Have you had your vomeronasal organ stimulated recently?

Or, better yet, have you stimulated the vomeronasal organs of others?

Mmm, ahh... sounds sexy, now doesn't it?

What's that? "No, it doesn't sound the least bit sexy," you say?

Hmph! Well, alright, fine. I actually have to agree with you dissidents in the audience. It really doesn't sound the least bit sexy. But it does SMELL sexy. 'Smell' in a manner of speaking, anyway. I'll explain that in just a moment.

Do you recall how it's been said the fastest way to man's heart is through his stomach?  Call me practical, but I could've sworn it was through his chest plate. However, in the same metaphorical context that this little saying is actually meant, it could likewise be said that the way to the hearts of both men and women is through their 'vomeronasal organ' (VNO -- perhaps better known as a pheromone sensing 'whatchamacallit'). And it might just be the fastest way to somewhere even a little lower than the heart, if you know what I mean.

The VNO thing sniffs out sex pheromones. Sex pheromones are substances that we don't smell like normal odors. The VNO is one of the sensors in our nose, but it doesn't work like all of the other sensors. Instead of creating an awareness of a smell within us, the VNO translates and sends off signals to other parts of our brain and body. Parts of our brain and body that create feelings or emotions within us. So the VNO doesn't turn an external scent into something we can consciously smell, it instead turns a scent into something we feel. As you are aware, feelings and emotions can be very powerful in driving us to certain actions. Thus, pheromones make us feel certain things that then make us do certain other things... very nice things, you could say. Nice stuff, huh?

The problem with most so-called 'pheromone' based products -- products designed to make your VNO 'tingle' -- is that most of them are a bunch of bullsh*t! A scam.

I've seen people give gleaming accounts of their use of certain so-called 'pheromone' containing products, but many of these very same products they so glowingly talk about have been revealed in consumer studies to contain no or negligible amounts of the pheromones they supposedly have.

There's obviously a lot of crap products out there that rely solely on the placebo effect. I'd sooner recommend a useless, but free, ritual of some sort or another -- perhaps chanting "ala ala pheromone chiggity chiggity choo, hoo hoo!'" backwards while standing on a chair on only your large toe -- than have you spend your hard earned money on something of such sketchy value. I'm just not going to risk my reputation on something like this.

Someday I may evaluate pheromone products across the board as to a) their effect on me and people around me and, perhaps more importantly, b) to what extent they can prove that they contain the pheromones that they claim to contain. Until this research project occurs, there's only one manufacturer of pheromone products that I feel safe recommending to you:

Erox Corporation, also known as known as Human Pheromone Sciences, Inc.

Their story starts with their founder, David L. Berliner. As the literature from the website of the Erox Corporation explains,

"An imaginative University of Utah anatomist named David L. Berliner was working with substances that occur in human skin. When he left some of the extracts in open vials around the lab, he noticed a sudden, puzzling rise in camaraderie among a previously acrimonious group of researchers working with him. When he changed the extracts a few months later, the group resumed its contentious ways.

Berliner froze and saved the extracts. Nearly 30 years later, by this time a Silicon Valley biotech millionaire, thanks to a method of containing drugs and cosmetics inside tiny, sponge like polymer spheres, he returned to the subject. In 1989 he set up Erox Corp., which has isolated the suspected good-fellowship pheromones-behavior-controlling substances similar to those already known to stimulate sexual activity in animals. (One whiff of a pheromone called aphrodisin from a female hamster and a male is ready to mate.)"

It turns out that David discovered and later went on to patent pheromones such as androstadienone, currently known to exist only in the sweat glands of humans. I stress humans because most every other pheromone product contains androstenone, which is not exclusive to humans at all. Most mammals use androstenone as a triggering scent for attraction. This may or may not be a big deal. However, you should feel safe knowing that with androstadienone, as an exclusively human pheromone, you should be relatively free of such torments as dogs humping your leg, cats 'spraying' in your general vicinity, and of course, pigs looking at you in ways... that pigs just shouldn't be looking at you. (unless you're, uh... into that kind of thing!)

Again, androstadienone and others discovered by David Berliner are patented pheromones. Aside from finding them naturally excreted in the sweat of your body (which, if you're part of the modern 'civilized' world, you try as hard as you can to wash away, block the secretion of, and otherwise cover up), you'll only find them in products either produced or licensed by Erox.

Thankfully, there's no real doubt about the authenticity of their products. Not only were they scientifically developed, but they've been scientifically validated and independently assayed by labs outside of Erox Corporation. Reports and reviews have been published in peer reviewed publications. That’s scientific talk saying that other scientists have checked this stuff out out up, down, and probably even sideways. There's a sense of trust you get from trying these products that you just don't get from the 'fly by night' nature of most other pheromone manufacturers. This company is serious about pheromones, and it shows.

At present, there are only two products available from Erox. 'Realm' is one of them. It's available in two different versions, one for men and one for women. I believe the actual pheromones contained in both versions are the same, with the only difference being the fragrances -- one is manly and the other is womanly, of course. Then there's a second product called 'Inner Realm' which is currently available only for women. It has distinctly different effects than either Realm for Men or Realm for Women; it must have a new or different combination of pheromones than the original 'Realm'.

Realm is pretty cool, though. I've used it and I've introduced it to many friends and clients, as well. Personally, it makes me feel at more ease... calm, cool, and confident. Sort of like James Dean was supposed to be. Well, ok, maybe not that cool -- but at least as cool as The Fonz was in Happy Days!

"The pheromones we put in classic Realm for men and Realm for women have pheromones that put you and your partner at ease, boost your confidence, and enhance romantic possibilities by contributing to your mutual feeling of well-being.", says the Realm website. "Realm promotes attractiveness by enhancing the way we feel about ourselves and how others respond to us."

It's really works just as they state, too. They don't claim, nor would I say, that Realm gives men a raging hard on, or makes woman wetter than the sea. But it does indeed seem to melt many of the barriers in getting to know someone. And, think about it -- a sense of ease, confidence, and a feeling of trust are some pretty irresistible qualities to obtain from a simple little spray. It might not sound like much compared to the dubious claims of other pheromone manufacturers to provide more raw and rough sex, but it's actually a wonderfully useful effect, with very real results.

Realm, being a product that works, is is a veritable secret of the pheromone industry, especially since Erox no longer advertises Realm. They are depending upon the small but specialized number of retailers they currently have to push Realm on it's clientele. Erox claims they're able to avoid advertising because, like the illicit drug cartel -- which also has no need for advertising -- they have a tremendously high, almost Crack-like re-purchase rate. Once someone has been persuaded to try Realm, they're generally a "user" for life. Next thing you know, they'll be saying that Realm is the "best 15 seconds of your life".

Seriously, it's impressive to know that Realm has such a mega-high satisfaction rate. Dropping their advertising budget is allowing them to sink more money into new research and development. I can't wait to see what tasty new treats they come up with next! With their lack of advertising, though, just be glad that at least I cared enough to unselfishly tell you about Realm.

Learn more about pheromones and how they work at Erox's website by clicking here.

Update: At the time this was first written, I spent hundreds upon hundreds of dollars trying every pheromone product on the market to see what worked best. At that tine, everything but Realm turned out to be a bunch of guff. Oh, some of the marketing was "better", sure. Out of this world promises, but did they get positive results? No way.

If they contained pheromones at all, they certainly didn't contain enough to do anything -- or do anything to humans, anyway! Or, in at least one case, should I say "nothing good"? While most of the pheromone products did nothing besides waste my time and money,  I firmly recall being asked if I had peed myself with when wearing one formula. Yes, it smelled strong -- sort of like urine. Sexy to to a some sort of circus fetish freak, perhaps, but not the kind of women I sought! 

Since then, however, a particularly useful retailer called "Love Scent Pheromones" has emerged on the internet, which carries a whole assortment of results-tested pheromone products. The really useful and brilliant thing about them is that they provide a Pheromone Forum. This encourages a lot of experimentation and reporting of results. Forum participants buy a few different products, try them, and post their successes and failures online. Very good information to be found here. This is the kind of customer feedback that makes Amazon so useful, and I'm glad that a pheromone retailer caught on to this idea -- it's wonderful!

If you want to experiment beyond Realm, this forum will be invaluable to you, and will save you lots of time and money. In particular, the Primal Instinct pheromone oil seems to garner the most 'hits' for people, men and women alike (only men should use the men's formula, while the female version reportedly works for both). It's a little expensive, but it's super concentrated and the oil form increases the amount of time it works without dabbing more on. Most people report only needing 'one drop', and that the bottle seems to last forever. This is one pheromone formula I'll definitely be doing most experimenting with next.

Even for the non-experimental, Love Scent does carry Realm at a good price. You could get Realm and add on another formula or two to begin your personal experimentation with. For very little extra money, you could go for something like a pack of Scent of Eros Gel  ($10 and up, depending on quantity). Or you can go straight for the kill and add on some Primal (which can easily be used with Realm as an extra boost, since standard formula Primal has little scent of it's own). I can't see what would be better than Primal and Realm together. Yes, that's right...  scent-wise you'd then be within the Primal Realm! Ooooh! Hehe. It's definitely funny that their independent naming schemes work out like that when combined.