Inject some imaginative and goofy play into your lovemaking routine by following these tips from real North Shore women — all of whom have sworn me to secrecy about their identities. Many couples only feel truly uninhibited in a hotel room or when their kids are out of the house, but the truth is, adult play dates are easiest to schedule at home in the evening. So before the games begin, make sure you have a decent lock on your bedroom door so you can get silly without worrying about interruptions. Make a regular date night extra exciting by letting your inner bad girl run the show. Get a bikini wax and a manicure in a deep, vampy shade. A friend and her husband often use role-play to get in the mood. To heighten the illusion of newness, create a sexy scenario and dress the part — a blonde wig, cowboy hat, pirate eye patch, tall boots, whatever.

There comes in a time in any relationship, regardless of how happy you both are , that the sex component can take a dip —whether it's hormonal, stress-related, or you've just been with the same partner for so long that no amount of pillow talk or date nights will make you want to get intimate. But when things get a bit monotonous in the boudoir, it is possible to spice things up. We put together a list of expert—and reader-approved—sex tips that people say have helped them spice things up. As Nelly says, "It's gettin' hot in herre, so take off all your clothes

Lucia O'Sullivan received funding from The Canadian Institutes for Health Research that funded a project that she described in this article. Most news covers the sex lives of young people in terms of hookups, raunch culture, booty calls and friends with benefits. You might think that young people have it all figured out, equating sex with full-on, self-indulgent party time. Despite my decades as a researcher studying their intimate lives, I too assumed that the first years of consensual partnered sex were pleasurable for most, but got progressively worse over time. How else to explain the high rates of sexual dysfunctions reported by adults?