It feels AMAZING. Anal sex is neither painful nor messy when you ease into it. In fact, it feels really good! So go slow, test different lubes to find your favorite and definitely invest in sex toys.

It feels AMAZING. Anal sex is neither painful nor messy when you ease into it. In fact, it feels really good! So go slow, test different lubes to find your favorite and definitely invest in sex toys.

Female pegging redefines gender stereotypes: enjoying anal sex as a straight, cis man involves doing away with the many gender myths out there

You learn more about your body: anal sex is a learning curve, with pleasure benefits for both you and your partner(s).

The more you know about your butt, the more you’ll know other people’s butts: and the more likely it is that you’ll be a generous sex partner.

Enjoy pleasure for longer with anal play: early ejaculation is a common problem. Take the time to explore other male g-spots, such as the prostate and anal sphincter, to enjoy your sweet time before climaxing.

Every guy should experience a prostate orgasm at least once in their life: they’re more intense, it’s as simple as that.

Sexual exploration is a one-way street to sexual freedom: It’s easy to be socially acceptable. But where’s the fun in that? If you’re intrigued or interested in anal stimulation during sex, then try it. Life is too short to not have all the orgasms.

Anal sex can bring you closer to your LGBTQ+ friends: how often do you talk to your gay friends about sex? Your pegging experiences will definitely get the sex conversation going.

Prostate massages can decrease your risk of prostate cancer: so grab the lube!

One last thing…we’d just like to remind you again how mind blowingly good anal sex can be for straight cis men. Over and out.

Expectation: It will be perfect
Reality: real-life sex is messy and that is part of the fun! You may both have some nerves and be eager to please but you’ll have a better time if you embrace the awkwardness. One of you lets out a queef? Turn it into a joke and remind your partner that this is a good sign above all else. Laughing during certain sex sessions is a form of communication that can help you feel closer to your partner

Expectation: You won’t be nervous
Reality: But why would you be nervous? This is not your first time ever having sex. And isn’t it better when sex is spontaneous? Even with experience, sex requires a certain level of trust and vulnerability. If you’re the anxious type (sex-related or otherwise) it could be helpful to go for a walk, do some yoga, or spend time meditating. And yes, sex is mostly spontaneous but it doesn’t do any harm to communicate with your new partner and make sure you both feel ready for this next step!

Expectation: You won’t need lube…or protection
Reality: You can be really turned on and still experience dryness, thanks to general life stress, condoms, ovulation or sex toys. Around 17% of women between the ages of 18 and 50 experience this problem at some point, so pack your favourite lubricant in your overnight bag. We think it’s also worth the reminder that unprotected sex with a new partner for the first time is not an ideal situation – it’s better to have too many condoms than none at all.

The answer to the female orgasm conundrum does not lie in movie sex or mainstream porn, which tends to prioritize male pleasure and includes low representation of oral sex (or other non-penetrative sex) on women.

With so much performative sex readily available at our fingertips, it’s hard not to fall into the trap of unrealistic expectations when it comes to enjoying a real orgasm. So let’s break down the science. For anyone with a vagina, an orgasm is most commonly achieved through stimulation of the clitoris (or clit). A 2017 study revealed that 37% of American women required clitoral stimulation to orgasm, while 66% of women said that they preferred sex when their partner touched their clit. That’s significantly higher than the 18% of participants who said they orgasmed through vaginal penetration alone.

In regard to what happens in your body when you orgasm? Your genital muscles contract and fill with blood while your heart rate increases. Meanwhile, your brain releases feel-good hormones, oxytocin and dopamine, which leads to a feeling of intense happiness. Sounds great, right? Who would want to deny themselves this pleasure?

Pleasure is key when it comes to the female orgasm and a ‘practice makes perfect’ approach can be fun when exploring what works best for you. The clitoris is more complex than we realize and the vulva needs more attention than we tend to give it. If you don’t always
achieve an orgasm, that’s ok and perfectly normal! Self-exploration with a SKYN vibrator is a great way to better understand your body, which in turn can help you achieve orgasm through real sex with a partner. So maybe the question to ask is this: what happens when
YOU orgasm?

With the internet filled with contradicting advice and a lot of porn pushing harmful ideals of sex, we’ve put together a little list to clear up whether a couple of classic ‘First Time’ thoughts are true or false. Let’s get the party started with penetration.

First Time = First Penetration (by or with a penis)

So FALSE.

You see it in movies, hear it in songs, read about it in books. ‘The First Time’ always involves a penis and a vagina. This is the hetero normative narrative talking, the idea that sex between a cis man and a cis woman is ‘real’ sex, and it’s no. You decide when you have had your first experience, penetration or not.

You can’t lose your virginity.

This is TRUE.

Where would it have gone? A doctor can’t tell if you’ve had sex or not, because virginity is a social construct. One that’s trying to keep its claws stuck in the dated view that your integrity and sex life are somehow connected. So next time you hear yourself asking ‘Have you lost your virginity?’ maybe try ‘Have you started having sex?’, ‘Have you had your debut?’ or an all-time favourite ‘Have you ever rolled
around in the hay?’ or just don’t ask. Is it that important to know? Wouldn’t it be great if we stopped focusing on whether someone’s banged, and instead poured that energy into making sure sex feels bangin’? Just a thought.

However, the facts reveal that fluctuating levels of desire and a lack of intimacy affects one in three US women (of all ages and sexual orientation). A lower sex drive appears to be less of a problem for men, between 1% and 20%, but maybe they’re staying silent out of shame? Bottom line?; A low libido is more common than we think it is. *Breathes a sigh of relief*. Instead of feeling ashamed that your relationship currently borders on platonic, let’s take a moment to understand why low libido happens. Hormonal imbalance, low self-esteem, medications, painful sex, shame around sexual desires, and high levels of stress can all contribute to a sexless relationship or marriage. Or you could just have a low sex drive and be perfectly happy with amazing sex once a week/month. Quality over Quantity!

Many sex therapists suggest that a balance between mind and body is key. So, if you’re looking to increase your sex drive, here are some solutions:

• Be honest with yourself. Are you happy with your current sex life?
• Talk to your partner. What can you both do to avoid a sex-starved marriage /relationship?
• Speak to a therapist. A problem shared is a problem halved!
• Don’t rush into hormone therapy treatment. Try making small, healthy adjustments, such as sleeping and eating well, and making time for exercise.
• Ignore the harmful messages that society perpetuates. You’re not “less of” a man if you don’t think about sex 24/7. You’re not a dysfunctional woman if you don’t want sex all the time. You’re also not a slut if you have a high sex drive (and happen to be reading
  this)
• Be kind to yourself.

It’s certainly not a new phenomenon, but it’s been seen as a key way to keep people feeling sexy when they’ve been confined to their homes with time on their hands. And it’s exactly that extra time that makes it easy to add a little art direction into the mix and turn this act of
digital foreplay into a true work of art. If you’re looking to up your selfie game, here are a few things to think about next time you’re taking a pic:

Consider setting and props
Take inspiration from online life drawing classes that often feature props like flowers, mirrors, chairs and cushions. Choose whichever items you think fit your aesthetic goals and see how you can make them work for you. Props can also help you cover up body parts, making them ideal for sending safe nudes that leave a little more to the imagination.

Find your light
The right lighting can not only highlight all the parts you want to show off in the best way possible, it can also be a brilliant way of creating a feeling of intimacy in your nudes.

Play with poses
Finally, here’s where you can get truly inspired by high art – research some famous nude paintings or sculptures and see if you can replicate some of the positions. It may seem a bit silly, but nude selfies are also meant to be fun, so there’s no harm in channelling your inner David or Venus!

A word of advice – if you’re only just getting to know someone sexually, you definitely want to be seeking consent before getting into a sexting conversation. Few people love an unsolicited dick pic and it’s also important to gain trust with such intimate images being sent.

Get to know yourself (again)
It may well be that to get to the point where you even know what makes you cum in the first place, you’ve spent some time doing some solo exploration. Which is awesome! Masturbation is totally to be encouraged – it helps you know exactly how and when to move your body in order to climax. So, one way to move forward with changing things up is to revisit your relationship with yourself. Try out new things to see what else you might like, and you may just find that you hit a new sweet spot to visit on your next sexual encounter.

Try a toy
This tip is a bit of a natural progression from number one but can be applied to couple sex as well as solo sex. Adding a sex toy into the mix is such a great way to freshen things up and add new sensations that could get you cumming in positions you never thought possible. The novelty can also be a real libido booster whether you’re alone or with a partner.

Flip the perspective
Finally, a lot can be said for the mental side of sex so why not try flipping your mindset as well as your sex positions? Take a second to think about why it feels like a bad thing to always cum in the same way. Because, really, it just means that you know what you like. For
many people, being able to cum on the regular isn’t a given, so the fact that you’ve found the best sex position for you and a fool proof way to cum is something to celebrate. The next step is just having even more fun and seeing how you can mix things up!

The main take away from all this? Finding pleasure is all about exploration!

That’s because a lot of porn features genitals that are often surgically and cosmetically altered. On top of that, you’ll likely find that pubic hair is practically non-existent. This has led to a sex confidence crisis where people are increasingly feeling the need to replicate these so-called perfect genitals, with the number of people seeking vagina or penis surgeries skyrocketing in recent years. It’s even the same in mainstream movie sex, with Hollywood stars all having supposedly perfect bodies and perfect sex most of the time. Real representations remain shockingly hard to come by. And let’s not forget that a lot of porn sex is very much angled towards societal norms, so if you lie elsewhere on the spectrums of gender, sexual orientation or “acceptable” age range, chances are that what you’re seeing on screen is going to make you feel even more alienated.

But here’s thing – reflect on any of your sexual encounters outside the world of porn and you’ll soon realise that these onscreen depictions are not exactly an accurate representation of most of us. Be it penises, vulvas, breasts or testicles… every single person is different. If you want further proof, check out artist Laura Dodsworth who photographed 100 penises and 100 vulvas as part of her Bare Reality project. One quick look at the final pics and you’ll see that the idea of a “normal” penis or “normal” vagina is a total myth!

If you’re feeling like porn is having a negative effect on your body image, you may want to take a little time out and explore some new ways to seek pleasure. Why not try a toy if you haven’t already? If you’re not keen to give up your fave form of visual stimulation just yet,
there are also a growing number of offerings that provide an alternative, more realistic narrative than standard porn.

And just remember – sex, be it onscreen or in real life, should always make you feel good!