Sex

7 Ways To Make Your Love Life More Sensual

woman hugging man from behind

When you're first dating, you don't know when or even if you're going to make love. The anticipation is exciting, and you often spend quality time kissing and building up to that moment when you finally "do it."

Once a relationship is established, couples all too often stick to the same old sexual routines, trying to get right to the big O without allowing their passion to build up. Foreplay becomes short and sweet, and sensuality is an afterthought. But these habits tend to make climax … downright anticlimactic.

The good news is that you don't have to do it in public or buy expensive sex toys to give your sex life a boost. You just need a sensuality injection. To a large degree, sensuality is the art of the tease. It engages your senses and gives you the means to create sexual tension.

With that in mind, the following seven ideas can help you to build desire toward a more exciting finale—with or without the big explosion. In fact, you can try these ideas when you don't have the time or energy for kinky sex, allowing these moments to build over a few days until you can finally get more delicious time together. Stop Settling for So-So Sex!

1. Tickle and tease. Gather several soft items, such as lambswool, a feather, silk or velvet fabric, and/or a flower like a rose or orchid. Ask your lover to close his or her eyes, and try lightly teasing and stroking your lover's body with these items. Choose sensitive spots like the side of the neck, the nipples, the palms and the genitals. Ask your lover to guess what you're using to tease and tickle.

2. Face to face. You kiss, but how often do you touch your lover's face with your fingertips? Using a scented moisturizer, take turns lightly stroking each other's faces, building to a gentle massage. Do it with your eyes closed, as if you're sculpting a beautiful figure in clay. You'll be amazed how beautiful your partner's bone structure feels without the interference of sight, and you'll discover just how responsive your facial skin is to your lover's touch.

3. Melt in your mouth. Place a chocolate truffle in your mouth and kiss before you swallow. If this idea turns you on, you can try it with any number of soft foods that don't require much chewing, like a peach, cheesecake or ice cream. It may sound strange at first, but it can be incredibly sensual and playful.

4. Kissing experiment. Most couples become so involved with the main erogenous zones that other sensitive parts of the body are neglected. So, as a game, look for some of those neglected places on your lover's body. Take turns exploring with kisses and teasing licks. Where should you start? Try that area in front of the ear on the face, the jawline, tops of the ears, palms, wrists, inside of the elbows, shoulders, back of the neck, underside of the breasts, backs of the knees, and toes.

5. Monkey see, monkey do. If you've ever been to the zoo, you've seen monkeys grooming each other. It works for people, too, and is a very sensual and sexy thing to do. So, shave his face, paint her nails, wash and brush each other's hair or bathe each other slowly. Try to get your nose involved, too, with products that smell good.

6. Icing on the cake. Pick up your favorite flavor of cake icing, and ask your lover to lie naked on the bed or the floor. (If you're worried about making a mess, put some plastic underneath you.) Then, dip your finger in the icing and write or draw on your lover's body. If one of you is very ticklish, add a bit more pressure to your touch to make it less ticklish. If you want to have even more fun with it, try writing sexy messages and see if your lover can guess what you're writing on his or her body. Then, of course, you'll have the fun of licking off the icing. 5 Romantic Ways To Use Food

7. Exhale. If you and your partner enjoy the light, teasing touch, try it without touching at all—just use your breath! Of course, you can only stand this for so long, but the tension it creates can really lead to a great climax. Lightly blow on the main erogenous zones—the ears (of course), the sides of the neck, the nipples, the palms and between the legs, until your lover begs you to touch, squeeze, kiss, etc.