Here, sex and relationship therapist Indigo Stray Conger, LMFT, CST; sex educator and therapist Lexx Brown-James, Ph.D., LMFT; and sexologist Gigi Engle break down 20 types of kisses and offer tips on how to enhance your next smooching session. According to evolutionary psychologist and University at Albany professor Gordon Gallup Jr., Ph.D., kissing may have evolved as a primitive feeding gesture between mother and child, in which the mom would chew up her food and transfer it to the child’s mouth. On a more romantic and sexual level, biological anthropologist Helen Fisher, Ph.D., once told mbg kissing may have evolved as a mating ritual. The lips are one of the thinnest layers of skin on the human body, Fisher explained. They’re also densely populated with nerve endings, which allow people to pick up on temperature, taste, and smell—all of which are clues as to what kind of mate someone will be1. That sensitivity is also why the lips are considered an erogenous zone2. Kissing also helps couples connect, says Engle. “A study from The Archive of Sexual Behavior shows that kissing helps to increase pair bonding and feelings of intimacy between partners4,” she tells mbg. “It’s these small moments of slightly lusty affection that establishes you and your partner as sexual beings who relate to one another erotically.” When “deep kissing” is incorporated into sex5, it also increases the likelihood of orgasm in women. In fact, some people can reach orgasm from kissing alone (aka oral orgasm).
