19 people share the niche things that turn them on

May is National Masturbation Month, and we’re celebrating with Feeling Yourself, a series exploring the finer points of self-pleasure.

Everyone’s turn-ons are a little different. We know that. But what about the kinda niche ones, the ones that aren’t explicitly sexual at all?

Thanks to some extremely generous messages, we’ve compiled a list of images, sounds, and other sensory experiences that 19 people find arousing. The responses were incredibly varied, but a few understandable themes — food, water, candles, ASMR-adjacent sounds — came up more than once.

Here’s what everyone said:

1. “The sound of pouring soda into a tall glass with ice in it. Soft boiled eggs are arousing also.”

2. “Power tools.”

3. “The scent of this oatmeal cookie candle from Anthropologie really does it for me — it’s borderline sickeningly sweet, but I love it anyway. Sometimes my roommate catches me full face in candle for maximum effect.”

4. “The dramatic movie intro at theaters when they talk about emergency exits and tell you to turn your phone off and then pop the popcorn and pour the ice and Coke into the glass and say to enjoy the show.”

5. “Honestly, brown butter with sage. Sage is an herb that I truly think has a sexy scent.  Also, eating seafood with my hands. And the crunch of a really good baguette.”

6. “I’d say the, like, slopping sound that water makes on the side of a pool when it’s really quiet.”

7. “Deep scents: dark chocolate, coffee beans, etc., long car rides, the smell of sunblock.”

8. “Heavy bass and super deep voices! I am v hard of hearing but can still hear low pitches and they make me feel ways about things.”

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“Eating seafood with my hands.”

9. “I live with a roommate and have for six years … when I have the house to myself, I inherently feel sexual and have the urge to do something about it. Even if it’s not about being sexual, something about being home alone makes me want to act out and get freaky!”

10. “This one candle that comes in a blue glass jar. It smells like roses and patchouli.”

11. “A freshly cut golf course at dawn, when there’s still dew on the grass and you’re the first one out there so you can see your footprints.”

12. “Being good at whistling.”

13. “Pulling the tab off a new can of tennis balls and the smell immediately after. Watching people do knife things to food. The gardenias are blooming right now and the first one I smelled this year surprised me in a good way.”

14. “The dull roar of a skateboard coming down the street.”

15. “Less so now, but for a while the scent of Tide detergent had weirdly crossed wires for me.”

16. “Cigarette smoke. Blue light on people dancing at a music festival while the wind is whipping up.”

17. “Faint aromas with an unsure source.”

18. “The sound of a stream in the countryside. Yes!”

19. “A head to toe stretch that lasts for, like, 15 seconds.”

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