Kissing: A Lost Art?

It may just be me, but I feel like I hardly ever see people actually kiss anymore. When I see a couple out for a stroll, they’ll either avoid public displays of affection altogether or they’ll be making out in a way that suggests they’re five seconds away from tearing each other’s clothes off.

What happened to kissing? Do people even do that anymore? It seems to be a lost relic, resurrected only in the precious days of the first few dates. People who really should be kissing—those in steady, serious relationships—seem to abandon it completely in favor of getting straight to the nasty. While I can’t blame them too much for that, I can blame them at least a little. Because if you’re not kissing, you’re missing out.

Think about your partner’s lips. Can you feel them on your skin if you think about it hard enough? If not, you need to re-take Kissing 101. With the right pecks, kissing can be creative, stimulating, and entirely fulfilling. If you’ve forgotten how to do it creatively, brush up on the following.

The Upside-Down Kiss. A classic of imaginative kissing, it’s a crying shame that the upside-down kiss doesn’t happen more often. It can be hard to do it without placing your partner in position, but great impromptu times to sweep in include those when your love is lying in bed or reclining on the couch reading a book or watching TV. Make sure you’re lined up so that your chin is poised to bump into his/her nose, then go in for the kill.

Kissing in Strange Locales. Not quite up to becoming a full-fledged member of the Mile-High Club? Make out in the airplane restroom instead. Creative places to kiss can be found all over the place, and you and your partner might want to devise a specific to-kiss list of locations. For example, my boyfriend and I made a pact to duck behind a door or in a closet and kiss in every single academic building on campus before graduation. It certainly makes life more interesting.

Experimental Kissing. If you and your partner usually just jump straight to clawing at each other, set aside some time to specifically experiment with different kissing techniques. If you’ve been with that person for a long time, you probably already know how they like to kiss, but that doesn’t mean your strategies can’t be improved. Try nibbling the lips lightly, alternating between heavy and light pressure of kisses, or plopping a few wet ones on places you’d normally never think about (back shoulder blade, elbow, or ankle). If you find some new kisses that your partner loves, then great—and if not, at least you had fun trying.

Have any other kissing advice? You KNOW we want to hear it!