Last week or so, I posted an ISO in sinandsalvation for La Flamme, because (a) I love the smell, and (b) it made the boyf absurdly passionate. For, like, 18 hours. I really want TAL to start making it in gallon jugs.

On Tuesday of this week, I went to interview for a summer job. Knowing that most of the money oils aren't made for skin wear, I daubed my conjure bag (mojo hand, nation sack, gris-gris, whatever) with Wealthy Business and Gainful Employment, and slipped it discreetly into my suit pocket. (I love the label that decantmonkey made for Wealthy Business -- a color photo of a city skyline. Perfect.) For skin wear, I used Charisma -- which is also what I wear to give poetry readings!

Result: Hired as a contractor within 30 minutes of walking in the door, with boss thinking I possibly qualify for an even better job at the same company.

TAL, I love you. I love you. I love you.

I wore a dab of Q7, a dab of Charisma, and a splash of Storyville to a women-only gathering this weekend. I put the Q7 in my hair so its scent didn't mix badly with the others.

My impression? I remembered why doing love & attraction magick is a bad thing--it works on the user 3 times as much as it works on its targets. Unfortunately, my hostess' mother ended up being home, so flirting possibilities were pretty much nonexistent and I went home rather frustrated. However, the Charisma seems to have worked just fine--I felt entirely at ease and one attendee later described me as "droolworthy". :D

Has anyone else tried Q7? How did it work for you?

ETA: OMG, I got asked out on a date as a result of that night. *squees* I guess the Q7 worked after all!

hayet  was kind enough to make sure I got decants of a few key TALs in time for a job interview this past week. (No, I didn't walk in smelling like anything. I do, however, have stretched earlobes, and since my subtlest plugs, my maple ones, are also highly absorbent, they soaked in just a tiny bit of Charisma along with their normal oiling.)

I also gave a poetry reading last night. The small town surrounding the bookstore chose last night to launch a second-Friday-of-every-month event: there were music and dance performances; chocolatiers, tea shops, and bakeries gave tastings; and I was the attraction (Good Gawd y'all!) at the bookstore. So I slathered Charisma and wore the imp in my bra.

I sold five copies -- which, for a small-press book of poetry, when most of your foot traffic is distracted by having kids along or the prospect of free chocolate elsewhere, is actually amazing. One gentleman bought a book early on and stayed for the entire event, nodding and smiling in all the right places. At the end, he revealed that he was a local publisher, who was talent-scouting for a multi-poet reading he's helping to organize at the Barnes & Noble this September, and based on my reading last night, he wants me in -- he asked for my contact information and gave me his card!

I don't expect to hear back on the job interview for at least another week, at best. However, I got a very nice response to one of the thank-you notes I sent, and two of my references have blind-carbon-copied me on the recommendations they wrote; said letters read like I paid the recommenders each a Mercedes. o_O

Verdict: hayet ? Pretend this is a long-stemmed rose. Pretend there are a dozen:

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I was asked by liminalia to post these links, and I think that's a swell idea.

I recently field-tested a slew of oils, and I've written up the results and posted them in my personal journal. Anyone who's interested, feel free to drop on by! I'd love to see you.

Reviews for: Wolf's Heart, Block Buster, Master, King Solomon's, Milk & Honey, Charisma, and Bastet's Laughter.

Reviews for Unreleased blends: Arabian Nights, Nine Muses, Nocturne, Peace, Helping Hand, and Aunt Caroline's Money Bag.

I didn't use them together, but now that I think about it, maybe I should next time I have to do marketing/networking type stuff. :)

( Sniffs & Uses.Collapse )

( Charisma review behind the curtain. Also, babbling.Collapse )

Overall: bloody effective and surprising. I'm actually a fairly introverted person by nature. Relatively shy and quiet even. This did a great job of turning a hormone-induced funk into me at my outgoing best in a very short amount of time. *does a little happy dance*

Charisma: This is a powerful attraction and advancement blend. It aids in polishing and magnifying your best qualities, while downplaying your flaws. Increases charm and wit, and helps you shine in a crowd. Wear a drop on each chakra point.

I have been giving this TAL blend quite a workout this week. The spring quarter is ending (and I am graduating!) and so I've had to do a lot of presentations and oral reports. For an introvert like me, this is one of the circles of hell. I decided to try Charisma to give me self-confidence and make me sound more impressive (and stop my hands from shaking!).

Each time I had a presentation, before class I'd duck into the bathroom and put a drop of Charisma oil on each of my chakras. (For my first chakra, I put a drop on my tailbone.) Then I'd ground myself and say a quick prayer for a good presentation.

Result: All my presentations and reports went really, really well. I still felt nervous, but I got through my presentations without stammering or "um" ing. People told me afterwards that I sounded really good.

I seemed to attract more positive attention in general. I had a lot of people talking to me and being friendly! This one woman in my class, who I always thought was rather tough and standoffish, came up to me after class and we had a nice long chat about this and that. It turns out she's really sweet. And she has cats, too! I would definitely wear this oil when I wanted to make new friends. Too bad I didn't think of it when classes started!

Charisma worked really well for me. It didn't turn me into Angelina Jolie, but it helped me make a positive impression and increased my self-confidence. And a nice bonus, it smells REALLY good on me and I got some compliments on that!