Rose Blackthorn

But Luna, I have Panic Disorder. To my brain's way of thinking, there is quite often, a need to panic. Hey, if I can't find humor in this at times, it will surely get the better of me!

I have felt conflicted about this at times, and because I did not want to interfere with the UN phero getting itself out there and didn't want the UN phero covering up the perfume scent and stopping IT from getting out there in any way, I actually began applying them in separate places!

Oh Nooooo!!!! You ladies are scaring me! They MUSTN'T sell out yet!!!

Congratulations Chemy!

OMG... Nutrix, I think you just made me fall in love/lust with this one!

I can relate pheringeer. I read that article on introverts and never really thought I was one, but apparently, I fit the criteria in that I prefer small gatherings of friends/family with quality communication rather than large clusterf#%ks with trivial idle chatter. The larger crowds give me anxiety and the lack of really connecting with those people I DO want to see brings me no joy. Luckily, my partner shares my feelings on these large gatherings and understands my feelings. It got to the point finally, where when his family was having one of their huge, chaotic gatherings, I just tell him "go ahead and visit with them, I know there are people there you haven't seen in a long time. It's your family and if you want to, you should go." He gets it. In your case though, this might not be possible. YET. Until then, perhaps focus on keeping your discomfort with it under control with the pheros people have suggested. Balm Bomb is lovely. B2.2 is a much heavier hitter if we are talking about something closer to panic. If it is more a matter of sort of meshing better with people, maybe Treasured Hearts? It *might* be helpful in the future as you get to know these people better, if you are comfortable enough with them to confide that you have some social anxiety in crowds. In my case, just getting that part out there has helped relieve some of the pressure.

If you mean me eggers, well thank you! The thing is, I believe we *all* are.

I will weigh in on this one. I do agree with Luna regarding males being hardwired to be drawn to younger, i.e. "fertile" young women by nature. QG is clearly an exception, but I essentially look upon patriarchy and bullshit as being synonymous. As women, hopefully, we learn how to navigate the waters and gain an upper hand in this game. Until I turned 17/18 yrs. old, I did not see myself as pretty and felt quite awkward. More than that, I tended to fit in more as friends with boys than I did girls, and had came to know how males thought, even if I didn't often agree with how they thought. It was always easy for me to be one of the boys. The majority of my close friends were male. These days, more like 50/50. And as I have aged, I value those female bonds so much more. When I did blossom at about age 17/18, I clearly saw boys and men really notice me, be *attracted* to me, but most were reluctant to approach me first, so if I wanted a dating life, it often fell on me to make the first move and talk to them first. It seemed silly that they might be intimidated by me, if that was what this was. ( I am very friendly and easy going in social situations and will chat almost anyone up with ease). It was always so refreshing when the rare male would make the first move and approach me! When I turned 50, my perspective on things shifted as did my priorities. Not that sex or being attractive were things that didn't matter, but they definitely were no longer the priority that they once were in my life. Instead, my attention turned more toward MYSELF, my wants, my opinions, my needs, only as I see and feel them in THIS stage of my life. It was actually a beautifully liberating experience. I didn't feel this shift overnight, it came gradually. I really believe that this has something to do with embracing the wisdom of The Crone ( Wise Woman). By 50, you are at a time in life when you have been the Maiden, the Mother, whether literally or metaphorically, and have learned and accepted that as much as you may have gleaned in life, the process of learning never ends. It is not surprising that many young men are drawn to "cougars" or even older women. They know that these women have at least a few things they can teach them. Even though attracting men is not the priority it once was to me, it is still refreshing and flattering in its way. I still easily attract men both younger and older, and it's ironic that they are finally more receptive to approaching me first! LOL! I guess what I am trying to say, is that perhaps it is no longer a priority to your sister to be that man or people "magnet," so the signals she is sending out are stating that and people are on some level picking up on that? I just don't know. WildAutumn, do you know if your sister is still seeking that sort of attention, or has she become more focused on the within and become more introspective? Just conjecture on my part. I only have my own experiences to go by. Beyond the obvious physiological changes, whatever is going on, I hope she is happy. If she is depressed due to difficulties with the aging process, maybe she could benefit from some counseling or other forms of help?

Can't wait for mine! I bet I will be putting Mara' s awesome perfumer's soap to good use! LOVE that stuff!!!

Thanks for the heads up Mara! Nothing exciting here. All very laid back and low key, but that's the way we like it, so woohoo!

I went with the buy ten this time. I am so excited to try them!

Thanks for posting this Blackcat! I am so looking forward to my sampler and this one is one of the one's I am most anxious about! This sounds encouraging and I hope it helps you!

For your sake pheringeer, I hope that she does NOT show up. May I suggest that you mention to your fiance, in a non confrontational way, something to the effect of, "honey, it makes me feel that my feelings don't matter to you when you make decisions that concern both of us without discussing it with me first." This is a rather key point as I see it, because I am getting the sense that this happens a good deal. I can not speak for anyone else, but my experience is that what a man shows you during your first month together is pretty much them showing you who they are and always will be. Another thing I pay attention to is how they treat their mother since this can often, though not always, indicate how they will treat you. I am in agreement with much of what has been said by others here. Where the "oopsy" panties incident is concerned, that was blatantly disrespectful to you and I swear, I would have put on heavy duty gloves, swirled them around in the toilet, and just for good measure, put some bathroom cleaner directly onto them, put place them into a plastic bag, returned them to her, and hoped she got chemical burns on her crotch! Also, maybe take her aside discreetly, and in an embarrassed sort of way, tell her to please put her LOVELY little panties out of sight. That it's just..you know.. unsightly and makes you feel uncomfortable having someone else's "intimates" in your bathroom. (You can say this all sweetly, as if telling someone who doesn't know better, that it just isn't what LADIES do. You can sort of slightly shudder in disgust but smile sweetly as you say so. Perhaps ending it by adding, now I know you don't mean to come across that way. So just between us girls.) I am only this evil with those who give me good reason to be. If you are my friend, I will value you, help you, love you, treat you like gold. If you are my enemy, I will treat you as if I am acting on all of your bad karma' s behalf, and will do so with a smile.

The spell potion might be a good thought Beccah. Maybe added to some Empathy potion, which I have yet to try, btw, or even Treasured Hearts?

OMG phergineer! You are a better woman than I am! I am inclined to go with StacyK's and halo's advice here, but I have to say I am one UNAPOLOGETIC territorial bitch with excessive boundaries where my home is concerned. I am borderline reclusive. Seriously.. I screen phone calls, if someone drops by unannounced, I don't answer the door, I don't even get up and peek to see who it is! If they didn't call first, who cares? And if no one likes it, TOO BAD! All of my friends know this is who I am, that's how I roll, no apologies, and nothing personal. I am also a hard ass on family. They all have open door policies and if it's your house, you set the rules. I respect theirs and I expect them to respect mine. That's it. I was brought up that you NEVER dropped in on people unannounced and you most certainly did not weasel your way into being invited into other people's homes. I'm with donsie on this shit. If it is coming down to this, then dom the shit out of them and to hell with them if they can't take it. I don't feel in the least obliged to accomodate manipulative, ballsy, people. Damn! I'm sorry about the rant. I am SO not the person to comment on this! You have my condolences phergineer! If you can't beat them, get a buzz on, pheros or by other means. Geesh! Nervy much???

I believe so Lainey, but I could be mistaken. BTW, I am a huge fan of DHEAS.

Good to know MDC! I have only tried using Gotcha for a sexy attractant kind of vibe and have not met with much success in that regard. Have not used it as a social phero at all. Hmmm..You have inspired me. Thank you!

Phoebe is a beautiful name! I think it means "moon." I love it.

Patchjulie, this is the absolute BEST time of the year to score UNs and experiment! I am considering trying a few more, just waiting to see how my invoice looks before I pull THAT trigger!

xev, for UNs, I went with Empathy, DHEAS, LFN, PP, Magnet, and wow.. one more and I can't remember! That's so bad!

Me too Xev! And SO much more!!! And while I am not a person who typically "squees," I am SO squeeing right now! LOL!

Thanks Mara! Still shopping!!!! Will just copy and paste my shopping cart order and email it to you? Then I will just redeem all points and both gift cards I have. Could you then please just invoice me? Wow! Some of these are Yule presents so this REALLY helps out! Thanks so much!

Thanks Mara! Nope, never redeemed in any form. Just thought they'd defintely come in handy at some point.

In my humble opinion, for a sexual one, it's hard to go wrong with Sexpionage. For an all around, I do love Open Windows.

Thanks SO much sweet "Pure Sugar!" I see why it didn't work. There was an "e" inadvertently added to the end of my forum name on the GCs so when I tried to redeem with my regular forum name , it was invalid. No worries! I have more shopping to do!