Women's Health

In Case You Had Questions, Here's How To Put On A Condom

Not sure what sex education looked like in your high school but it for sure wasn't the ol' banana on a condom tutorial for me. It's disappointing because it was by far the thing I looked most forward to doing in sex education, that and carrying those damn egg babies around in an odd attempt at simulating parenthood. Even with my mom gifting me a golden compact mirror for my 16th birthday, inscribed with "Just in Case", and a secret compartment with a Lifestyle condom neatly tucked into it, she wasn't about to show me how to use it. Yet, the knowledge piece is just as important. Arguably more important to know is how to put a condom on.

And based on most of the women I texted, and asked, "How do you put on a condom," it's clear that the knowledge is lacking or I have too many coupled friends, and thus they see no purpose. Nevertheless, it was an eye-opener that even if we wanted to initiate condom use, so many of us know nothing beyond "pinch the tip and roll it down." Moving forward, all you need to know is L.I.P.S.T.I.C.K.

In this instance, when learning how to put on a condom--at least an external condom--you want to remember the acronym L.I.P.S.T.I.C.K!

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Now, here's how to put on a condom step-by-step, or L.I.P.S.T.I.C.K.:

Look at the expiration date. Yes, condoms expire and while they have an pretty long shelf life, you'll still want to double-check.

Inspect the condom for holes, air bubbles, and then open it.

Pinch the tip and place the condom on with the pinched tip facing up. If your partner is uncircumcised, you will need to pull the foreskin back, first.

Slide the condom to the base of the penis. This ensures that you've covered as much skin as possible since some sexually transmitted infections are transmitted from skin-to-skin contact rather than the exchange of fluids.

Time for some fun. Aeeoowww.

Isolate the shaft of the penis by holding the condom in place while pulling it out. It's more effective if you manage to do this before your partner starts to lose their erection.

Carefully remove condom and properly dispose of it in trash, not the toilet.

Keep these steps in mind!

Putting condoms on doesn't have to be awkward and take us out of the moment. As you become more experienced at putting the condom on, you can take this task on from your partner and add some sensuality to it make the act far more seamless.

Featured image by Shutterstock