first tests

[skeptic]

Well, my package got here today. Quick response. :-)

I ordered some SOE gel packs and a bottle of TE. It had arrived when I came home between classes, so I decided to try the SOE before my afternoon class and not fool with the TE since it\'s a little riskier.

My brain didn\'t leap out of my skull when I sniffed the SOE gel. heh. So I put some on, throat, wrists, behind ears. I\'m not sure how much, it\'s hard to judge with those packets (note to Bruce, maybe try clear in the future with a very slightly tinted gel?). A few pearl-sized blobs, maybe 1/4 the pack. Anyway.

I\'m not thrilled with the scent, but it seems to fade fairly quickly, and doesn\'t produce a horrible reaction with my cologne, at least as far as I can tell anyway. My nose acclimates very quickly to scents like that, especially since I\'ve worn the same cologne for years, and I\'d already had 2 squirts on since the morning. I put one more squirt on to cover the SOE and off to class I went.

Let me say, I was really tired when I set out, and when I\'m tired I feel unstable, so I was feeling a little bit weird while I was waiting for the TA to unlock the room. However, I started having rather graphic thoughts about most of the women walking by without even thinking about it until I sort of perked up and went \"hmm, I\'m normally not this much of a lech.\" heh. Related? Who knows.

Once the lab started my energy level and mood improved rapidly, and I was feeling approach-y, so I talked to a few people that I had a vague excuse to talk to before having seen them in the last session, as well as with a somewhat interesting girl I sit near in the lecture component and her roommate. Hot engineering chicks, whoda thunkit. I also schmoozed the TA about my report which was due last Tuesday, heh. Again, this is well within the realm of my behavioral variability, and I\'ve been on something of an \"up\" since last Friday after a very nice (and \'moneless) encounter with that woman I mentioned having my eye on before.

Anyway, I left class in a good mood and spent a few hours at home wasting time and eating and whatnot, and otherwise avoiding my mountain of homework. Then I decided, when taking one of my frequent breaks, to test out TE just for the smell. I primed the sprayer and sprayed the first squirt onto some toilet paper to see how much would come out. Then I tried a squirt on my chest (second spray). hmm. Not very much came out, which I thought was a good thing.

At this point I\'ll note that when I sprayed either place, all I could smell was ethanol. Nothing else... not a trace of scent at all. I waited a few minutes and sniffed the paper and myself, and smelled not one bit different.

Then I sprayed my wrist, and apparently the atomizer was fully primed. Holy crap does a lot come out with one squirt. :-/ Again, I could smell nothing, and still can\'t hours later. So it would seem that I\'m one of those that cannot smell -none.

This is making me paranoid, and I\'m considering obtaining an atomizer and diluting the TE in a 1:1 ratio with an ethanol solution of some sort (Bacardi 151 anyone? heh) because I want fine dosage control over the -none, ESPECIALLY if I cannot smell it.

By the way, on a very vaguely related tangent, I recently remembered an article I once read long ago. Somebody figured out that a certain subset of women are mostly incapable of smelling urine. In other words, it doesn\'t smell nearly as strong to them as it does to most. A study was done which found that there was a distinct correlation between not being able to smell urine and lack of interest in sex or an unsatisfactory sex life. Another tantalizing bit of evidence.. it doesn\'t really relate to me, I don\'t think, because despite apparently not being able to (consciously) smell -none, I can definitely smell women, and I ain\'t talking about their perfume. Also, I have had a notable \"smell connection\" with a couple that I had the most deep-seated attraction to. I liked sniffing them when they would let me. :-D And in watching people, this is NOT that overly weird of a behavior.

[skeptic]

By the way, here\'s an interesting set of articles from some German guy (translated and OCRed I think, so there are some typos and such), near as I can tell. It\'s more about smell and sexuality than pheromones per se, but halfway down there\'s this:

Whatever really happened to the surgeon, today he would share this destiny with approx. 1.2% humans without a sense of smell. And, some of them have even inherited anosmia. This group of humans without a sense of smell is extended with people who suffer partial anosmia. That means their sense of smell functions in principle, but is \"blind\" towards certain odors, e.g. some amber or sandalwood scents.2 It is even estimated that 2% of the world population cannot perceive perspiration, 3% cannot perceive excrement, and 40% cannot smell urine.3 Partial anosmia can be either of permanent or temporary nature. It can be either hereditary or not. As a well-known example, many more women than men can smell the musk-like androstenol as well as the androstenone4 which includes a urine note.5 We also know that some women lose the ability to smell exaltolide (musk-like- scent) after removal of the ovaries; this ability can be remobilized by taking estrogen.6

[...]

The loss of the sense of smell can thus have severe consequences for the individual. Furthermore, studies have determined that these persons do not only lack a sensation, but that the loss also influences feelings of desire and listlessness also with regard to sexuality.

For some persons anosmia leads to a decrease in sexual interest. The interest, however, returns once the sense of smell is intact.12 This phenomenon of the interrelation between the sense of smell and sexuality has also been I observed in the opposite direction. The loss of the sense of smell has been recorded, e.g., after castration or during menopause.13

http://www2.rz.hu-berlin.de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/SSMELL.HTM

Innnnnnteresting.

[CptKipling]

</font><blockquote><font class=\"small\">Quote:</font><hr />
not fool with the TE since it\'s a little riskier

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Dont say that before you try it, it a bit of a generalisation and a slightly confusing one. TE is fine to use as long as you dont use too much. Two sprays is a lot IMO, i prefer dabs usually.

I\'m not a big fan of the gel pack scent either, seems different to the bottle version. Oh, and 1/4 of a pack is a pretty good dose, but you can use more.

[skeptic]

Yeah, I just didn\'t want to try it right then and there due to that and the fact I had class in like half an hour. A good thing, too, since I found out later how much comes out in one spray and that I am incapable of smelling it.