|Auguste Rodin’s The Kiss|
- The science of kissing is called philematology.
- Lips are 100 times more sensitive than the tips of the fingers. They’re even more sensitive that the genitals!
- The most important muscle in kissing is the orbicularis oris, which allows the lips to “pucker.”
- French kissing involves 34 muscles in the face, while a pucker kiss involves just two.
- A nice romantic kiss burns 2-3 calories, while a hot sizzler can burn off five or even more.
- The mucus membranes inside the mouth are permeable to hormones. Through open-mouth kissing, men introduced testosterone into a woman’s mouth, the absorption of which increases arousal and the likelihood of rumpy pumpy.
- Apparently men like it wet and sloppy while women like it long and lingering.
- While we Western folk do lip service, some cultures do nose service, smelling for that romantic, sexual connection. Very mammalian, if you ask me, and who doesn’t love a good dose of pheromonal yumminess?
- Then there’s good old fashion bonding. It’s no secret that kissing someone you like increases closeness.
|Jean-Léon Gérôme’s 1890 painting|
of Pygmalion and Galatea
This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.”