Text: Bryan Chan

I’m a little surprise that I’ve never mentioned the ultimate in body care in DS Magazine before in terms of the most important place for body care –the bed!

Regardless of whether you are a top or bottom, condoms and lubricant are a MUST when doing the up close and personal with your lucky bed partner. Always keep condoms and lubricant within easy reach both at your bedside and in your wallet or bag if you’re in the “hunting” mood. Also make sure that your condoms haven’t passed their sell-by date and that you’ve chosen a reputable brand – the Chinese magazine ‘CHOICE’ last month listed condoms that known to be faulty and these are mainland China and Taiwanese brands!

As all you responsible boys and girls should know, latex condoms are the recommended type to use, and although people look for the thinner condoms – you should always remember the main reason for wearing them – to prevent infection from STD’s and HIV – so the stronger the better! As for lubricant… Why do we have to use lubricant – I hear you ask? Can’t we do without and use our saliva like we see in some movies? Umm… well I’ve never tried the whole spit and trust thing, but all I can envisage is the condom breaking without the aid of lubricant, and the tender skin of the anal wall will tear and possibly bleed… not my idea of fun!

The most commonly known lubricant is KY by Johnson & Johnson, and people have used the name “KY” as the name for all lubricants. But now we have many more choices with brands providing better quality lubricants some even interesting variants in colour, smell, sensation and texture. Latex condoms can only be used with water or silicone based lubricants. Oil based lubricants such as Vaseline, massage oils and baby oil will dissolve the latex and break the condom, don’t use them!

After asking a few of my friends it seems that they don’t even know the difference between water and silicone based lubricants! Simply, water based lubes are easy to clean up, but don’t last as long. Silicone lubes last longer, but can stain sheets and clothes, and will leave a sticky feeling for a day even if you wash right afterwards. Experiment with both and see what you like. My advice is if you are not making-out with your boyfriend, and don’t want him to find out – then go for the water-based option so that you don’t find yourself in a ‘sticky’ situation!carries a good selection of English books. They also sell post cards, magazines, comics, photo books and DVDs.