Déjàmor Keeps The Spark Alive

Reviews
  • Monday, December 10 2012 @ 10:46 am
  • Contributed by:
  • Views: 2,402

Keeping things fresh after years together is a challenge for any couple. How do you keep the spark alive when you're more interested in catching some extra shuteye than spending quality time with your partner?

The answer may be Déjàmor, a new website designed to help couples reconnect through romantic and intimate experiences. The founders of Déjàmor researched books, conducted focus groups, and consulted with therapists, coaches, and sexologists to develop a comprehensive strategy to bring couples closer together.

Each month, Déjàmor delivers a package to subscribers with two boxes inside: one for "his eyes only" and one for "her eyes only." The boxes contain a sensual adventure guide and goodies to enhance the experience that Déjàmor promises are "always sexy and never sleazy."

What exactly is inside the mystery boxes? "Recipes for a happy, fulfilled, and sensual life," says Déjàmor, "complete with ingredients [that] are meant to surprise and delight you and your partner." The exact contents are meant to be a surprise, but the site's testimonials hint at what might be in store for you.

One customer received a package containing rose petals, "arousing" bubble bath, a vial with a blank note, and an illustrated booklet. The booklet laid out a plan for an at-home sensual spa retreat to spoil his wife. Another customer received a sash of lace, blank cards, and list of suggested notes to leave for her lucky husband.

Once they have the ingredients for a special night, it's up to the couples to make it happen. "We thought instead of telling people what to do, it would be delivering a recipe of what to do, plus the ingredients for that recipe," CEO Rodrigo Fuentes told Mashable. "The box arrives every month. Each partner in the relationship knows they are going to receive some fun surprise from their lover."

Déjàmor's monthly packages are completely customizable. New subscribers are asked a series of questions, including their sex, their partner's sex, how long they've been together. All answers are kept confidential and are used to create a personalized Déjàmor experience.

"We are all about rebuilding the bridges of communication, intimacy and romance," Fuentes says. "Once our advisors approve of experiences we go into sources and illustrations to get the experience ready. We ensure our experiences will hit home with people."

With so many people now turning to online dating services to find love, it seems only natural that couples will now use the Internet to keep that love alive.

Holiday Dating Tips

Tips
  • Sunday, December 09 2012 @ 09:05 am
  • Contributed by:
  • Views: 1,384

The holidays can be a stressful time of year, especially for navigating romantic relationships. If you're single, you wonder how to meet someone new. If you've just started dating someone, maybe you're debating whether or not to ask him to your office party or a friend's holiday gathering.

There are no right or wrong answers, but it's a good idea to take a deep breath and concentrate on enjoying yourself this season. After all, the holidays are a time for us to express gratitude, do kind things for others, and indulge in a little holiday eating. The stress is something we put on ourselves, but recognize that you don't have to. Follow these simple steps for dating during the holidays:

If you're single:

Go out. Accept those invitations to parties, office happy hours, and family gatherings. Even though time is short and we often feel stretched, it's a good idea to make time to cultivate relationships, especially this time of year. Don't put pressure on yourself to find someone special, just meet people, circulate, and have some fun. Open yourself up to new experiences.

Ignore the nay-sayers. There will be friends and family members who ask you about your love life, but you don't have to make excuses or go into detail about why you broke up with your last boyfriend or why you're still single. Instead, if you'd rather not talk about you, change the subject to focus on them, what they're up to - and don't feel pressured to answer their questions. If they keep pushing, feel free to excuse yourself and walk away.

If you just started dating:

Parties aren't mandatory. That is, don't feel compelled to ask your new love interest to go to your office party or to your Aunt Jenny's Christmas brunch just because you're dating. Taking a date could bring up all sorts of uncomfortable questions or make Aunt Jenny think it's more serious than it is. There's plenty of time to introduce him to your family and co-workers after the holidays at your own pace. Don't feel bad if he doesn't invite you to his work party, either. Both of you are allowed to do your own thing.

Gifting isn't required. It's a good idea to talk about gifts before the holidays, and whether or not you want to exchange them. There's no need to put pressure on yourselves and the relationship if you've just started dating, so I say refrain and wait on giving gifts until you've been dating longer. If you're really excited to get him something, don't do it with the expectation that he will give you a gift in return - unless you talk about it first.

Most importantly, enjoy yourself and the festivities of the season. Happy holidays!

How Data Becomes Love On eHarmony

General News
  • Saturday, December 08 2012 @ 10:31 am
  • Contributed by:
  • Views: 1,810

eHarmony's matching system is one of the most famous in the world. It's an intricate scheme that turns cupid's work into scientific and mathematical formulas by coordinating streams of data to match users with the greatest chance of romantic compatibility. And if that technological genius isn't enough to impress you on its own, it's also turned eHarmony into a very profitable business.

Nearly 33 million users across 150 countries have turned to eHarmony to find love. It's the site's unique approach to matching that draws them in, a system that's so good it's been patented by the company.

It all starts with 200-question questionnaire that's required upon sign up. New members answer questions on everything from their characteristics, to their habits, to their values. When the questionnaire is complete, the responses are run through the site's patented algorithm and turned into match suggestions.

It may not sound particularly romantic, but with 542 people married every day in the US after meeting on the site, eHarmony is clearly doing something right.

"We are different than anybody else," eHarmony managing director Jason Chuck told ZDNet. "We have this huge computational challenge over traditional photo-browsing dating sites. Just that matching system alone puts a lot of pressure on the whole system." Chuck estimates that eHarmony has "terabytes of data" stored in an internal data warehouse in the States.

Beyond the questionnaire, eHarmony also mines data from its users' activity. User behavior like number of photos posted and number of words used in the personal description is used to predict a user's success on the site.

"From that data," Chuck explains, "you can tell who is more introverted, who is likely to be an initiator, and we can also see if we give people matches at certain times of the day, they would be more likely to make communication with their matches."

Even more tools are added on top of that to form a matching process that is almost completely automated. eHarmony can generate matches for a user in just minutes, though it may take longer for some individuals.

eHarmony's matching team - made up largely of technology engineers and data analytics experts - has built an algorithm so precise that it varies from country to country. The algorithm is regularly updated based on eHarmony's user behavior and new relationship research from educational institutions to create one of the most complete matching systems on the Web.

To find out more about this dating service, please go ahead and read our eHarmony.com review.

Facebook Introduces New Pages For Couples

Facebook
  • Friday, December 07 2012 @ 10:09 am
  • Contributed by:
  • Views: 1,629

You know that annoying couple you're friends with on Facebook? The one who's always putting up soppy status updates, cutesy pictures, and stomach-churningly sweet wall posts?

Prepare yourself: they're about to get even more annoying.

Facebook has recently launched a digital version of relationships at Facebook.com/us. If you're in a relationship on Facebook, the new page collects all posts, events, and photos that both you and your significant other are tagged in. It's a one stop shop for all the details of your digital romance.

Reviews are...mixed, to say the least.

LoveGeist 2012-2013

General News
  • Thursday, December 06 2012 @ 09:00 am
  • Contributed by:
  • Views: 2,070

The countdown to Match.com's 2012 LoveGeist Report has begun!

I was a huge fan of the report last year, so I can't wait to see what interesting facts and figures Match has to share this year. In prep for its official release, Match has revealed a few teasing tidbits of what the 2012 LoveGeist Report has in store.

Match's latest research has shed some light on the infamous post-date text. Singles in Britain, says the report, spend an average of 14 and a half minutes making sure that each text they send to their sweethearts is perfect. That sounds like an insane amount of time to spend on one text to me, but the report says it's time well-spent. Almost a third (29%) of survey respondents admitted that the content of a post-date text could be a dealbreaker, so I guess that 14 and a half minutes isn't so crazy after all!

What's on the list of turn-offs that could make a text a dealbreaker? The biggest turn-off was bad spelling, followed closely by Web abbreviations, like "gr8" and "l8r," and acronyms like LOL and LMAO. Discerning daters also dislike one word messages, emoticons, and "double texting" (failing to wait for a response to your first message before sending a second).

Women may have the reputation for consulting their friends about their love lives, but Match's research shows that single men are 60% more likely than women to enlist a friend to review their post-date texts for a second opinion before sending them.

It's no wonder men feel so much pressure to get the post-text date right: over half of single women surveyed (52%) said the burden of sending the first text after a date rests on the man. In fact, only 16% of ladies surveyed said women should take responsibility for sending the first message.

Come on, ladies, it's 2012 - step your game up!

One of Match.com's relationship experts, Kate Taylor, comments on the post-date text: "In recent years the way we use technology to communicate after a date has made the post-date follow-up more important than ever. Not only do you now need to perform well on the date itself, if your follow-up message isn't up to scratch, then you might be out of contention for a second meeting."

Match offers the following advice on getting the trick post-date text right:

  • Keep it short, sweet, and honest.
  • Send it shortly after the date is over, so the experience is fresh in your date's mind.
  • Perform a spelling and grammar before hitting Send.
  • Play it safe by keeping it clear and simple - humor and sarcasm don't always translate well into text.
  • Forget about the outdated three day rule. In the 21st century we prefer communication to be quick.

For more information on this dating site you can read our Match.com UK review (those in the US should read this review of Match.com).

Facebook Rules After a Break-Up

Tips
  • Wednesday, December 05 2012 @ 09:14 am
  • Contributed by:
  • Views: 1,678

Many of us are addicted to Facebook - or at least we try and check it a couple of times a day. And while it's a great tool to connect people virtually, it can wreak havoc on your heart after a break-up.

Instead of using Facebook as a weapon or retreating from your online life altogether to lick your wounds, there are some basic guidelines to help you navigate your social media world to avoid confrontation, unhappiness, and just general bad blood between you and your ex. (Pay special attention if you're in the middle of divorce - your Facebook status updates and comments can be used in court.)

Avoid these mistakes when you're posting and commenting on FB.

Watch those party pictures. Don't post photos of yourself out partying with other girls if you just broke up with your girlfriend. Even if she dumped you for another man. Allow some time and distance first, and don't do it in retaliation. You'll thank yourself once the anger passes. You don't want to come off looking desperate and jealous.

Avoid posting on his/her wall. There's no need to get snarky with comments or blow off steam by posting a rant on your ex's wall. Even if you need to get something off your chest, don't do it in a public forum where your words could be easily misconstrued (as those of a crazy ex). Instead, talk in person or over the phone if you need to air out your grievances. Don't do it over Facebook.

Don't stalk. While it's tempting to see what your ex up to every minute, refrain from looking at his Facebook page. You don't need to question who all of his new female friends are, or see what he did last night. This will keep you stuck in the past, dwelling on him and what might have been. If you can't help looking and have to de-friend him, then do it.

Your wall isn't a blog. Avoid writing all the gory details about your break-up for all to see. They don't want to know all of the circumstances leading up to it, and once it's out there, it's hard to erase. Err on the side of caution and use restraint.

Don't involve your FB friends. They don't belong in the middle of the fight you might be having with your ex. They aren't social media referees. Instead of engaging them in a three-way conversation with your ex, keep it classy. If you want to vent to a friend, that's fine, but take it offline.

Have you tried to use this social network as a dating tool? To find out how you should read our Facebook review.

Page navigation