Blindfolding

5 ways to play

When your eyesight isn’t available, all of your other senses are heightened – and this is what makes blindfolding so incredibly erotic. It’s one thing to play with your partner in the dark, and a completely different thing to be unable to see what your partner is doing – or planning to do next. Blindfolding can transform an everyday sexual encounter into an extraordinarily sensual one.

Blindfolding basics

Place a piece of fabric over your or your partner’s eyes – a sleep mask, a scarf, a necktie, a bandanna – and let your other senses take over. Choose a blindfold that’s comfortable to wear (not too tight so that it hurts your head, or too loose so that you can see out the bottom or light can get in), and prepare yourself for an intensely sensitive experience. Wearing a blindfold can add a dash of mystery to your sex life, giving you the opportunity to explore new sensations and enhance your sense of touch in particular. Here are five sensory experiences you can explore with blindfolding.

Touch me here

Science says that touch is the first sense we develop as humans, so it makes sense that being blindfolded enhances our sense of touch. Pressure, temperature, vibration, and the simple sensation of running our fingers over skin are all communicated to your brain via different receptors in your skin. It’s important for our health and wellbeing that we experience positive touch – so the act of touching your partner while blindfolded can be exquisitely sensitive for both of you. When you’re touching someone without being able to see them, you can experience every curve, hollow, dip, rise, texture, temperature of someone’s skin, and it’s an erotic experience for them to place your hands where they want them, or to just lay back and let you explore.

What can you feel?

As the blindfolded partner, the anticipation of not knowing how – or where – your partner is going to touch you next can be intensely erotic. Surrender your senses to the act of being touched, and perhaps to the delightfully sensual surprise of being touched with different objects or toys and being asked to guess what they are. A blindfolded sensory massage is also a relaxing indulgence you can both enjoy (and it may just lead to other things). Or take part in some temperature play – warmed massage oil vs a cold ice cube drawn slowly over the skin can provide for a thrilling contrast.

Taste test

Prepare a platter of delectable treats for your blindfolded partner to indulge in – perhaps desserts like chocolate covered strawberries, bite-sized cookies, chocolate mousse, grapes, truffles, profiteroles – and hand-feed them, letting them lick your fingers in the process. Or give them a little quiz (“Is this a jelly bean or a cherry?”) and let them nibble on the rewards.

Smellavision

Research shows that the human nose can identify over a trillion smells, but we want to concentrate on the good ones here. Aromatherapy – using natural oils to enhance wellbeing – is incredibly enjoyable while blindfolded. Ask your blindfolded partner to sniff different essential oils and try to identify what they are, or choose a massage or body product by scent (which you then massage into their skin).

Hear this

This is not like the hearing test you take at the doctor’s office – but being blindfolded can mean your sense of hearing is amplified. Whisper sweet nothings into your partner’s ears while they’re blindfolded, or narrate what you’re doing – and what you’re about to do – for them to imagine in their mind’s eye. Games where hearing is the sense they’ll need to rely on, like a playful game of tag where the blindfolded person tries to find you by hearing and touch, can be fun (as long as you’re in a safe space where they won’t trip over an unseen obstacle!).

Two’s company

If you’re feeling adventurous, try feeding each other a meal while you’re both blindfolded – it might get messy, so if you end up blindfolded in the shower together afterward, all the better. Or just doing the deed while you’re both blindfolded can add an extra edge of excitement to the experience. Hey, anything that makes the same-old feel different can be fun, right?

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