Written By- Xia Xia Lake 

Riddle me this, My Dear Reader.

When liquid splashes me, none seeps through. 
When I am moved a lot, liquid I spew.
When I am hit, colour I change.
And colour, I come in quite a range.
What I cover is very complex,
and I am very easy to flex.
What am I?

Flog me and I will proudly bear your mark. Scrape your nails on me and I will prickle with goosebumps. Drip hot wax on me and I will glow red with heat. Trail secret paths with an ice cube and I'll shiver. Pet me, hurt me for your pleasure, and cherish me for mine, and I will show you all my shades and secrets.
I am the bearer of sensation.

What am I?

I am skin.

The largest misconception about BDSM is that it's all about the pain. Sadomasochism indeed requires pain for satisfaction, but the spectrum of BDSM and the desires of the people living in the lifestyle is far larger than that. Many of the practitioners of the lifestyle are aroused by power, domination, humiliation and pleasure, and not by inflicting pain or receiving pain. Some are aroused by danger and others by giving their free will to someone else to hold dominion over it.

BDSM is about hidden fantasies brought to reality in a safe environment. And how better bring a fantasy to life than by playing?

In this article, I will write about some of the BDSM plays connected to toying with someone's sensations. Why the riddle about skin? Because with sensation play, arousal starts from our body's largest organ, our skin.

I will focus on explaining three BDSM plays, that when done right, they can bring someone to the heights of pleasure. They are knife play, wax play and suspension bondage.

What is knife play, really? Let's me tell you what it's not. It's not stabbing or cutting someone with a blade. It's not hurting or drawing blood.

Knife play refers to touching the skin with a sharp blade by dragging it up and down your sub's body, along the sensitive spots around his or her neck, around the wrists, breasts - you get the point - in order to create an awareness of danger and debauchery. You can scrape the skin, but you can never pierce it. Piercing the skin and drawing blood goes into another type of play called bloodplay, which is not for our scope today.

What is important to know about this play is that you need to be a good knife wielder before you immerse yourself in the act of knife play. If you are a beginner, practice first. You don't want to go nicking your partner's skin by mistake. Also, you need to take good care of your knives. Rust, grime or dirt on the blade are a big no-no. Knives need to be kept in pristine, antiseptic condition.

To play with sensations you can heat the blade or cool it down in a bowl of ice before using it. But whatever you do, always remember this is not about leaving marks, but about creating a fantasy of danger, of "I own you, you are mine right now, and I'm going to dishevel you". Use the blade to cut the clothes, remove the buttons of a shirt, cut away the panties or the boxers or the manties (if you are into that sort of thing).

Wax play is another form of sensation play, that focuses on skin and temperatures. It is about causing a slight burning sensation to the skin, but just like knife play, this is not about leaving marks or burning your partner. If done wrong, wax play can put your partner in a hospital with severe burns, so like with knife play, you need to practice to understand how to use the candles and what are the safety precautions.

There are several types of candles: soy, paraffin, beeswax, all with a melting temperature up to 65 degrees Celsius. There are other types of candles, but they aren't very safe for play because of the melting temperature of over 80 degrees Celsius. The higher the melting temperature, the higher the danger of injuring your partner.

If done right, the wax poured on the sub's skin can cause him or her incredible, intense sensations. The Dom or Domme is the painter and the sub is the canvas. They play with the height from which the wax is poured, they play with the most intimate places on the body, they play with the colours of the candles. When the painting is done, the wax is removed, and that is also part of the play. Wax can be removed with fingers, tongue, or if you're good enough, a sharpened knife. Sky's the limit.

Just don't pour it in someone's hair, wax is a bitch to remove from hair.

The last on my list and the most impressing play, in my opinion, is suspension bondage. This requires such high skill that it has reached the level of performance art in the BDSM lifestyle. This is also one of the riskiest forms of bondage because it's about binding up a sub and suspending him or her in the air, tied to several points, using ropes, cables or chains with the purpose of creating the sensation of vulnerability, submissiveness and erotic helplessness.

The anti-gravity sensation of suspension can give one a sense of liberation as if one was flying. Some subs are known to go so deep in subspace that they end up in a trance.

I'm not part of the BDSM lifestyle, but I do enjoy the performance art of suspension bondage and I like to integrate it into my stories. I find it beautiful.

There you go, knife play, wax play and suspension bondage. Which one do you like most?

Our skin was designed to feel, so why not play with its boundaries?

Whatever you do, remember safety first.