This mix seems a little less casual than IG. So far at work men have been trying to be overly helpful, women seem courteous but indifferent. The self effects, calm, confident, and focused.
Thank you for your initial impressions. If I may ask, what was your testing environment? Did you already have status in these social situations or did it raise status? Was this at work or were you out shopping?
This was at work. I have some status as a lead, but I’m not the office alpha. In the hierarchy here if he’s a captain, I’m a lieutenant. There are two of us at this level. This mix neither raised of lowered my standing.
Continuing, on my lunch break I went to the gym and got in a quick circuit on the machines. Didn’t shower but used baby wipes to wipe the sweaty parts. Afterward I applied a touch up of 1 spray mx400 spilt between wrists and neck and a bit of cologne. THis time I got a boost in mood and a bitt of swagger. I stopped by the car wash to get my truck clean for the weekend. I went up to pay the middle aged cutie behind the counter who was reading a magazine. She ignored me for a couple of seconds, then looked up and had the dihl for a second before she broke out into a big grin. I smiled back, and waited for my truck to get done. As I was leaving she smiled real big again and something to the effect of come back again soon.
Today I used 2x mx400 plus 1x IO first thing in the morning. A pretty standard combo for me for work and social when using IG. I arrived to work and and after having a long weekend I expected to have a back up of phone calls and emails. I was right. I had a fair amount of focus, and and a quiet confidence. The mx400 is definitely masculine, and has a good confidence element in the self effects, it just lacks the wink and slight swagger of the original IG. Even when paired with IO, it still isn’t really social.
This morning when my boss came over he caught me playing a game on my iPad. He was a little frustrated but after a minute he got down to business, and was more thn willing to over look my little faux pax by the end of the conversation. Usually he is a guy that doesn’t let shit like that go. I answered him and engaged him and he left me alone the rest of the day.
I think I finally have a handle on MX400. It’s respect with out authority. After using MX401, I took a couple of days off just to make sure there was non crossover effect or conflict. Yesterday I wore just 2 x MX400 to work. Definately had a masculine feel but still not very social. I couldn’t quite pit my finger on exactly what was going on till today. Today I wore 2xMX400 plus 1x IO pluss 1x IH. This combo opened up the communication and this is where I noticed the “what do you think” effect. In a couple of meeting my advice was sought out and people wanted my input. It was clear I was not in an authoritative role like when using A314. It is a position of valued experience. Even outside of official meetings, over lunch or at the coffee pot I got the “what do you think” question all day. This could be a useful work blend, but it still doesn’t have the same approachableness as IG. MX400 is Good, but not really a replacement for IG.