International Nude Day: Team Lust’s Top Tips for Taking a Nude

From sexual health to porn, or kink to filmmaking; you ask, Erika Lust answers. To get involved with Ask Lust, submit your question here and Erika or someone from her team will answer your question.

Today, July 14, is International Nude Day. It’s a little known holiday that you might not have celebrated before and you’re probably not getting the day off of work, but here at Lust HQ we want to celebrate by urging you all to get bare ‘n’ naked and take some snaps of your body in the name of sexual expression!

I’ve received a lot of questions in the past about how to take sexy nudes, so I thought today would be a great day to get this answered for once and for all. Knowing that my team loves sending a nude or two, I asked them to send me their top tips for taking a good photo.

Taking and sharing nudes is one of the hottest things you can do – it can deepen your intimacy with your partner, be used as foreplay, or even just to sexually express yourself and get to know your own body better.

Read on for some tips from my team, beautiful illustrations by artist and XConfessions collaborator Kat Raisi and get ready to take some sext-y snaps…

Step 1: The Setting

Erika Lust, aka me: “You are the star of the photo but be careful to keep your background clear, or at least clean. Don’t have anything too distracting or weird behind you. If you’re in your bedroom, the least you can do is tidy it up a bit.”

Catalina, Social Media Manager: “Always use natural light when taking a nude selfie. It’s so much more flattering than artificial. It’s hard because a lot of sexting happens at night, but if you can take some in some golden sunlight, keep them in the bank for your next sext.”

Step 2: The Positions

Marina, Junior Producer: “First things first, don’t show your face and genitalia in one picture unless you are willing to expose yourself or you really know that person!”

Kim, Intern: “All those out there blessed with the small boobies, this one’s for you. Lay on your side letting one boob fall on top of the other, while also using your top arm to lightly push them closer together & take the photo with your top arm. Your boobies will instantly go from puddles to raindrops.”

Cat, Head of Communications & Content: “For a hint of side boob: lie on your side on your bed, arch your back, and then lift one arm up to pull your boob up and instantly defy gravity. Or if you’re sitting, use your upper arms to gently push your boobs together and give yourself a cleavage”

Khaliah, Community Manager: “Take booty shots from the side to make your butt look bigger. If you’re wearing a thong, raise the thong string higher to make legs look longer and give a more attractive hip line (like 80s – Baywatch style). Then arch your back and raise up your shoulders for a longer looking torso.”

Bex, Producer: “Lie on your tummy and either bend your knees to push your bum up, or put a pillow under your hips. This way you will highlight the curve of your back and bum.”

Step 3: The Props

Marina, Junior Producer: “Underwear and props. Sometimes it’s sexier to show your genitalia covered by sexy underwear, sex toys or even food than completely exposed.”

Allison, Product Manager: “Don’t show too much, just give an idea of what they could see in real life. Use humour, smile and laugh! Don’t use the duck face or anything too serious. It should be something fresh!”

Step 4: Before you send it

Allison, Product Manager: “The first thing I would recommend is to double or triple check the recipient!”

Avril, Sexologist: “Privacy is important when sending nudes. Of course, they should only be sent to really trustworthy partners, but it’s always a good idea to be safe about it.

Due to non-consensual nude sharing AKA “revenge porn”, my top tip is to store your favorite nudes on Keepsafe Photo Vault app, which allows you to password protect your nude pictures or videos in a password or fingerprint protected album. That way, you can assure that your photos won’t get out into the public without your consent.

Also, leave your face out of the shot while you’re at it! You can still serve looks and turn your partners on without it.”

Step 5: Or, Don’t Send it At All!

Avril, Sexologist: “You don’t have to send a nude after you take a nude. Having a private collection of nudes allows you to connect with your body on a deeper, more personal level. Have fun, feel sexy and make sure your mirror is clean for getting the best smudge-free shot.”

Step 6: Make it Political

Brogan, Content Manager: “Use your nudes to advocate for a shame free sexty world. Taking a naked photo of yourself and sharing it with a partner is part of consensual adult sex. Someone taking this photo and sharing it without your consent is abuse.

Advocate for laws that prosecute non-consensual porn, support organisations such as Cyber Civil Rights, talk with people in your life about the differences between sexual expression and violation, and speak up when people shame women for taking nudes. It’s often women who are the victims of revenge porn, but saying “she shouldn’t have taken them if she didn’t want them to be seen” is no different to saying “she was asking for it”. Sex is always political after all!”