First kisses are etched in your memory forever because of the way they make you feel. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience and marks your life entering a new phase.
The first kiss feels like a magical experience from a fairy tale. It invokes in us numerous positive emotions and sensations that we experience at the same time. However, the caveat is that the first kiss should be with someone you desire. Else, it can be painfully disappointing as reality often is.
There is much more to how the first kiss can make you feel than described in a few words. Also, there are some key pointers to remember to make it live up to your expectations.
First Kiss Experience
Take the following with a grain of salt, as not everybody will have the same experience.
And even if things get messed up, you can always make your second kiss exponentially better by working on what went wrong.
It is better not to surrender to the hype around the first kiss as it only stresses you out. At the end of the day, it’s just another kiss.
1. The First Kiss Seems Perfect (Even If It’s Not)
Your first kiss would feel perfect and surreal to you, even if it would be far from it. Why?
Because since it is your first kiss, you do not have any parameters or parallels in the form of other experiences to compare it with.
Is that bad, though? No! During your first kiss, you’d be so overwhelmed that you might not even worry about getting the technique right.
Thus, someone who thinks whether or not it’s a good kiss is a rare occurrence.
Thoughts like how you can make the kisses better start popping in your head once you are kissing frequently and become comfortable with the whole experience.
2. Feels Like A Dream
The first kiss would invoke a sense of euphoria in you. Ever heard of the term ‘runner’s high’?
Many runners experience an extremely relaxed state of mind during a runner’s high after a long run.
You feel delighted due to several reasons like covering such a long distance and giving your body some really good exercise.
Your first kiss can give you a similar feeling without the long strenuous run! Due to the adrenaline rush in your body, you’ll feel as if you are in a dream world.
Apart from the adrenaline, your body also releases the pleasure signal chemical dopamine, which is released when you’re engaged in an activity that you enjoy.
These happy chemicals give you the experience of a state of trance.
3. There Is A Tingling Sensation In The Stomach
This one might creep you out a bit. But there is no other way to explain it.
Your first kiss would make you feel as if a thousand butterflies were fluttering around in your stomach.
Fret not, though, as everything would be perfectly fine, and there are no literal insects in your body.
What’s actually happening is that the blood vessels surrounding your stomach and intestines contract. The digestive system contracts too!
Thus, the blood flow gets reduced in your digestive system.
Since the first kiss is a completely new experience for your body, it activates its emergency response mode by releasing adrenaline and cortisol.
The blood flows towards the heart and limbs, away from your digestive system.
Upon release, another chemical, oxytocin (also known as the love hormone), gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling.
4. Your Body Becomes More Sensitive
The nerve endings on your body become more sensitive, and you start experiencing more sensations than usual. These are not limited only to your mouth or face.
Instead, they become a full-body experience.
A slight gust of wind would send a shiver down your spine, and you feel electrifying sensations wherever your partner will touch and caress you while kissing.
You’ll be much more aware of your body and your surroundings at that moment. Your brain would enter into a hyper-focus mode.
At one moment, you’ll feel your body stiffen, but at the very next moment, you’ll find yourself melting away in the arms of your partner.
5. Time Seems To Stop
When you kiss for the first time, those few seconds will feel like an eternity, and still, you’ll want more.
Time would seem to come to a halt, and your brain will try to soak in as much information as it can.
Most first kisses are of relatively short duration as people do not have much to do.
But you are so overwhelmed and surprised that it takes some time for your brain to accommodate what is going on.
A few seconds later, you are engrossed in the kiss and enjoying the novel experience as it opens up a whole new world for you.
6. Gentle And Innocent
First kisses are mostly innocent if both the people are doing it for the first time.
When experienced, people are much more likely to let their hands explore each other’s bodies.
While first-time kissers do it too, it is not as common because they just want to enjoy the kiss and not push it to the next level, i.e., physical intimacy.
They are so overwhelmed by the kiss itself that they seldom think of doing something else.
And those who do want to let their hands drift a bit are often scared about how their partner would react.
They aren’t too confident about their own actions and their partner’s response.
7. You’ll Feel A Bit Scared
If you’ve never done it before, kissing someone can be a bit terrifying. There is this fear of getting caught, and for some reason, it feels wrong, even though it is not!
Further, there is an extreme glorification by our friends and in movies about how perfect the first kiss feels and how it should be.
This might pressure you into making it a memorable experience for yourself and your partner and is enough to stress anybody out.
This is exactly what you shouldn’t do. It’s just a kiss. Even if it goes horribly wrong, there is always the next time and several occasions after that.
As long as the person you’re kissing is into you, you need not worry.
8. The First Kiss Might Feel Awkward
First kisses are also notorious for being far from what was imagined.
People often find them extremely awkward, and most of it can be attributed to the lack of experience in one or both partners.
What makes them even more difficult is the unfamiliar movement of our heads, bumping of noses, and doubts about where to keep our hands.
Further, adjusting to each other’s height, lips struggling to fit, and the erratic breathing pose a challenge. It is quite normal to get breathless while kissing.
Always remember that nobody is born a great kisser. You get better gradually every time you kiss.
9. Tons Of Thoughts Run Through Your Mind
There will be so many things going through your mind that might keep you from thoroughly enjoying the kiss.
First-time kissers are really self-conscious as they want everything to be perfect. Thus, they are constantly questioning themselves with thoughts like
- Are my lips soft?
- Maybe I am putting too much pressure?
- Do I have bad breath?
- What am I supposed to do?
- Is the lip movement correct?
People are so scared of messing things up that this is exactly what they do at the end.
These self-doubts often make the person freak out over relatively trivial things, which might ruin the moment completely.
10. Your Heartbeat Will Get Faster
All the excessive blood in our body lies dormant in our digestive system until it is ready to be used somewhere.
As mentioned earlier, since more blood is rushing towards the heart, away from your digestive system, your heartbeat will get much faster.
In turn, your heart will pump blood rapidly to the required areas of your body, like the limbs that can help you in the events of an emergency.
Apart from the release of chemicals, other reasons for a faster heartbeat are the nervousness and anxiety related to the kiss.
Since people expect a lot from their first kiss, they fret a bit too much over it, and thus their emergency body responses kick in.
Your limbs might feel a bit wobbly, and the pupils will dilate too due to the same.
11. You’ll Experience A Mixture Of Emotions
Since it’ll be your first kiss, you’ll be experiencing a series of emotions in a short duration.
There will be a certain fear about how the person you are kissing might be feeling. You’ll want to ensure that they’re enjoying the kiss.
You’ll also be amazed by how good it feels to kiss the person you always wanted to.
If you’re sneakily stealing your first kiss in a public place or where you might get caught by someone you know, you’ll be terrorized over what would happen and what you will do.
You might even feel a tiny bit insecure if it is not your partner’s first kiss. In that case, you’d want your kiss to be their best experience ever.
Perhaps you’d even want that the only person they should ever kiss from now onwards should be you.
Into oblivion is where you’ll be next when you finally let yourself go, begin enjoying the kiss, and surrender yourself completely in the arms of your partner.
12. There Can Be Disappointment
We often expect our first kisses to be magical, but the reality is that they are really disappointing for many people.
Bad breath from either or both partners is a huge attraction killer which ruins the moment.
Due to inexperience, first-time kissers might even bite each other’s lips which can be uncontrolled and thus pretty hurtful.
Since most people get their idea of kissing from on-screen visuals, they might even try to use their tongue, which they have no experience of.
Due to this, the kiss might feel sloppy and disgusting as you’d not only feel someone else’s tongue in your mouth but also the wetness of the inside of their lips on your mouth.
There might also be a weird aftertaste in your mouth depending on your partner’s oral hygiene (or lack of it) and what they ate last.
Chapped lips are another issue that makes kissing uncomfortable. They might even cut the other person’s lips due to the dry skin edges peeling off.
Lastly, there is no control over your saliva due to the lack of experience, and thus first kisses can get drooly.
13. Emotionally Arousing
You’ll always remember your first kiss due to the strong emotions you feel.
First kisses get etched in our memory irrespective of whether they are awesome or disappointing.
There is just so much going on before, during, and after the kiss that they’re hard to forget.
Most probably, you’ll feel awesome while kissing someone for the first time and are quite likely to remember that feeling.
The experience is so emotionally arousing that you’ll remember it with great clarity.
Further, you apprehend your first kiss so vividly that you remember it equally vividly later on.
The neurochemicals being secreted during the first kiss make it an intense experience.
14. A Huge Weight Will Be Off Your Chest
You’ll feel that you’ve finally addressed the elephant in the room as you’re no longer a kiss virgin.
This is especially true for those who have their friends reiterate their kissing experiences from time to time but cannot give an input of their own.
Peer pressure often makes them depressed and question their perceived attractiveness which dents their self-confidence big time.
While we are at it, it’s worth mentioning that there is no right age for the first kiss, even if you’re well into your 30s, 40s, or beyond that.
Don’t freak out or jump to conclusions about yourself just because no one has kissed you till now. These things do not define you.
The lesser you think about it, the more likely it is to happen.
By being desperate about it, we only make our personality more repulsive, thus hampering our chances to be with someone decent who’d like to kiss us.
TABLE: Age Of First Kiss For North American Individuals
| Age | Share Of Respondents |
|---|---|
| Under 13 years | 10% |
| 13-15 years | 24% |
| 16-18 years | 21% |
| 19-20 years | 17% |
| 21-25 years | 12% |
| 26-30 years | 10% |
| 31-40 years | 5% |
| 40+ years | 1% |
15. You Might Feel Physically Aroused
While first-time kisses are innocent, it is not unnatural to feel aroused.
It is a normal bodily reaction, and people can feel like exploring the other dimensions of physical intimacy during the first kiss.
Do not label yourself or your partner if they feel aroused. It only shows how attractive they find you and how irresistible you are to them.
But, make sure that they are not with you only for the physical pleasures and plan to use you and say goodbye forever.
Your best kisses would come from someone who desires you both physically and emotionally.
The same goes for you. You are much more likely to enjoy your first kiss and remember it as a positive experience if you desire the person you kiss.
Do not kiss someone just because you want to get it over with.
16. Calmness And Happiness At The End
You’ll feel a sense of calmness, happiness, and a small achievement towards the end of the kiss.
Not only have you finally experienced this incredible moment which is often the beginning of a new relationship, but you also have someone in your life to look forward to.
Thus, it is important to repeat that make sure your first kiss is with someone you want.
The feeling of having someone you may fall in love with in the future or already love cannot be expressed in words. It is almost surreal to be loved back by someone.
Cherish the moment as much as you can because there are no second first kisses.
Conclusion
It’s a wholesome experience to have your first kiss play out exactly how you imagined it. But if you’re worrying too much about it, you are doing it all wrong.
You are essentially beginning from the point of disadvantage and more likely to end up disappointed. People across a vast age range experience their first kiss.
It is not a problem if you haven’t had yours till now. Let things flow naturally before, during, and after your first kiss to maximize your chances of making the most of it.