Condoms come in an assortment of colors. There are also various types of condoms: ribbed, studded, lubricated, non-lubricated, lubricated and with spermicide, etcetera. Condoms can also be found in various flavors and colors. They can even glow in the dark!
But, more importantly, condoms help to prevent the spread of HIV (AIDS) and other known STDs such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, genital herpes, genital warts, hepatitis-B, HPV.
Whenever you come into sexual contact, it is important that you or your partner use a condom. If your partner refuses to use a condom, don't take a chance by having unprotected sex with him. If you think that using a condom doesn't feel good, just think of how bad it will feel when you are suffering from a deadly STD.
3.2. General Use Guidelines
To be most effective, barriers must be used from start to end correctly every time you have sex. Use a new barrier with every partner. Check the barrier periodically during sex. And discard used barriers immediately. You may also wish to set out all the barriers one might use before having sex and place them within easy reach; this can save you from fumbling later.
Also, there are occasions where you would wish to change barriers with the same partner; typically, this is done when changing to a new orifice or contact region, to avoid transferring bacteria from one region to another.
The classic example of this is having a fresh glove or condom when you switch from the anus to the mouth.
One general comment with barriers is that you should be careful removing them after use because possibly infected materials can be present on them. If they cannot be removed without you coming into contact with possibly infected materials, try remove them with some sort of tissue paper or towel between you and the barrier (this is especially effective for condoms), or have the partner who came into contact with the outside of that barrier remove it for you.
Used latex materials should not be flushed down the toilet (as they tend to cause clogging), rather, they should be discarded in a trash receptacle. Condoms may be left in the tissue paper they were removed with.
3.3. Making Barriers More Pleasurable
The use of any barrier can become more pleasant over time, as it becomes associated with pleasurable stimuli and one becomes more skilled with its use.
When people complain about barriers tasting bad, it is usually because the barriers have been coated with something unpleasant. Plain latex, nitrile, polyurethane, etc. have no taste of their own. Common coating taste offenders are Nonoxynol-9 (horrible taste!) and the powder which is present on some non-lubed condoms and pre-powdered gloves (though you can rinse the powder off the outside of gloves with running water). The taste of pre-lubed condoms without N-9 depends on the type of lube used.
