PheroCurious Musings of a Curious Mind

Field Reports & Anecdotal Experience Women's Journals
1

I am about to begin what I can tell will be an exciting journey. Perhaps I should call it serendipity—or maybe kismet, fate, destiny (pick your favorite)—but I stumbled upon this forum at just the right time in my life (and they say timing is everything, right?)

I am a scientist by profession, and a scientist by nature. In both my personal and work life, I constantly find myself poking and prodding, doubting and discovering, hypothesizing, experimenting, and concluding. But to be completely honest, I never gave pheromones any scientific credibility. I have not seen much research on human pheromones, and the little I’ve seen is often disputed; for example, there are suggestions that discredit the ability of humans to sense pheromones, as some studies have shown that primate mammals do not contain the vomeronasal organ (found in non-primate mammals) necessary to detect pheromones. (However, I found a study done in 1985 that showed that 70% of humans actually contained this organ, but whether it is functional or vestigial is yet to be proven). But I also know that personal experiences, just as much as funded, controlled experiments set up in a laboratory setting, can serve as documentation and evidence. And from what I have seen on this forum, this is exactly the case.

I mentioned that the timing of my encounter with this community is significant, and you might be curious as to why that is. I recently (relatively) found out that my boyfriend of 3 years had been consistently cheating on me—when confronted, he blamed “pheromones.” I quickly dismissed the excuse (as well as him, good riddance), but relationships don’t just end. After the breakup, I found myself thinking of his excuse over and over again (I tend to dwell on things). Not because I gave his excuse any merit, but I started to wonder about pheromones in general. Here I was, a scientist, and I realized I knew next to nothing about pheromones. So, Google and I embarked on a mission to self-teach. And here I am. Now, what makes this exciting is that I am single and have ample opportunity to test these pheromones for myself. So comments, suggestions, and feedback are much appreciated. :slight_smile:

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Hi Curiousmind! I am new to this forum and the world of pheromones as well, and I also happen to be a scientist. I bet you’ve been playing out in your mind just how you could set up a well-controlled experiment going :wink: . I look forward to see your testing results. Which pheromones are you thinking of getting/ already have?

3

Jeez I’m sorry about your breakup. I am sure you know he is talking out his ass when he says its pheromones. They do evoke emotion but they dont change your values or preferences nor do they take away free will to choose. Things tend to happen for a reason though and maybe like you mentioned discovering this forum is a small part of your destiny…who knows.

I look forward to reading your experiences with the products and pheromones in general. Did you decide on which products to try yet ?

Tisha

4

I recently purchased IH (and received it in the mail today), but I’m thinking of getting IO and Instant Shine as well soon. And of course, Instant Sexiness when it becomes available. Ideally I would like to try as many as possible and record my experiences with all of them. However, I realize I tend to get overly excited about things, take on too much, and get overwhelmed. So for now I’m sticking with just IH.

5

A Template for the Neurotic (i.e. ME)

While waiting for IH to arrive (which, incidentally, it did today! And I got a little ToGo version of IO, too), I have been trying to decide how best to set up this social experiment. I love numbers, graphs, and charts….qualitative and descriptive data don’t really suit my fancy (I can’t help it. I love math and statistics. Don’t judge me). I read one of Tisha’s posts on how to test/report on products, and she provided a very handy-dandy template. BUT—I simply can’t get over my need for some sort of quantitative data….which I am still trying to figure out (ideas, anyone?). So far, I’ve just decided to modify Tisha’s template for my own use (it’s mostly the same, just some added stuff), as seen below. And yes, I re-created it 3 times because Excel kept crashing on me.

Tomorrow will be Day 1 of testing! I was originally going to start with IH, but now I think I will start with IO. I am most curious to see what will happen in the lab, as that is where I spend the majority of my time (ah, the glorious life of a graduate student). I will do a little write-up of the cast of characters prior to my first report.

6

A Rollercoaster Kind of Day

Today was my first day of testing. Details are in the attached pdf. But I want to write a detailed account of what happened today as well.

This morning started out well. I went on a run before work, so endorphins had me feeling optimistic and positive before I had even showered and put on IO. After I applied IO, I felt my mood rise even more (which I can’t help but think: what if that was the placebo effect?) I was drinking my morning coffee, rocking out to some music, emitting good vibes. I was feeling slightly high, as if I could conquer the world and nothing could stop me.

I stopped by the grocery store on my way to work. It was more crowded than I anticipated. I picked up a few items and took my place in line. A lady quickly followed into place behind me. I was perusing the items on the stands next to the check out counter, and I felt compelled to pick up a bag of trail mix. And at the moment, the woman behind me starting talking to me. “Don’t you always feel the need to buy things when you are standing in line?” I responded in a friendly manner. It’s not unusual for me to talk to strangers, but I usually initiate conversation. In this case, I felt like she had been looking for an excuse to talk to me, which I found odd. We talked about some mindless grocery store topics for a few minutes, and this lady was visibly open and chatty. I want to add, men are usually the people that initiate conversations with me, not women.

When I got to work, I felt really empowered. Again, placebo effect? The most noticeable interaction I had was with W, a fellow graduate student. She often feels we are in direct competition since we are in the same lab (even though we work on completely different projects). Her tendency is to get snippy and defensive whenever I start to do an experiment that could even BEGIN to encroach upon her territory. But whatever—the point is that today she was friendly and gracious, and even asked me my opinion on a couple of personal problems she was having.

I was feeling pretty good about life until about noon. Then I felt a crash. As if I had had three cups of coffee and two donuts an hour ago—the energy plummet. But with this came a change of mood, too. It’s kind of the same feeling I get after a night of drinking: I’m exhausted, moody, and regretting my decisions. I was completely on edge and feeling aggressive. I had no idea what brought this on, and there were no obvious triggers. Maybe I was coming down off of my IO high? Have you ever experienced anything like that?

Anyway, I will try again tomorrow, though I’m hesitant to increase the dosage.

7

I have also been thinking about some at least semi-quantitative way of testing pheromones. Perhaps we can figure something out between the two of us. This is what I thought of so far:

  1. Come up with a generic question - something that you would normally ask people in conversation (e.g. ‘How are you?’ or ‘What did you think about movie X?’, 'How are things going with your g/f or b/f)).
  2. Record length of time that people take to respond to this question on the days when you wear pheromones and on the days you don’t. You could even drop this into conversation with the same person on different days, and compare the two conditions (with/without pheromones). Of course, need to find a way to inconspicuosly record the time :slight_smile:
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Good idea! That’s something to go off of…I’ll have to think about that. Maybe taking the TOGO bottle to work, and trying a “before and after” on the same day? (Though how to ask the same question twice in the same day without sounding like an idiot with the memory of a goldfish will be a challenge…) :slight_smile:

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Love the break down of your pdf format! Easy to find data!

I’ll see how I can incorporate it in my testing, if you don’t mind…

How long are you testing out IO and are you going to be starting out on any other mones during this time?

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Thanks! I pride myself on ridiculous stuff like formatting. I can send you the excel file I created, if you want it…

I plan to test out IO for the next few days and then move on to IH. Or perhaps I should move next to Instant Shine? Ahhh, the possibilities…

11

IO dosage increased.

Clearly IO is having strong self-effects….I think. I’m practically giddy within minutes of applying it, but I can’t help but think that’s it is just mental. Anyway, the effect (mental or real) was not as strong as yesterday; this applies to both the feeling and smell. Down-regulating my G protein-coupled receptors, are we nose? Yay for negative feedback mechanisms!

I will say, however, that I did not have the “crash” that I experienced the first day. Perhaps my mood swing from Thursday was totally unrelated to the product. I will have to pay close attention when I try a new one.

Anyway: here is a synopsis of the potential hits I got yesterday.

  1. W was in a bad mood today. Usually when she is in a funk, I avoid her and hope she gets over her PMS tendencies quickly. Today, however, she came to ask me a question about an experiment she was running and within minutes she was telling me (against my will) that she was upset with her boyfriend, etc etc etc. I listened and let her vent, which could have been the reason she cheered up after. Either way, her behavior was out of the norm and I decided to note it.

  2. P was WAY chatty with me. She rarely talks to me but yesterday she was quite the chatterbox. Granted, it could have been that we were the only two individuals in a small, semi-enclosed room……was her response to the diffusion of IO or sheer boredom?

After work I went on a run, showered, and then went out with some friends. I reapplied IO in the same fashion as in the morning. We went to a bar with outdoor seating, which may have contributed to the fact that I didn’t get any obvious hits. Or maybe I just wasn’t paying attention…..I did have a lot of beer! :wink:

12

I’m back! I’ve been out sick with mono (too much kissing! :wink:). Not too fun being sick, but at least I got to take a month of work…which is actually more boring than it sounds.

Last weekend I actually felt well enough to socialize and resume testing. I don’t have the energy to do a formal write up, so I will just summarize: 2 sprays of IO, one on each wrist, worked like a charm on my anti-social housemate. Of the 3 people I live with, she (housemate #3) is the most closed-off, quiet, and difficult to engage in conversation. However, IO seemed to work on her.

On Saturday I was in the living room reading a paper on something science-y, which clearly isn’t the important part of this story because I already forgot what it was about. Housemate #3 walked into the room with her sulky demeanor and took a seat on the other side of the couch. I said hello and she replied with a sullen “Hi” and nothing more. We sat in silence for about 5-7 minutes, me reading my paper and her doing something on her computer. I got up to go to the kitchen to make lunch, and SHE suddenly started talking to me. Which is a pretty novel concept to me, so I was taken back. Not only did SHE initiate conversation, but she even invited me to lunch…I, of course, jumped at the opportunity, and took her up on her invitation. We went to a pizza place close to the beach and she was actually…chatty. I had never seen this side of her–in fact, I didn’t even know this side existed, so it was pretty exciting for me. I hope IO was the “opener” I needed to start a friendship with this girl, as she actually seems kinda cool.

Anyway, that’s all I have for now. Hopefully I will have more reports in the near future.

13

So…I’ve been using pheromones rather consistently for the last month, but haven’t been reporting regularly. Guess it’s time for an update!

I’ve continued using IO around Roommate #3, and I don’t know if the effects are still as strong as with the first hit. Although she has somewhat retreated back into her shell, she is talking to me more often than B.P.E (Before Pheromone Era) and even wants to hang out on occasion. I consider this a big fat win. :slight_smile:

Now on to Instant Shine. I’ve been using Instant Shine when I go out to meet platonic friends at bars, restaurants, go on walks, get coffee, etc. Mild and relaxing activities (for the most part). The biggest thing I’ve noticed when wearing Instant Shine is that these friends pay more attention to me when I speak. Not that they’ve ignored me in the past, they just seem more interested and engaged. Makes me wonder…was I really that boring before pheromones?? :wink:

As for Instant Sexiness. Holy getting laid. No joke. When I wear Instant Sexiness and turn on the charm, it seems I can get anyone I want. Of course, I’m selective about who I will actually hook up with, but the attention I get is astounding. I’ve always been a flirt and relatively confident, but wearing Instant Sexiness boost my self-esteem and makes me feel really attractive. I think this shows in my personality, too, because I seem to attract men more regularly. I will mention, however, that Instant Sexiness doesn’t have as much of an effect when I’m in a sullen or really mellow mood. If I put it on after I’ve already had a bad day or I’m tired, I notice some mild self-effects but in general, it doesn’t change my mood much and I don’t seem to have that sexy air. I think this has something to do with congruence…can’t rely on just pheromones!

Of note: I’ve been using 3 sprays with the Instant line (two sprays to the wrist, one to the neck). I’m sure I could play with the dosage a little more, but right now I’m happy with the effects I’ve seen thus far.

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Lovin’ the posts, curious! Though, I think I’ll have to confirm your suspicions… you WERE REALLY Boring BEFORE the mones!!! :stuck_out_tongue: Now, your all sparkly around others, they can’t help but situp and pay attention…:slight_smile:

Oh, so spot on with the mones NOT reversing a sullen mood! You’ve GOT to paddle to get to where you want to go…

Thanks for the post, I had to laugh with the B.P.E!!! Literally, LOL!!! :smiley:

15

Know the song TGIF by Katy Perry? It’s my theme song.

I’ve been kind of down and out recently, mostly because I have been working long hours to make up for lost time from when I was sick. Last night I was going to go downtown, then decided against it. I opened a bottle of wine, started to drink, when Roommate #3 came home and (surprisingly) asked if I wanted to go to a bar down the street. I agreed. Two sprays of Instant Sexiness to the chest, one spray of Instant Openness. Why the hell not? It’s a dive bar, but ya never know…

Anyway, as we are walking to the bar, I get a call from my friend P who starts bitching about the fact I’m not going downtown. Half way to the bar, and I change my mind. I WILL go downtown…the pheromones totally started to take effect, and I started feeling good. So I go to the bar with Roommate #3, we have a drink (vodka grapefruit for me, thank you), and then we head home so I can go downtown. (Only hit I got at the bar is a lot of glances over the shoulder from the guy down the bar from me…) I invited Roommate #3 to go with me downtown but she declined, which is not surprising…I’m still working on making her more social, but baby steps…

So I head downtown and that’s when the fun begins. I’m at a pretty divey bar and I text some of my romantic interests that I’m in the area if they want to meet up (yes, I’m drunk, and I don’t think about the fact that if I am inviting multiple guys, they might all show up…) In addition to this, P has a bunch of cute guys with him, and I immediately turn on the charm. I’m flirting in the most forward fashion I ever have, and this guy from Chicago is totally digging the attention. He is clearly into me, as he is touching my arm, my waist, leaning in. Go Instant Sexiness, go! I am about to start kissing this guy when I get a tap on the shoulder. I turn around and shit, it’s one of the guys I texted to come meet up, C. There is a good awkward 30 seconds that pass while I stand between this guy I just met and C, and debate what to do. It’s pretty clear to both of them what’s happening, and I’m drunk so my reaction time is rather slow. I turn to New Guy and say “I’ll be right back…” and wander off with C.

A little background about C. I met him a few weeks ago and we have been hanging out and flirting but nothing has been really happening. Not even kissing. I haven’t been wearing pheromones around him (again, am I boring without these damn molecules!!) but reminder: last night I was wearing both IS and IO. Pan back to the scene. He clearly is feeling the effects of the pheromones because he can’t stop touching me—my back, my waist, my arm. The forward touching is new for him. And suddenly he leans in and we are making out. Success!!..until we stop kissing to go get another drink, and I spot one of the other guys I texted (M) at the entrance, pulling out his ID to get in the bar. I almost flip a shit, how could I be so stupid!! How am I going to juggle C and M at the same time. And I just moved forward with C…

…want to know what happens next??