(When put to the test, the defence “It was only a snog” does not always hold a lot of water.)Some partners, though, are remarkably tolerant (or possibly blind). “I once tried to provoke my ex-boyfriend into chucking me by snogging somebody else but he completely missed the point,” complained Anne, 24. Snogging is just snogging and doesn’t mean anything else is promised. Boys know that’s the way it is.”And you can also allow yourself a snog on the side if you have a regular partner, without feeling too bad; it’s not as if (theoretically) it’s any more than a bit of kissing, after all. “Calling people gay is not libel, QC tells jury” reported the Times.

“We snog a lot at clubs and parties, it’s just a nice thing to do,” says Suzanne, 19. “When I was at school it was a really big deal and it would be all ‘Ooh, guess who snogged who last night!’ but now it’s just quite normal and no-one comments. I can let myself go but not in a vulgar or dangerous way.’ It’s a kind of knowing wink.”Snogging can indeed mean a good time is had by all, without any of the physical or emotional messiness of going further. By kissing you can discover all sorts of erogenous zones: I go mad if someone touches the back of my neck, for instance.”The per capita snog rate is definitely on the rise, says the counsellor Tania Pullen.

“Within the last few months, I’ve been aware of an big increase in snogging in public They weren’t teenagers either They were normal people. I don’t think that we’ve got more demonstrative or less inhibited, it’s just that snogging is now a way of making a fashion statement; it says, ‘I’m cool. “Afterplay is the foreplay of the next time we make love,” says Frankie, a woman friend. “How well I feel treated after sex determines whether I want to do it again.”. snogging was once a teenage preserve.

Kisses that lasted several hours at a time and involved yards of tongue and a gallon or two of saliva were but an early milestone along the way to Proper Sex (or even Making Lurve). Of course, snogging never really went away; but now, in the post- Aids, flirting-not-fucking Nineties everybody’s doing it for its own sake It is no longer the preserve of 14-year-old virgins

There are, however, rules The kiss is the main thing. A certain amount of touching is permissible, but of the neck-stroking, running-hands-through- hair ilk; groping does not enter into it. “Snogging is incredibly sexy, and probably at its sexiest when it’s an act in itself and not foreplay,” says Emma, 30, and hailed by respectful exes as “one of the all-time great kissers”.
“It’s such an enjoyable way to pass the time; there’s no guilt or trauma involved, you don’t have to worry that he won’t respect you later.

It’s a way of being intimate without giving away too much of yourself, and of course it’s completely safe.”All hands should be in the neck and face area. Any further down and you’re tempted to rip the other’s clothes off, which is sex and not the same thing at all. “It’s a question of asking yourself: what do I need? What does sex mean with my partner? The important thing is to stay connected.”If you still doubt the benefits of afterplay, think of its long-term effects. “Women are beginning to know what they want and men are beginning to respond.”Misha Halu suggests setting time aside (preferably before sex) to talk about mutual needs in afterplay. Sex has become less about a quick bonk and more about being in a relationship, which has made afterplay a more fulfilling experience.”Woman tend to see sex as a way to build relationships, while a man’s macho training encourages him to go for goal and not get too tender But all is not lost, according to Misha Halu.