Instant Honesty used to be my favorite back in the AD days. I liked to pry into people's psyche sometimes, out of curiosity, and IH really helped me do so when I wanted to.
You may have been acting beta. I'm not sure what Certo contains, but I looked back at my old journal and found some stuff that might be useful.
On using Instant Honesty throughout the work week (emphasis added):
Phya's Journal Wrote:I guess I can say that it has been helpful during work. Security guards and other authority figures seem to accept me more easily and are much more helpful. Friendship wise, it just seems to deepen the bond. I definitely see effects on people, but they happen so smoothly that you wonder if they would have told you about it or done something with or without pheromones.
If you could signal to everyone 'non-threat', that would be Instant Honesty.
3 sprays seems to work well, regardless of where I put it. Also, I don't really find a problem with applying it on my throat, I don't feel like the self-effects are drastic. I do find I want to talk about anything that might be possibly relevant, but if it's something I don't wish to be revealed, then I am able to consciously prevent it. I haven't really heard about anyone being unable to stop talking about issues they want hidden, but I just figured if it can have strong effects on people 3 ft away from me, then how strong will it be to my own nose?
Phya's Journal Wrote:If I wore something to work on a daily basis, at this point I'd choose Instant Honesty . I seemed well received by most shop owners that I talked to. Some grandmothers chimed in about how I wasn't speaking Korean a little after I started talking and took great interest in my conversation with the shopkeeper. I responded back and they seemed pretty content with my answer.
Also, don't underestimate the power of a simple compliment to girls. I think the instant honesty helped let loose a comment about my friend's hair and how it looked nice that day. She was surprised and said she hadn't done anything special today. I just shrugged and replied that it looks nice anyways. I noticed she played with her hair A LOT today. She even remarked a few hours later that she liked her hair that day and that she was having fun playing with it.
Other than that as soon as we met, we launched into discussions about roommates and how to deal with them, etc, etc. Not really deep stuff per se but stuff that we both had deep interests in.
I wish I had brought the bottle along, I would have considered refreshing to see stronger effects later in the night. She seemed pretty happy the whole day.
A little context here, this friend is a girl I met while working. I'm not exactly sure how we became friends, but this was very early on in the friendship and the conversation went really easily and really deep. It felt like a bonding experience, the kind you have with a new friend that cements your friendship.
Phya's Journal Wrote:I've worn IS around her, and IH around her separately. It's possible that the presence of her HS friends might have influenced her behavior, but she was much more playful with me that night. The physical contact was never blatantly sexual. It was always light and playful. She put her hand on my shoulder for support as she got out of bed to get something from the kitchen (we were sitting on her bed as there aren't enough chairs.) This happened often, near the end of the night, her hand would linger longer, and got to the point where she was gently squeezing my shoulder a couple times before removing her hand.
Another time, she wanted me to pass her some water and to communicate this, she tapped me on my leg and pointed at it. I got the message, but before I gave it to her, I gave her this look saying "what do you say?". Instead of verbally replying "please." she just gave me a sweet look and rubbed my leg softly.
Throughout the night, there were also a few playful punches thrown at me and a few pokes with her feet, telling me I liked it.
Looking back, it was a fond experience. Very close and friendly.
Same girl from above. (In hindsight, it seems like much more of a come-on than I reported it as. Oh well.)
Those were the easiest to find ones where IH is the only product or a major part of the combo. I didn't comb through my entire journal, just my first experiences with Instant Honesty.
I've never worn b-nol as a standalone, so I can only really speak in the context of IH.
You will definitely lose some of the distance that a good alpha combo usually provides, but distance is not what you want when you're using Instant Honesty.
What you're going for with IH is comfort and rapport. It'll feel like you two have known each other for a short period of time, but know each other deeply. You want to feel on the same level, as equals. You're sending the message: "You can trust me because you and I are of the same kind."
Depending on how you lead the conversation, you should get different types of reactions, but all with a sense of them opening up -- honesty. I don't think I'd flirt or try to be too sexually suggestive at work with IH. I would want to ask about all sorts of NSFW things.

That's a conversation better saved for a one on one at a bar.
For work, I would use it to build allies. Let them get a little closer, and develop a solid friendship with them. Where I can trust them and they can trust me. I can gauge the depth of their trust in me by what they are willing to share with me. The more they risk with what they tell me, the greater the feeling of trust.
IH can definitely amp up that feeling and get people to share things about themselves that they might not ordinarily. They may notice that they shared private information and conclude they must trust you more than they thought.
HTH.