Lavalife Review: Our guide to online dating

From the moment you open the Lavalife website, the scene is set. A picture of a couple wrapped up warm and touching noses fills the screen. It’s unlikely that these two just met for a quick bang. More likely, this particular dating website is aimed at the more romantic among us who are looking for a meaningful relationship. That’s great, but what about those of us who are more into sex dating? Is it possible to find a potential fuck buddy on this lovey-dovey site?


 

What does Lavalife get right?

The layout of the website is great. It looks professional and everything is simply and clearly laid out. There aren’t too many things to do, just the basics like searching through other users, a messages folder and somewhere to store your favourite members. You can also see who has viewed your profile and who has ‘liked’ you, which makes finding a buddy much easier.

Despite that Lavalife initially seems to be aimed more at romantic dating than sexdating, it doesn’t take me long to find a potential buddy who, like me, is looking for something a little less serious. Unfortunately he lives at the other end of the country, but it’s a start.

There are no chat rooms here, but you have the option to chat with other members via the messaging service.

What should Lavalife improve?

Although you can initially join for free, you only get a seven day trial before you are required to pay a monthly subscription to continue using the site. Great if you can find a match within a week, but it’s unlikely.

It took me three separate attempts to join the website so I’m not exactly full of the joys of spring when I finally complete the process. I’m not a patient person, so this didn’t bode well for a good start (and this isn’t great if you have a busy lifestyle and little time to spend on things like this).

Once I finally manage to come up with a username that no-one else has, I’m required to complete pages of information about myself. You can’t skip this bit- you have to choose an option for each question. I’m looking for my next potential lay, not my soulmate, and I’m sure my education and income isn’t of much importance to someone I only plan on making my fuck buddy.

I continue to my profile page where there is lots to fill in and yes, you guessed it, it can’t be skipped. Now I have to write ‘a bit about me’ which must be at least 50 characters long, so ‘hi’ won’t cut it. I’m also required to write an opening line and fill out my interests, where you’re likely to find me and what my ideal date would be. I’m a little exasperated now. If I was looking for a life partner this would be a great way to find someone I’m compatible with, but alas, I just want a buddy for some fun. If it wasn’t for the fact that I’m writing this review, I’d have closed it down and given up by now. Still, I persevere and I’m finally able to search through members to find one that tickles my fancy. Unfortunately, only seven potential matches live within a 100km radius of me, so unless I’m willing to travel further afield, I’m unlikely to find what I’m looking for here. I think it’s time to look elsewhere…

Who's using Lavalife?

There are a range of people using Lavalife, and even though many of them are looking for something deep and meaningful, there are those who are just after a fuck buddy for a good time.

Is it worth signing up for Lavalife?

It might be worth signing up for the free trial, but I definitely wouldn’t pay to use this website. The sign up process is long and tedious and once you do finally manage to get there, you might find there aren’t actually that many potential matches within your vicinity. Even if there are, they’re more likely to be looking for love than a bit of fun, so I’d advise finding a website more tailored to your needs, and preferably that doesn’t require you to pay.

See something we missed in this Lavalife review? Don't agree with us? Leave it in the comments.