Work the room: joke that your only resolution is to be kissed on NYE. Unless you have a kissing partner, you’ll need to be charming, or at least adorably nerdy but still kind of brave.
Hygiene check: this is crucial. Keep your lips conditioned (lip balm or a nice or neutral flavor or scent; or go easy on the gooey lip gloss). Check regularly to make sure you don’t have olives in your teeth, that your teeth are brushed (!), and that your breath is inviting. If you’re not sure, keep mints handy or nibble mint leaves or lemon from your cocktail garnish.
Ask first, unless you know your kiss-ee is willing.
Moisten your lips, but don’t make them wet. Do this during the countdown from ten.
When the ball drops, and the cheer gets loud, go in for the kiss. You don’t need to wait for them to finish their sip of champagne.
First point of contact: eyes. Make eye contact and smile as you move in for the kiss.
Second point of contact: hands. Touch as you come close for the kiss; don’t grab. Hands can go on the waist, small of the back, shoulders, or you can stagger your hands so one is at the back of the neck and another is pulling them close, in the middle of their back. Hair! Don’t mess up the hair!
Third point of contact: lips. Soft, slightly pursed. Don’t do duckface. Death to duckface. Pause, then make lip contact. This way you avoid chipping a tooth with your excitement. Don’t mash lips; that actually hurts. Keep your lips soft and press, savor. The quiet in the chaos is in your kiss. Right now, it is the only moment that matters on earth.
In the kiss: when you have lip contact, then you can let the passion out. Pull closer, slowly angle your head as you press in. One tip is to imagine your nose drawing the slowest invisible figure-eight you can. As in, you may not complete the eight before it’s time to stop. Keep your tongue to yourself. Okay, maybe just a little (little!) but this is a kiss you want to keep neat and hot, not sloppy. It’s okay to close your eyes. Do a measured count to five for a long kiss, then slowly open your eyes.
Kiss like you mean it; kiss like you want to be kissed on the first minute of the New Year.
If you don’t count and just go with the feeling, a great way to know when to stop is to listen to your environment. Louder or quieter, or singing; the change around you indicates it’s time to stop.
How to end it: after your count, open your eyes and break the kiss with a smile. If you want to thank your kiss-ee, it’s a cute touch.
If you have questions about kissing and body language (helpful if your kiss-ee is not someone you really know), get answers on the How To Kiss page on this website. If you liked this post, you might also like my book Seal It With A Kiss: Tips, tricks and Techniques for Delivering the Knockout Kiss.
Image by Ellen Von Unwerth, via.
Thanks! This is good advice.
Dyna :)
“Right now, it is the only moment that matters on earth.” Gorgeously poetic!
Hi Violet — You’ve probably already noted this, but your book The Ultimate Guide to Cunnilingus is favorably reviewed in the Jan. 2011 issue of Harpers Magazine (on p. 66). It’s behind a pay-wall: http://www.harpers.org/subjects/VioletBlue
My wife told me that she thought it was weird that I said thank you after we kissed. Otherwise, great advice.
Holy fuck, i could’ve used this information years ago.
I’ve generally kinda avoided it, this year i’m totally going for it.
Thank you miss blue.
How can one make the move to just do it if her partner’s waaay taller than her?
Great advice! I’m single this new years eve & am gonna do this!!!