Lavalife Review

Dating Muse reviews Lavalife - the more adult dating siteLavalife is hugely popular but quite different from other major players in online dating.

For one thing, Lavalife ventures into adult territory offering three separate communities - “Dating,” “Relationships” and (here’s where it gets grown up) “Intimate Encounters.”For another, Lavalife follows it’s own lead in lots of ways that add up to a clever, original and stylish site, from the juicy red color scheme to their excellent “pay as you go” system.

You’ll also find lots of great articles, advice and other amusements with a more adult sense of fun.

Signing up is fast, easy and free. You can join any or all of the three communities - dating, relationships and/or intimate encounters. These communities are completely separate - a great set up that lets members connect on different levels without any confusion about who’s looking for what.

You’ll need to create a separate profile for each community you join but you can have fun with this. Each profile can be completely different. No one need know that “Plain Jane” in Dating and “Red Hot Rhonda” in Intimate Encounters are one and the same.

Profiles are fairly detailed and include a main photo. So far, so ordinary, but again, Lavalife has something unique.

Each profile has a “backstage” - a page where you can post up to 6 additional photos and 10 video clips. No one can view this page unless you issue a “backstage pass,” so you’re free to post more or less whatever you like here.

Searching through Lavalife profiles is easy. For basic searches, you’ll find convenient one-click search options (for instance, “local, within 5 years of my age”). Even better, they’re always “right there” so you don’t have to leave where you are to use them.

Custom searches let you be much more specific about the type of person you’re looking for. You can name and save these searches to run another time.

When you find someone you like, Lavalife is no different from other dating services. You’ll have to subscribe to communicate in full.

In the meantime, you get more free communications than at most other dating sites. For instance, you can send and receive Lavalife “Smiles,” attaching messages if you like, respond to mail – you get a free onsite mailbox - and to instant messages too.

You can’t initiate mail or instant messages until you’re a paying member, but becoming one couldn’t be less painful.

Instead of paying a fixed monthly fee, regardless of how of how often you actually use the site (the norm at most dating sites), at Lavalife you buy bundles of credits – spend only as much as you need to. There’s no expiry date on credits and you won’t be auto-billed for another batch when you’ve used them up.

Usually in a review there’s not a lot to say about costs but Lavalife’s system deserves some detail. Bundles start at $14.99 for 50 credits and top out at $39.99 for 200 credits, with added value built in. For instance, it costs 5 credits to send a mail message but further messages to the same person are free.

In concluding this Lavalife review, I’m at a loss to think of any negatives. The help’s great and the Member Home Page makes it super easy to review and manage your activities. And if you’re looking for more adult dating with an adult sense of fun, Lavalife is as good as it gets.

Not for you? Read another review.