Hey y'all,

So, some friends of mine are super into the idea of having a Pure Romance (or similar) party. Which is cool...I'm down with that, but I don't know if I could handle a party by that particular brand.

I am so so so not interested in attending a party where there are things including:

* Numbing creams
* Vaginal tighteners
* Sex toys made of undisclosed material
* Sex toys made with phthalates and are not suggested to be used with a condom


Basically, I'd prefer a party where the consultant wasn't pushing materials that are unsafe, or somewhat patriarchal (e.g. vaginal tighteners. No thanks!)

So far, the only companies I have found are Pure Romance, and Passion Parties - both offer creams that I find offensive and unhealthy. Neither lists what material their toys are made of (that I can find). And neither has a section called "Dildos" on their website, which is obviously not an ethical issue, but does make navigating their site rather difficult! Its a sex toy shop, is it so hard to imagine that a person might be looking for a dildo? ;)

So, any ideas VPers? Is it unrealistic of me to expect that ANY company would exist that does not sell these things? I don't think babeland does, but I also don't think they do parties. :(

Edit: I'm located in Central NY State...which is not exactly promising, as far as finding a better party-giver, I know.

This may seem like a stupid question, but where do STI's come from, how did they originate?
I mean, I know they are transmitted by sex, but where did it start? Like, did every case of chlmydia start from one person and it spread from there and because not every single person that has it gets treated, so it continues to spread? Is it possible for it to just spontaneously occur without contact with an infected person? I'm talking specifically about about chlmydia in this case. For example, say I was tested 6 weeks/months ago with negative results and had no sexual activity at all since that test, would it be possible to suddenly have a positive test? What if two people were tested with negative results and only had sexual contact with each other, no one else, and six weeks later both tested positive. Would it be possible to have gotten it from each other?
I'm just curious, a friend and I got into a conversation about STI's and transmission and I realized I had no clear idea, other then STI's are transmitted through what is termed 'unsafe' sexual activity, and I wondered if it was possible for STI's to spread though 'safe' sexual activity as well.
Are there new STI's emerging?

Cross-posted to sexual_health

I literally just woke up with a potential answer in my head to a problem that I've been having for a while and I wanted to run it by you folks to see if there might be any legitimacy to it.

My boyfriend and I have been dating for almost three and a half years. We both live in the same home town (we met in high school) but are in a long distance relationship while at college. The good thing is we are together on vacations/over the summer.

We have noticed that, when we're home, I do not have the highest of sex drives. This is unfortunate because summer vacations are the longest consecutive time we get to spend together. I am a very sexual person, I feel, so when he first brought it up to me ("Hey... is there a reason we haven't had sex in like a week?") I was really surprised and embarrassed. "Oh God, why haven't we had sex in a week??" thought I. We have great, fantastic sex multiple times a day whenever we visit each other at school, and on vacations and such. I'm still very attracted to him and love him deeply. For some reason, though, when we're in my bed at home, all I want to do is snuggle or sleep. The thought of sex is...fine... but not on my priorities list at all. Usually, I feel more up to it at his house, but it's not usually an option as his mother is a bit of a night owl.

Could this have something to do with the fact that I am somehow deeply psychologically tied to the fact that this is the room/bed I grew up in? Thinking back to it, all other sexual encounters that I had before him were not in my room/house. They were in cars, his house, etc. Obviously, we do have sex in my room all the time because we kind of have to, but my desire for it is significantly less than when we are elsewhere. Again, I crave sex all the time when we're in either of our dorm rooms. Might it be that my room is kind of a symbol of innocence for my brain? Perhaps we need to get a little more creative when we're home!

Any thoughts, ideas or similar experiences?

2 questions:

If taking HBC and i get a withdrawal bleed but i want to take a pregnancy test, when would be the best time to take it? while on inactives? when i start bleeding?

ALSO: does anyone here use an epilator? do they take off much skin (compared to say shaving)?

Okay- so this probably sounds really dumb, but how do you shave your pubic area into a landing strip?

Wait.. I know HOW. The real question is: any tips on making it STRAIGHT? Whenever I've tried, it's always a bit wonky-looking.


Thanks, VP!

What is the usual time frame for an at home pregnancy test showing a positive? The last time I had PIV was just over 2 months ago, and there was ejaculation inside of the vagina though very little. I'm not on any birth control, we were using pull out though towards the end he slipped a little. Fast forward, I bled a little a few weeks later though it was very light bleeding compared to my usual extremely heavy periods. I do have hypothyroidism and am on both Armour thyroid and liothyronine for it which increases the chance of miscarriage. Are there any medications that can indicate a false positive test result I should be aware of? I was just sick with the flu last week and was taking a cough syrup with coedine and tamiflu.

Lately I've had extreme bouts of nausea, no appetite, mood swings, sore breasts, back pain...a lot of common pregnancy symptoms. I've had so much going on in my life it never even occured to me I could be pregnant, I just figured it was stress and that my cycles have never been very regular to begin with. Tomorrow I was going to get a pregnancy test just in case. I'm not in a place in my life right now where I would be able to raise a child, so I'm really scared right now. Any advice would be helpful, thank you.

Whenever I have vaginal sex, whatever the position, it feels painful around the entrance of my vagina; not to say I don't enjoy it but that there seems always to be some pain of an almost stinging sort which prevents me from carrying on for as long as we otherwise would. It has been becoming more of an issue recently because I am so afraid of vaginal sex being disappointing or cut short that I have found myself avoiding it entirely.

I have been having sex for 3 years with one partner (I am also his first). I am on the pill but I don't think it is a case of lack of libido or lubrication; we have always had extensive foreplay and have tried a variety of (non-glycerin) lubes. I have had yeasties in the past but both my boyfriend and I have used yoghurt and canesten to treat them so I don't think its a current problem.

I have been considering buying a dildo/internal vibrator as I think this way I could 'practise' and acclimatise my body to being penetrated. (I think a toy might allow for short but frequent attempts that as I am in a long distance relationship sex cannot) I have also wondered whether it is possible that there could be 'remnants' of my hymen that are stretched but not broken? (I know this sounds implausible but I am really searching here)

Does anybody have any recommendations for suitable toys? (I live in the UK but would consider ordering online although I don't want anything too expensive)

Also, any other ideas on possible causes / solutions to painful sex.

I know this is my 3rd post about this, but I'm really worried...and I got very few responses to my last entry. :(

Once again, asking for a friend. They have a tender area on their vagina with like maybe 3-ish slighly raised bumped. That only hurt when pressure is applied. The irritation has been there for at least a good 48hrs now. They might be slightly bigger now, but its really hard to tell if the irritation has gotten worse or stayed the same.

So the main question is: How long does it take for herpes lesions to form? Do they turn into blisters pretty quickly?...or can it be a slow process? Does it vary from person to person?

If anyone has any answers to these questions, please PLEASE help. :(
Doctors appointment today. Really freaked out.

about a year ago, i started taking birth control for the first time, but only stuck with it for a little under three months. during the first month, i remember my period lasting at least 10 days due to my body adjusting and whatnot.

i have recently started taking the same birth control(ortho tri-cyclen lo) again, and am just finishing up the first pack. my period came on wednesday but seems a lot lighter than normal, and also seems to be already finishing up, which seems weird to me.

is it possible that once your body initially adjusts to birth control once, it will not need to adjust again even if you take a year long break in between starting and stopping? normally my period is fairly heavy and lasts about 7 days, so i am curious as to the cause of it being so light and short so suddenly.

sorry if this question sounds silly!

I had sex last night and when I went to toss the wrapper, I noticed it was a "Lifestyle Skyn", an apparently "non latex" condom. It has a gold wrapper so I assumed it was a magnum. What are "non latex" condoms made of? Should I worry that it wasn't as effective as latex condoms? Anyone have any experience with this one? I noticed it had a price stamp for 2 bucks. 2 bucks for one condom? lol...