Well, I expected to report far sooner than this, but between crazy work, grad school, illness, and family crisis(es), it has been nearly a year since i last visited.
Last June, I purchased the following:
Instant Shine 2x
Instant Honesty 4x
Instant Gentleman
Turn Up The Heat
MX172
Instant Female Magic
I’ve worn them almost exclusively in a professional work and classroom environment; I was anticipating having little social activity for a while when I ordered, but holy cow, it has been a busy and brutal near-year. Since it has been so long, I won’t do any day-by-days, but I will give you some thoughts, impressions, anecdotes, and some repeatable experiences.
One thing I did notice was that I could definitely tell a difference between the products. I wrote down the name on the back of a small piece of paper, gave each one a shot, and let it sit for about 10 minutes. After shuffling them around, I could still tell them apart by scent… I didn’t really expect that, since many (all?) of them were mixed with the Neroli cover scent. Finally, after a couple of weeks of use, my sense of smell felt dampened, such that spicy-sweet smells weren’t coming through as strongly, but that seems to have tapered off.
Initial Impressions:
I was pleasantly surprised by the scent of these products (Neroli or default). I often get nice comments on how good I smell, whether or not I combine the pheros with my normal cologne (which also garners praise). The scent isn’t long lasting for me, however: 4 hours tops, usually. My usual dose is 1-2 sprays of 1-2 products, applied to side of face/neck.
Specific Products:*
Instant Shine (2x): I don’t receive the “self-effect” that many people describe from Instant Shine, that I’ve noticed. It has a pleasant “bright” scent to it. It does seem to have a noticible effect on some people with whom I interact – making them engage more, I think – and it is one I would definitely order again to supplement another product, but probably not as a stand-alone.
Instant Honesty (4x): If I had to describe the scent profile of this versus the instant shine, it would be more “rounded” or " slightly “darker or subdued in character” – it is difficult to convey scent impressions, isn’t it? I liked the Instant Honesty. I think it definitely encouraged communication, especially in a closed environment, such as a car. I initially applied it only to the back of my head/neck, but didn’t experience any negative side effects and thereafter applied it to the front. If it affected me, it did so only in a positive way. I would definitely order this one again; I think it helps with creating a connection with other people and is certainly useful in a meeting or one-on-one interactions. I would consider a spritz of it before a job interview too (with or without another product).
Instant Gentleman: BY FAR my favorite of the bunch. Hands down, I would (will) order this one again. It just smells warm and confident. A great one for work – I work in a very professional suit-and-tie field – as well as for social interaction. I think the “Cary Grant” scent description is quite appropriate. It impresses without making someone stand-offish. And while I can’t rule out the placebo effect, I definitely feel I exude more confidence and have better interactions when wearing it. A definite scent for an interview, when you want to impress.
Turn Up The Heat: Unfortunately, I haven’t had much call for this one. It seems to work, as I’ll talk about below. This one definitely smells heavier, is slightly stickier, and lasts a while. Once I have a social life again, I’ll give it another go, as I think it could be a fun one to use.
Instant Female Magic (togo): Well, this one smells “catty” to me, as best as I can describe it. It’s probably my least-favorite scent of the ones I purchased, but it isn’t bad. I don’t get any of the depressive effects some users have reported, thankfully. As to whether it works… Probably? It is a tough call on this one. The majority of my friends are women (of the stable, drama-free variety, typically) who tend to be relaxed around me anyway. It seemed to work synergistically with Instant Gentleman among female coworkers, but that could have been just the Gentleman. I’ll probably get another ToGo vial in the future and give it another try.
MX172 (togo): I have mixed experiences with this one. It really felt to me that people were more stand-offish and abrupt when I wore this. I think I had a definite self-effect on this one: more decisive, dismissive, and, in fact, I think judgmental. Not usually how I am at all.
Read on for some anecdotes…
