3 Things That Make A Kiss Truly Memorable, By A Psychologist

InnovationScience3 Things That Make A Kiss Truly Memorable, By A PsychologistByMark Travers,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about relationships, personality, and everyday psychology.Follow AuthorJun 13, 2026, 12:00pm EDTHaving a great kiss might be something between an art and a science. Here’s what the latter has to say about it.gettyWe talk about chemistry constantly as an ineffable spark that either exists between two people or doesn’t. But when it comes to kissing, one of the most intimate and revealing physical acts humans engage in, science has a surprisingly specific answer for what separates a forgettable kiss from one that lingers for years.The research on romantic kissing is far richer than most people expect. Psychologists, evolutionary biologists and relationship scientists have spent considerable effort studying what happens when two people press their lips together, and what they’ve found challenges a lot of our assumptions. A good kiss isn’t primarily about technique. It isn’t some innate talent you’re born with. And it has very little to do with what you see in the movies.Here are three things the research says actually make a kiss unforgettable.1. Your Breath And Scent Make Or Break The KissIf there’s one finding from kissing research that appears with remarkable consistency, it’s this: no amount of passion or skill can compensate for poor hygiene.A large-scale cross-cultural study published in Scientific Reports by researchers at the University of Oxford asked participants across 13 countries to rate seven specific qualities on a 0-to-100 scale of importance when deciding whether someone is a good kisser. The results were unambiguous. Pleasant breath ranked first, scoring an average of 86.74 out of 100. Body scent came in second at 83.05. Together, these two purely sensory cues outranked everything else — including tongue technique, the wetness of the kiss and even whether the two people’s k...