Kissing Facts and Kissing Records

Lip Size An Important Factor in Attraction

Scientists have found that the size of a person's lips can make a big difference to how attractive other people find them.

Basically, big lips are considered to be attractive, however it is possible for lips to be too big. Men consider a full pout on a woman to be a turn-on, however Mick Jagger-style lips may not necessarily be perfect on a man.Men's lips should be full yet virile-looking, according to the women surveyed.

Thin or pursed lips on a woman were seen as signaling a lack of desire, while full, red lips were seen as a reflection of warmth and sensitivity.

"Roy Levin, a psychologist from Sheffield University, UK, said the act of kissing was loaded with sensory stimulation. 'In the lips are touch and pressure receptors which fire off messages to the brain," he said. 'So you know straight away that this is a friend's kiss or a lover's kiss.'" (from a BBC article)

Kissing Under the Mistletoe

At Christmas, it's traditional for lovers to kiss under the mistletoe as a sign of romantic intentions, although it could also mean good luck or future prosperity. The practice has its roots in ancient Celtic mythology, when the Druids considered mistletoe to be magical and used it to make various magic concoctions. Tradition also held that if two enemies met under mistletoe they would have to lay down their arms and treat with each other.

The kissing part comes from Norse mythology. The goddess Freya's son was killed by a spear made from mistletoe, thereby bringing winter into the world. Freya declared that mistletoe become a sacred plant thenceforth, and that it be a token of love rather than death.

More Kissing Facts

* International Kissing Day is February 5th.

* The Catholic Church declared kissing to be a mortal sin in the middle ages.

* The average person will spend an estimated 20,160 min kissing in their lifetime.

* Our brains have special neurons that help us find eachothers lips in the dark.

* You burn 26 calories in a one minute kiss.

* The scientific name for kissing is philematology.

* The fear of kissing is called Philematophobia.

Kissing Records

* At present the world record for most couples kissing in one place at one time is held by the Filipinos (see news). On Valentines Day 2004, 5122 couples locked lips for 10 seconds to break the record.

* The record for the world's longest kiss went to an Italian couple on Valentines Day 2004, who kissed each other for 31 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds. Andrea Sarti and Anna Chen beat the record previously held by Americans Rich Langley and Louisa Almedovar who had kissed for 30 hours and 59 minutes in 2001. Apparently Andrea required oxygen treatment at the end of the kiss.

According to the rules, the kiss must be continuous with the lips touching at all times. They must be standing, not asleep, and cannot take rest or toilet breaks.

* Most people kissed in the shortest amount of time: This record occured at the Minnesota Rennaissance Festival on 15 September 1990. Alfred Wolfram from New Brighton, kissed 8001 women in 8 hours - over sixteen people a minute.

* The longest underwater kiss occurred in Tokyo Japan on 2 April 1980. It lasted for 2 minutes and 18 seconds.