Happy Condom Month! And yep, it’s that time of the year again – Valentine’s Day is coming up. Whether your relationship status is single, taken, or it’s complicated, there are plenty of activities that you can do to celebrate. Here’s a few fun tips and activities so you can celebrate all month long.
1. Spice Things Up With A Yes/No/Maybe List!
We love “yes/no/maybe” lists as a way to spark conversations about sex. It’s a worksheet that you and your partner fill out first individually – categorizing various sexual activities into columns for “yes” vs “no” vs “maybe.” Then you swap papers and discuss where you have overlaps and what might be a new activity you want to try together. It’s a great way to open up communication and learn new things about your partner’s desires. You can also do it by yourself to learn what activities peak your interests for the future.
2. Fall in love with getting tested
Knowing your status is important because sexual health is health and most sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can go undetected for weeks, sometimes even years. In fact, common STIs like Chlamydia or Gonorrhea can be asymptomatic– meaning they don’t produce any symptoms. If left undetected and thus untreated, STIs can have longer-term negative consequences such as infertility. That’s why it’s necessary to get tested if you’re sexually active even if it’s only once. Plus, it’s always nice to #KnowYourStatus.
How to get tested: Getting tested for STIs isn’t included in routine health screening contrary to belief. You have to request to be tested by asking for a full panel STI test. From there your provider will give you a risk assessment (asking in depth questions about your sexual history) and you two can create a plan on what tests you should be screened for depending on your age, gender, and kind of sex you engage in. While these questions are personal and can feel a little awkward, it’s crucial to be completely honest. Certain age groups and demographics have higher risks for contracting specific sexually transmitted infections. For example, young adults aged 15-24 account for almost half of the 26 million new sexually transmitted infections that occurred in the United States in 2018 according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Where to get tested: You can always get tested through your primary care provider if you have one, an urgent care clinic, or your local testing center wherever you reside. However, if you’re unsure of somewhere to go you can always put in your local zip code into the CDC testing facility tracker and it will show you local places to get free confidential testing!
3. Unique Date Night
Take yourself on a solo date! It could be a solo date to a coffee shop or a romantic dinner for one (no pun intended) to your favorite restaurant. Take a cooking class or try a new recipe at home, go on a hike, visit a dog rescue, or try some painting. If you like coloring and are feeling spicy, check out our naughty coloring book.
Do you have a friend that’s far away? We’re big fans of joint dinner dates on FaceTime.
If you're in a relationship, plan ahead for a date to get you in the mood! Dinners are fun, sure, but what about a joint bath together, a couples’ massage, or reading a kink/erotic book together. Cook a meal together, even if you’re not that great of a cook. It’s the thought that counts! Go to a thrift store and secretly select an outfit (within a certain budget) for your boo to wear, and then wear those out together for a cocktail or lunch. Try a little role play, for example you could pretend to pick each other up as strangers in a bar. Into board games? Our favorite is Guess Who, but there’s a whole host of fun and flirty games to choose from.
4. Adult Store Fun!
If you're single you can go to your local adult store solo or with a group of friends to find a new toy, product, or take a class to learn how to spice things up in the bedroom. Don’t fret, the store employees are always well versed on products their stores offer and can teach you how they work!
If you’re in a relationship, you and your partner can make it a fun date by going to the adult store together to pick out products or highlight things you may be interested in trying whether for solo play or together.
If you’re timid about going in person to an adult store you can shop solo or together with your partner with an online adult store. Also, most online retailers ship their products in plain discreet packaging! We don’t want to be biased, but here’s a few friends we love: SheVibe has a great variety of products and educational resources hint hint wink wink. Linnea Marie and Sex With Emily are both sexuality experts with resources and an online shop. Additional favorite online stores of ours include Babeland, Good Vibrations, and We Vibe. Have another one? Let us add it here!
5. Try a new product
Testing new condoms and lubricant is the perfect little, ahem, science experiment for Valentine’s Day. Good thing our team at ONE® HQ spends most of the day thinking about condoms – so we have a few recommendations.
Spice up your v-day with the all new ONE® Flex™ condom! The first condom in the world made with the wonder material graphene. Combining graphene with our latex formula helps make the condom super thin, strong, flexible -- and has 85% better heat transfer than typical latex condoms. Give #FlexSex a try! You could also try our unique ONE® Pleasure Plus® condom. It contains a unique pouch at the tip with ribbed texture for pleasure. The pouch moves back and forth during sex, stimulating both partners simultaneously, ooo la la! Wanna take it up a notch? Our ONE® Super Studs™ has hundreds of raised studs along the condom to stimulate nerve endings for intense pleasure. It also features a contoured, comfortable shape. Need a night light or want to play a Lightsaber? Check out Glowing Pleasures™ glow in the dark condoms.
And don’t forget lube! Lube helps add comfort and pleasure to sex, and significantly reduces the likelihood a condom will break during use. Check out our ONE® premium lubes here.
Fun fact: All ONE® & MyONE® Condoms are triple-tested, vegan-friendly, non-GMO, paraben-free, made from natural rubber latex and lubricated with medical grade silicone. Our proprietary Sensatex® softer latex moves with you for a more natural pleasure feeling. All our condoms are triple tested, and FDA cleared for the prevention of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
6. Valentine’s Is Better When You Measure Together
Did you know we have an extension of the ONE® brand called MyONE® Custom Fit™? If you’ve ever struggled with condom fit, give MyONE a try! With 52 condom sizes, it features sizes snugger and larger than any other brand. It helps solve common condom fit challenges such as slippage, squeezing, bunching, erection loss, and the dreaded “red ring of death.” Find your size code here, and then order a sample kit to try.
Measuring together is also super fun! Here’s some ways to bring up measuring with a partner, our Dic(k)tionary on all things condom fit, and some results from our latest customer survey.
You can gift someone with a penis a MyONE FitKit for V-Day! That way they can find their FitCode and have a safe and pleasurable experience whenever the time comes.You could even get them one of the MyONE Quick Samplers – each sampler has 3 different sizes within a Snug, Classic or Large range. Talk about measuring for love!
7. Surprise Yourself or Partner(s)
Whether you’re gifting yourself or your partner(s), you could get some flowers, treats, or a yummy edible arrangement. What about some fuzzy socks, a cozy beanie, a new sex toy, or fun/sexy/matching undies?
We also can’t say it loud enough: Handwritten love notes go a long way.
8. Feel the love! Galentine's day style.
Just because you don’t have a special someone on Valentine’s Day doesn’t mean it can’t be a special night. Go out with your friends for a little dinner or dancing, or organize a game night!
Have any other ideas or thoughts? Contact us at info@onecondoms.com, we’d love to hear!