Sex & Relationships

These kissing positions will make makeouts with your partner even better.
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10 Best Kissing Positions That Maximize Your Makeout Session

Ready to step up your game?

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Pick up any magazine or peruse any website and you're sure to find tons of articles referencing the best positions for orgasms or the hottest positions for getting it on. But everyone forgets to mention kissing and the best kissing positions for you and your SO.

While both sex and kissing are incredible in their own ways, there's something so hot about a good makeout session that will always spice things up in a relationship. “There are so many benefits of kissing,” says Martha Lee, doctor of human sexuality (DHS), relationship counselor, clinical sexologist, and founder of Eros Coaching. “It makes us feel good, feel accepted, feel aroused, creates closeness, boosts confidence, and facilitates greater intimacy.” When you kiss your partner, your brain releases happy hormones like oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin, while reducing stress hormones. “According to researcher Helen Fisher, the effect of the dopamine that can be released during a great kiss is comparable to the activation that drugs like heroin and cocaine have on the brain,” Lee tells Romper.

But unlike an unhealthy drug habit, puckering up on the regular may be beneficial to your health in the long run. Lee explains that the self-esteem boost from habitual kissing can improve your life in a number of areas. “A German study from the 1980s by psychologist Arthur Szabo found [that] kissing your partner in the morning before heading off to work is linked with some amazing life improvements,” she says. “The participants who kissed their partners were said to have lived a median of five years longer than those who didn't, hold jobs paying between 20% and 35% more, lessened their chance of illness by up to 50%, and be involved in significantly fewer car accidents.”

And if the dopamine hit and purported health perks — or even the simple pleasure of kissing — aren’t enough, do it for the free facelift. Kissing increases blood flow to the face, which can stimulate the production of collagen and elastin. “In an editorial for the American Journal of Medicine, American cardiologist Joseph S. Alpert, M.D., says a simple peck only takes two muscles in the face to create the exchange, but a passionate kiss can activate up to 24 facial muscles and 112 postural muscles,” Lee explains. You’re essentially giving your face muscles a workout to shape up your neck and jawline as you smooch your honey — it’s a win all the way around.

Finding the perfect kissing position just makes it all better. Of course, any kiss is good, but certain positions put your bodies together in a way that takes everything to the next level. Some can even completely turn you on without getting to the point of sex. A good kissing position allows you to touch each other, go slow or speed it up, and connect with your partner. And don’t worry — it doesn’t require some Hollywood movement out in the rain. These ten makeout positions will up your tongue game to full-on foreplay and remind you why you love to kiss your partner.

1

Person On Top

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Lay your partner down and climb on top for some slightly dominant kissing action. Pin their hands down (if they're into that) and let your body do the talking as you lean across them to kiss. “The ‘pinning them down’ part gives this a dominance vibe that many partners will find extremely hot,” Carol Queen, Ph.D., sex therapist and staff sexologist at Good Vibrations, tells Romper. “You don't have to go any further into kink than this to get a taste of that particular eroticism.”

2

Chest To Chest

Straddling your partner while they're in a chair or on a bed gives a really intimate feel to your kiss. You can get even more turned on, as your hands will be free to roam and touch each other. It's incredibly sensual to kiss with your chests together, and this is “extra true if you're both naked on top (at least) because you get the skin-on-skin eroticism,” says Queen. “This is also great because it will often even up your heights a bit if the person on the bottom is taller.”

3

Against The Wall

Sex against the wall? Too hard to enjoy. But making out against a wall? Too hot. Lots of space to let those hands wander, too. “This lends itself to exhibitionism when you do it outside, and there's always the ‘against the car’ and ‘against a tree’ variations,” notes Queen.

4

Side By Side

Laying in bed together is always a sweet act, and it's the perfect position to start kissing. Lie down in a relaxed, comfortable way so you and your partner can focus on your lip lock. “Get your pillows bunched up just right, and it'll be like you're in a little love nest,” Queen suggests. Plus, you’re already in bed should things get extra steamy.

5

Cuddled Up Together

No matter how you and your SO like to cuddle, there's plenty of opportunity to start a makeout session in that position. Your bodies are pressed against each other, and you can let your hands wander in all directions. “This can start out naked in bed and lead to more explicit sexiness, or on the sofa during a commercial,” Queen tells Romper. “Just remember, if one of you has to turn their head to reach the other's lips, to move the cuddle position to a face-to-face one before long.”

6

Sitting Side By Side

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Remember those days when you had to sit next to each other and make out so you could quickly look like you were paying attention to the TV when your parents walked in? That makeout position can still be totally hot — and comfortable. “One can focus on the kissing and less on supporting oneself in standing,” notes Lee. Have your legs pressed up against each other, hands on the back of each other's head, trying hard to resist dry humping right there on the couch, and keeping each other's clothes on.

7

Missionary

Missionary position can get a bad rep for being boring when it comes to sex — which it’s totally not — but when it comes to kissing, it's majorly hot. Wrap your legs around your partner's waist and get all tangled up in each other while still letting the passion build. “This is truly classic ‘foreplay kissing’ — though you don't have to go all the way to have it be completely erotic,” says Queen. “As with the sex position, be aware of not putting the top partner's full weight on the bottom partner, unless that's something s/he/they like.”

8

The “Spider-Man” Kiss

This iconic cinema kiss can be recreated at home — and it’s as romantic as if you were dangling from a fire escape. “This is weird and wonderful,” says Queen. “Lie in opposite directions so that your lips meet upside-down. It makes kissing the same exact person an entirely new experience.”

9

The Almost-Kiss Kiss

Anticipation is half the fun, even for a simple makeout. “Rather than gentle sucking and nibbling at the ear lobe, do the same at the top or bottom lip,” Lee says. “Think of a slow build where less is often more. This allows you to plant a kiss without committing to one immediately.” This super slowed down kiss brings in all the sensuality.

10

Lotus Kissing

Some of the best makeout positions are simply PG-13 versions of spicer renditions, like the lotus. In sex, it’s hot. When kissing? Also hot. “One partner sits cross-legged, the other sits on their lap facing them,” Queen explains, noting that while it is traditionally a sex position, it’s “extremely well-suited to kissing. ... It's intimate, with plenty of opportunity to look into each others' eyes and murmur sexy or loving words.”

Sex is important in a relationship, but don’t forget about the simple pleasures of a good old-fashioned makeout sesh. Get to lip locking and try one of these steamy kissing positions to up the intimacy and closeness with your partner. Here’s to happy hormones.

Studies referenced:

Basu, P., Sen, U., Tyagi, N., & Tyagi, S. C. (2010). Blood flow interplays with elastin: collagen and MMP: TIMP ratios to maintain healthy vascular structure and function. Vascular health and risk management, 6, 215–228. https://doi.org/10.2147/vhrm.s9472

​​Alpert, J. S. (2013). Philematology: The Science of Kissing. A Message for the Marital Month of June. The American Journal of Medicine, 126(6), 466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2012.12.022

Experts:

Carol Queen, Ph.D., sex therapist and staff sexologist at Good Vibrations

Dr. Martha Lee, D.H.S., relationship counselor, clinical sexologist, author, and owner of Eros Coaching

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