Whips, handcuffs, riding crops… All these BDSM accessories can turn off curious kink beginners, but BDSM doesn’t have to be brutal; temperature play can make for the perfect sex game as a way to play with a light touch and big sensations. But exactly what is temperature play?
What is Temperature Play?
Temperature play is a type of sensation play that uses hot and cold objects or substances on the body for sensual exploration.
What Can You Use for Temperature Play?
Ice Ice Baby
The scene from Do the Right Thing might seem a bit dated now, but it definitely set our imaginations on fire when it came to cooling off in the heat when we want to do ‘the nasty.’
Holding the ice cube with your fingers, you can trace the ice along all parts of the body, following with a lightly blown air to make their skin tingle. Focus on their neck, wrists, backs of the knees, and really anywhere that gets a rise out of them.
Alternatively, you can freeze pieces of fruit or vegetables (think melon or cucumber, they have high water content and a pleasant texture). You can use your mouth to hold the fruit as your explore the most sensitive parts of your partner’s body.
Put it on Wax
Our collective imaginations were similarly sparked by the music video for Ricky Martin’s Living La Vida Loca wherein his wild paramour dripped hot wax on his chest. However, using candle wax for sexual play isn’t as easy to grabbing a candle from your mantelpiece. Different types of candles have different burning points and can cause burns.
There are candles specifically designed for sensual play, including massage oil candles (made from soy wax) that melt into a luxurious oil. It’s recommended that you let liquid wax pool, blow out the candle, then pour. Keep in mind that the higher you hold the candle above your partner’s body, the cooler it will be when it hits your partner’s body. You can tease them with hot drips and then transition into a sensual massage.
H2Ohhh
Whatever you pick as your weapon of pleasure, you might be a bit concerned about the potential for mess. You can always put older sheets on the bed, or you can but temperature play is perfectly suited for the love in the tub. Not only is clean up much easier when you have sex in the shower, you can use the water to change the temperature surrounding your body as well as for play itself.
Toy with this Idea…
You can also use the toys you already have at home to play with temperature and sensation. Silicone naturally warms quickly (which is one of the reasons why it’s such a fantastic material to make pleasure products from) and you can use warm (never boiling) or cool water to change the temperature of your toys before bringing them into play.
If you have toys made from metal (like some of the decadent treasures from our luxury line) you can heighten the experience of cold and hot against your lover’s skin. Be sure, however, not to submerge your toys in boiling water, or to place them in the freezer as this is not only unsafe, it could ruin the motor of any vibrating product.