Comfort Places and Atmosphere for a Better Sex

While you may have already indulged in different kinds of love-making with your partner, it's important to ensure the right settings to make the most of a night of passion. Be it the bedroom ambiance, surrounding items, lighting, aroma or anything that helps boosting your sexual desire, the decor of the room must be in accordance with your mood and the kind of sex you want to indulge in.

Marriage and relationship counselor Gitanjali Sharma elucidates, "Sex is a natural need for all human beings. But there has to be appropriate arousal for a night of passion and the environment, ambience and bedroom settings play a major role is stimulating your sexual hormones. Just like we eat when we are hungry, similarly, there has to be a sex drive and a physical desire to make you indulge in sex and it come from various things in the pleasure playground."

Couples indulge in sex for various reasons. Some want to experiment and try out new things in bed, while others love seeing their partner experience heights of pleasure. There are others too who love pampering their partner through diverse forms of sex.

Here are various settings that can enhance your sexual camaraderie.

Create an innovative environment during experimental sex
As the name suggests, an experiment signifies something creative and out-of-box, so it could be a wild sexual stint. Couples opting for experimental sex aim to bring back the excitement and lust filled initial-days of their relationship. No matter how long they've been into their relationship, there is a need to have an Earth-shattering sexual experience every once in a while.

DO IT RIGHT : Dr Amita Mishra, a sex and relationship expert suggests, "When it's about being experimental, try out just about everything. From the sofa to the floor, living room to the kitchen, bathtub to the garden, let your imagination take over completely. Enacting a porn star or a pole dancer act could take your spouse by surprise. Having meals in a semi-clad state will ignite your partner's erotic side. Keep sexual props like whips, chains, pompoms and streamers handy to add to the mood."

Pamper your beau during make-up sex
Make-up sex is a quick and effective way to get rid of an ugly argument, so if you had a gut-wrenching fight with your spouse, there can be nothing better than indulging in a sexual reconciliation. While the act gives you several chances to say 'sorry' to your partner, don't forget the right ambiance is e a blessing in disguise. Not only it will make your partner feel pampered, but also let you gradually descend towards a sex romp.

DO IT RIGHT : Marriage and relationship counselor Gitanjali Sharma adds, "Keep a nice musical show piece, preferably a couple doing ball dance, alongside the bed that makes a chiming sound to add to the soothing aroma that you wished to create. Also, a lavish chandelier placed right above your bed can create the right combination of light and shadow. Also, decorate the room with flowers, place some surprise gifts for your partner, use satin bed sheets, heart shaped pillows etc that create a perfect atmosphere that makes your partner forget the fight and enjoy the sexual gratification."

Shopping Attraction

Research reveals many of us size up potential partners by the contests of their shopping basket!

Women have come clean and confessed to a guilty shopping secret.

A new survey reveals that nearly nine out of ten women in the UK judge their fellow shoppers on the contents of their shopping basket.

When it comes to sizing up men, it seems that nothing impresses women more than a man who buys red wine and potatoes!

Sweeping judgement

These findings lift the lid on just how far women go when eyeing up men at the checkout, revealing that they decide what their income is, what kind of lifestyle they lead and whether they'd make a good partner or even father, all based upon the contents of their shopping.

A bottle of red wine (95%) and new potatoes (93%) top the list of grocery items which women associate with a man who has a good job, beating other everyday purchases such as mince, soup, fish and ketchup.

Fresh fruit and vegetables in the basket are good sign too – so say 87% of women who named new potatoes, joint with apples, as the top items that show a man would make a good partner or husband.

Likewise, apples, cucumbers (both 88%) and new potatoes (86%) top the list of items women associate with a man who would make a good father.

Negative choices

The big basket turn-offs for women include cans of lager with more than eight in ten women associating them with a man who leads an unhealthy lifestyle.

Instant soup convinces 86% of women that a man is lazy and 80% that he has a poor job and salary.

Snap decision

In less time than it can take a man to decide between a shopping basket and a shopping trolley, women have sized men up and come to some big conclusions.

In under 10 seconds, two thirds of women will have checked out his shopping and decided if a man leads a healthy lifestyle, 62% will have determined if he takes care of himself and six in ten whether he has a lot of money.

Relationship expert Kate Taylor comments:

"Women are trained to spot suitable mates, and have many unconscious ways of assessing a man's partnership potential – including his height, the symmetry of his features and even his smell. Secretly snooping at a man's shopping is just the modern way of seeing what kind of provider he would be.

Some shopping basket items clearly have more "attractive" associations for women than others. As most "attractive" qualities are actually signs of fertility – like healthy skin tone or an inverse V shaped male torso – men should not overlook the pulling power of certain foods such as potatoes and apples. Women subconsciously want good fathers for their kids. New potatoes probably rank highly because they are healthy and take little time to prepare – a good father doesn't lock himself in the kitchen for hours to try to escape from his other domestic duties.

Seeing fresh fruit and veg in a man's shopping basket also inspires women to think he takes good care of himself. This personality trait is amazingly attractive, especially to modern women who know they won't have time to nag a partner about his health or take on the overhauling of his diet like a big project. As women constantly stretch themselves to improve, they want men who can keep up. So potatoes, apples and other healthy fruit and veg say 'You won't have to mother me' which is highly desirable."

Keen on cooking

When it comes to the foods that a man needs to buy in order for a woman to want him to cook for her, new potatoes top the list (two thirds of respondents) followed by onions (61%), other potatoes (e.g. baking or roasting potatoes) and a bottle of red wine (both with 55% of the vote).

The survey also reveals that nearly two thirds of women will decide that a man buying potatoes or new potatoes is interested in cooking, 58% will assume that he is healthy and 54% will deem that he is practical - proving he can look after himself.

Regional warning

Men in the South West should be particularly wary of what they put in their shopping baskets as more women (91%) judge others on what they buy than any other region.

If they want to impress women, men should also ensure that they put new potatoes in their baskets as they are the top item that women in the region associate with a healthy lifestyle (98%) and good partner material (92%).

Sex & Food

Is eating chocolate better than having sex?

The reason we love chocolate is the pleasure principle that it brings to us - it has a chemical in it that raises our endorphines. Also, research has shown that eating chocolate raises our heart beat much higher than having a kiss. For some people, eating chocolates is definitely much better - it's certainly a good substitute if you're feeling a bit miserable. It has the same effect on you, making you feel happy in the same way as sex. Of course, chocolate doesn't make demands, so in some ways it's a lot easier to deal with than having sex.

What are aphrodisiacs?

Aphrodisiacs are types of food, minerals or sediments that are supposed to raise your libido, to raise your sexual desire and give you more sexual stamina. That is essentially what aphrodisiacs are, and the definition of what they are supposed to do.

Is there any truth that oysters are aphrodisiacs?

Oysters are an aphrodisiac. Oysters are full of Zinc and Selenium, which are minerals that we need—both men and women—to manufacture testosterone in the body. A good dose of Zinc is great for helping your libido and your sexual stamina. You'll get it from other shellfish as well, like scallops and good old Cod. Halibut will also give it to you, so you can feel good about going down for some fish and chips.

Are there foods I can eat to increase my libido?

There are definitely foods that are recommended to increase your libido - any diet that is high in fruits, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates. What is recommended is an ideal diet - are they the things that will keep you healthy? It is the connection between being healthy overall and a good sex life. Particular foods are things like avocados - the Spanish Conquistadors thought that they were a really powerful stimulant. Tomatoes, their other name is the love apple, are full of lycopene, which is an anti-oxidant useful in combating cancer, but also helps to stimulate hormonal production, and therefore helps your libido. Start making salads!

Can I take supplements to increase my libido?

Yes, there's good research that has been done on supplements that you can take. The vitamins A, B, C and E are the most important ones. Of those, the primary one to get is the group B vitamins.

What food can I use to seduce my partner?

Foods that you can use to seduce your partner, are those that you can eat with your fingers. Shellfish is not only good for your libido, but it's easy to have a plate of oysters, mussels, or prawns. Dips. Stuff that you can dip food into - so good old hummus, tara musselata, something like that. Asparagus, celery. All of these things are not only good for your health, but these are all the foods that are good for improving your general health, and therefore your libido. Champagne maybe. Vanilla, interestingly. Get a vanilla pod and put that in some champagne. The aroma of vanilla is a sexual stimulant. Strawberries. Anything which is easy to eat with the hands or to eat off your partners body.