnered it was used occasionally for research purposes only. For me using the tether took away the feeling of the Fin being an extension of the body. And made it just another sex toy.

Fin can be used on any erogenous zone easily caressed by your fingers.

This is literally the only time I won’t suggest using SuperSlyde or any other silicone based lubricant. As it makes Fin incredibly hard to grasp if the finger divots get silicone lube on them.

Alternatively, I went for some wildfire massage oil or intimate organics defence lubricant to help ease it over our bodies.  Silicone outer glides comfortably over the skin. But some may find it rather draggy rather than a design flaw it does help the product rest between the fingers without Fin shifting too much.

Initially, I was unsure if you could use the Fin internally

As it is only splash proof but after speaking to one of the creators it was confirmed that you can insert Fin for internal massage!

I don’t often use my own fingers for G-spot stimulation as I have rather long nails and my fingers are just too short. Personally, I find internal vibes more of a nuisance than anything. So I can easily say I was not a fan when I had Fin used on me for internal stimulation.

You can also achieve minor internal stimulation with the Fin at the base of the fingers. You use it as a clitoral stimulator and use the tips of your finger internally.

Something About Fin Just Clicks

It is extremely unobtrusive and almost organic when in use. I definitely think the Fin shone the brightest for me when used as an external toy at the tips of my fingers for clitoral massage.

Found the vibrations did fall short and I was left hoping that there could have been one more setting! What made up for the lack of power was the ability to control the pressure during clitoral massage. Which I find hard to obtain when using some of the more traditional products have always failed me with.

An ability to control the pressure makes up for the lack of patterns and the weaker vibration settings.

Fin is a great product for same-sex paired couples and alternating sex couples

Its lack of phallic shape and its non-anatomical like shape should put many users at ease when introduced to Dame’s Fin. Size and ease of this product make it fantastic for beginners. And also people looking to add a small amount of luxury adventure to their bedroom antics when they have the nervousness of the larger toy stealing the show.

I enjoy the Dame website almost as much as I enjoy the product!

Its a very cute hipster style but has heaps of great information on their product Eva and Fin. Their website does give a bit more information than the provided instructions and retail packaging.

Video and cartoons used are not at all sexualized making the website very female friendly.  A promotional video for Fin is extremely simplistic. Vagina is represented as a lily in their Fin promo video. It made it extremely easy to watch and remained product focused. I felt the websites overall lack of female bodies and the use of everyday people definitely made it very accessible to all women.

You can really tell that the owners are determined in providing a product that serves women and stresses their pleasure above all. Their website also includes customer reviews and some media articles. So you don’t have to just take my word on the greatness of the product!

Cliff Notes

If you want a great vibe that feels like an extension of your body. That is rechargeable, made of body safe silicone and extremely easy to use. Help two sisters out trying to make the world a better place for the female orgasm and pick up a Fin ASAP!

Sexpert

Meet Sexpert, our full-time sex blogger! With a background in women’s lifestyle blogs, she brings expertise to Adultsmart and runs Good Girl Guide too.

good-girl-guide.com.au/