Our earlier versions used some compounds which were sourced from the far east (mostly the rone, none, and androstenol; not so much the other compounds which we had to make here at specialized labs in the US). This was necessary so we could afford the margin necessary for resale through other stores.
Ultimately, we became dissatisfied with the inconsistency of chemical batches from countries such as China. That’s why here, we go all out, and exclusively use American sourced pheromones. (we’ve even switched up labs over the year, in an effort to make the good and the great, even better)
While we have greater margins selling directly with which to invest in the quality of chemicals, sometimes a higher margin in and of itself is not quite enough to be able to afford the quality we truly prefer. The highest quality, American sourced version of a molecule is often magnitudes more expensive than the far east version, due to not just the cost of the labor, but also the starting materials and cofactors used in synthesis. US made androstenol, for instance, literally costs several hundred times more than the Chinese version. A dollars vs. cents per cents per mg type scenario (and it’s definitely worth it in the case of the more subtle & social mones)
With many compounds, we feel it’s worth it. It lowers the amount and degree of variables to track. Specifically, we don’t have to worry about chemical quality being one of the variables being tested in a mix. We can focus instead on the mix itself, instead of worrying about the quality of each ingredient within the mix.
When it comes to A314, however, I feel that Gegoggi is right. While our switchover has dramatically improved the quality and consistency of some of our products, the LS version of A314 is still excellent. We tried very hard to work with the options we had at the time to present a good product to them. That effort obviously paid off.
Our present version perhaps feels a little more open and romantic than the original versions, while the LS version is a bit more commanding. Part of that is due to the increased quality of our social mones, while the other part is from tweaks to the formulation over the years. We’ve wanted to keep the compliance factor A314 generates high, while not completely locking the user into their own bubble.
Some who like absolute control over others will enjoy the older versions more than the slightly more human feeling modern versions.
Some also happen like the older cover scent & diffusion package, while others like our more recent ones.
Different strokes for different folks. Both have different subtlies that are useful for different context, but the core effects are still very much similar. You’ll probably do well with either.