I’ve never been one to randomly make out with guys or kiss guys I barely know, mostly due to the fact that I don’t want a life long disease from it. I have a few girl friends who break out all over their lips with sores a few times a year who try to tell me it’s “not a big deal, everyone has it, are you going to go through life afraid to kiss anyone?” (FYI in the USA it’s like 50%).

First of all, I’ve been tested twice and don’t have it and don’t want cold sores. Guys expect you to kiss them after like 1-2 dates but it’s not like you can say “have you ever had a cold sore” to basically a stranger from OLD and expect them to tell the truth. You can still shed the virus even when you don’t have an outbreak. I’ve only really dated guys I knew for awhile first and had never seen them with an outbreak so I felt a bit safer about kissing them I guess. I’ve read the strategy on here is to make guys get STD tested before having sex with them, but what about kissing?