Background
'Twas a lazy and early Sunday morning when I logged in to check new posts. Noticed something about Pheromone Treasures, and out of curiosity, clicked it.

John Loda aka bonadzz had posted a thread re-introducing himself and introducing his new company. He was also offering to send his products for free to 5 lucky testers. So I sent John a PM asking if he would consider a tester from Asia.

John replied within a few minutes and responded that he'd be happy to send me some of his products to test.

After a few back and forths, John very kindly and generously arranged to send out a full bottle of Desi and samples of Auraental, Aura of Amity, Captain and Alpha Treasures, all scented in Cold Water, for me to test here in Southeast Asia.

Rationale
Where I've always naturally gravitated toward East Asian girls, in recent times I've found myself being attracted more and more toward my own ethnic group, South Asian. Stay tuned for upcoming episodes of Kimosabe Digs Desi!

That doesn't mean that I'm about to abandon the lovely Oriental girls around here. There'll also be episodes of Elemental Auraental Kimo-mental.

During my mone journey from '09 till now, I've only had one pure social, S.O.E. I've stuck religiously to it, since for me, it is a roller-top bottle of scented oily GOLD. However, I feel that it is now time to expand my horizons and see what's out there in terms of pure socials to compare with S.O.E. So Aura of Amity squares off against Scent of Eros in The Pillow-fights of the Socialites.

During our PM exchange, I mentioned to John that I've been looking to try out an A314-alternative, and John agreed that I should try both Captain and Alpha Treasures to see which would be more suited to my body chemistry. In his own words (emphasis mine):

John aka bonadzz Wrote:You are correct on Captain, the predominant pheromone in there is Androsterone, and is definitely a nice one to use in the work place. It is also my most complex product (other than Dunamis Duo), and will work great in most situations.

Alpha Treasures is similar to Captain in terms of what it is supposed to do, but has a different blend than Captain and is definitely determined by the user's natural pheromone chemistry as to which one is best for them.

As for how Captain compares to A314. Alpha Treasures is actually more like A314 when it comes to the aggressive/intimidation kick to it. But Captain actually sounds exactly what you're looking for. I spent a lot of time on Captain making it more of a "leader" feeling where people WANT to follow you, more than the leader feeling like Alpha Treasures where they feel they HAVE to follow you.

Nice!

Website
Pheromone Treasures is easy to navigate, and products are laid out clearly on respective pages. Their return policy is spelled out in easy-to-understand words and is consumer-centric IMHO. They even have an online chat function to make customer service accessible from anywhere in the website.

I was happy to note that Pheromone Treasures also sell single molecules at reasonable prices, along with a choice of carriers (alcohol or oil) that consumers can select from when adding products to cart. From the website:

Quote:All single molecules come unscented and in a 10ml dropper bottle and are at a concentration of 1 mg/ml.

And from the man himself:

John aka bonadzz Wrote:It comes to be around 50mcg/drop for the single molecules.

Individual product descriptions are clear and formatted in a font that's easy on the eyes. Dunamis Duo's page even includes a chart which makes the product's modus operandi super simple to understand in just one glance.

The feature I like most of all is the dosage advice on each product page. It is the first time I have seen dosages clearly laid out by WEARER'S ETHNICITY, and takes a lot of guesswork out of the equation. The message I get from this is "start testing from this dosage and fine-tune for your body chemistry thereafter."

Like single molecules, it would also be good if a choice of carriers could be offered in the future for pheromone products, except of course for products like Dunamis Duo. This would give consumers like me, who live in always hot-and-humid climates, as well as those who live in usually-cold climates such as Nordic countries, the option to choose a carrier that is climate-and-season-appropriate vis-a-vis longevity & sillage.

An Attitude of Gratitude
Saving the best for last in this first post, I'd like to thank John with all my heart for his generosity as well as enthusiasm to support testing catered to each individual tester.

He certainly did not have to send out a full bottle for testing, let alone so many products, for free. However, his enthusiasm and sincerity shone through his words, and the distinct message I got was, "I'll support testing the way YOU prefer. Here you go, this is what they do, try, test... ENJOY!"

This pheromone-consumer's confidence in Pheromone Treasures and John Loda are currently running sky-high. A truly FANTASTIC first impression. Here's looking forward to a long and fruitful relationship ahead!

Next up, some unboxing therapy for our forum members, once the package gets here. Think I'll call it Unearthing Pheromone Treasures.

And, oh yeah, 500th POST!

Thank you very much for the review! Everything you've said means a lot to me. Thank you for breaking down everything you've noticed and taking the time to spell it out here on the forum.

With the option of different carriers for all of the products, it is definitely something I am open to doing in the future.

Also, congratulations on the 500th post

-John

I'd like to propose the following 3-alphabet acronyms for Pheromone Treasures products, just to keep things unique and distinct in the forum:

Men's Pheromones
Alpha Treasures: ATR
Aura of Amity: AOA
Grail of Affection: GOA
Auraental: ARL
Captain: CPT
Dunamis Duo: DDO
Escape the Friend Zone: EFZ
Latina: LAT
The Hookup: THU (credit to SeekingSuccess for this one)
Treasureful Shine: TFS
Zero to 69: Z69
Desi: DSI

Women's Pheromones
Aura of Amity: AOA
Captain for Her: CPH
Eileah: ELH
Treasureful Shine: TFS

Shall we?

Looks good, and thanks for that

I look forward to your reports my friend.

Avast ye scallywags, Pheromone Booty AHOY!!!

Shipping
John sent out the package on 17 Nov via USPS First Class International Mail, and PM'ed me tracking info (which actually works all the way to delivery!) on the same day. I received the package on 26 Nov here in Southeast Asia.

This is the fastest First Class Int'l Mail has ever reached me! Usually it takes between 11-14 days, but only 9 this time!

I did a mock checkout on the website a few days ago and found that only one shipping method is offered as default for international orders.

If the default option is the same as above, i.e. USPS First Class International Mail, then it would be good if, for instance, USPS Priority International Flat Rate method could also be offered as a shipping option in the future.

I'm more than willing to sacrifice tracking info and pay some extra to cut transit times to 1 week instead of up to two.

Packaging & Presentation
This is how the package arrived. Wexford Poly Bubble Mailer padded envelope. There was a hand-written note from John inside the package, thanking me for trying out his products and looking forward to my review. Thank you, John!


The wooden chest!!!



Sneak-a-peek, nauuughteee boys!


VOILA!!!


continued on next post...

---

...continued from previous post.

It's so delicately wrapped in satin gold cloth!


Pheromone Treasures Unearthed! From left to right: ATR, AOA, DSI, CPT, ARL


What's even nicer is that each sample baggie insert comes with clear instructions overleaf.


However, they are all the same. CPT and AOA are dosed in sprays on the website. Two questions for John:

1. What is the conversion from full sprays to sample drops?
2. What is the conversion from full drops to sample drops?
   

However, since all the sample bottles and their respective contents look the same, it is necessary to store the samples in their baggies in order to prevent mix-ups.

This presents a minor issue since the baggies need to be laid down flat, causing the bottles to be on their side and may potentially leak. The alternative would be to store the bottles upright on top of their respective inserts removed from the baggies.

I think I'll go to the stationery store tomorrow and buy those small little labels, on which will go each product's 3-alphabet acronym and stick them onto the bottles, to make things easier.

A Small Issue

Unfortunately, when unpacking the bottle, I felt wetness on my fingers and saw drops on the bottle cap. DSI had suffered a minor leak, which had wet the label on the front of the bottle slightly as shown in the above pic. However, it was pretty easily cleaned up with a piece of tissue.

I think what happened was that the bottle might have worked its way out of its bubble wrap in transit, and rattled around inside the wooden case sufficiently to cause its cap to open up a teensy bit. It would be good to tape down the bubble wrap and also seal bottle caps with tape in the future to prevent them from working loose.

Upon opening the samples, 2 of the bottles also exhibited minor wetness, namely AOA and CPT. Also easily cleaned with tissue. Again, sealing the caps should do the trick.

Only one thing.... I now have a slight headache. Smell-testing will have to wait till tomorrow.

More on the DSI Bottle
DSI comes in a large cobalt blue 30 ml bottle pre-installed with an Eurodropper. I am usually wary of Eurodroppers when it comes to less viscous liquids, and just by eyeballing, DSI seems to move around easily enough inside its bottle. Testing will tell.

The Scent
All products are scented in Cold Water, a fresh aquatic scent which John describes as his favourite. Since some product got onto my fingers, I could smell just that, a fresh scent. Again, more during testing.

Final Thoughts
I love the presentation!

I LOVE THE PRESENTATION!!

John has really hit a home run with this. The way the products ship in wooden chests, wrapped in satin gold cloths with a paper-band around them... it amplifies and specializes the experience of ownership, and that's even before any mones have touched skin.

DID I MENTION I LOVE THE PRESENTATION?!!!

The only small niggle I feel is that I'm not going to get much lead time to test in everyday situations before this Saturday's prime testing scenario, due to shipping transit duration, but being a freebie I cannot and will not look this gift horse in the mouth.

Diving into the deep end has therefore been necessitated and dive into the deep end I shall. Cue muff diving jokes...

FOR SCIENCE!

And for FORNICATION NEGOTIATION!

(11-26-2014 5:14 AM)kimosabe Wrote:  ...
However, since all the sample bottles and their respective contents look the same, it is necessary to store the samples in their baggies in order to prevent mix-ups.

This presents a minor issue since the baggies need to be laid down flat, causing the bottles to be on their side and may potentially leak. The alternative would be to store the bottles upright on top of their respective inserts removed from the baggies.

I think I'll go to the stationery store tomorrow and buy those small little labels, on which will go each product's 3-alphabet acronym and stick them onto the bottles, to make things easier.
...

Folks, I was WRONG. There is indeed another, BETTER way:

Thanks for the initial review kimosabe.

First I would like to apologize for the small leakage. Thank you for the suggestion of securing the bubble wrap to the bottle to prevent this. This is something I can easily do and will do from now on .

Second, for having an expedited international shipping option, DONE. I've just added a priority mail international option for you guys .

For the dosage on the sample bottles, this is what the break down is:

1 full size spray = 3 full size drops.
1 sample drop = 2 full sized drops.

This sample drop is measured when you place your finger over the little sample vial and turn it upside down and then right side up again to get a drop the size of the opening of the sample bottle.

Thanks again for the initial review!

-John

(11-26-2014 10:05 AM)bonadzz Wrote:  For the dosage on the sample bottles, this is what the break down is:

1 full size spray = 3 full size drops.
1 sample drop = 2 full sized drops.

This sample drop is measured when you place your finger over the little sample vial and turn it upside down and then right side up again to get a drop the size of the opening of the sample bottle.

Thanks again for the initial review!

-John

I'm not sure I got this correctly.So if I have THU, which is spray, and place it in a dropper bottle then 3 drops=1 spray?This must mean that the spray volume of the sprayer is little.
And if I have GOA which is in dropper then 2 drops from the full bottle=1 sample drop from a sample of GOA?
And if I have a sample of THU then in order to get 2 sprays I need 3 sample drops?

Hi stef,

You are correct.

Maybe if I put it in terms of actual volume it will make more sense for everyone.

1 spray = 0.15 ml
1 drop from a euro dropper = 0.05 ml
1 drop from a sample bottle = 0.10 ml

The spray has the most volume. The drop you get from the sample bottle is actually larger than the drop you get from a euro dropper from a product.