[itaspCatCriny]

haha i think that joke slips

past me because i dont know what patchouli is

[Haftdrarp]

Patchouli is a fragrance, I

believe. There were a few discussions about it here in the past.

[itaspCatCriny]

hmm i just found some incense

that my mom has that says patchouli on it. randomly found that around the house and it reminded me of this thread

[PilotVertolet]

haha

i think that joke slips past me because i dont know what patchouli is

From

Botanical.com:

Patchouli
Botanical: Pogostemon patchouli (PILL.)
Family: N.O.

Labiatae

---Synonym---Pucha-pat.
---Part Used---The herb, yielding a volatile oil by distillation.


---Habitat---East and West Indies and Paraguay.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---Description---Thi

s fragrant herb, with soft, opposite, egg-shaped leaves and square stems, grows from 2 to 3 feet in height, giving

out the peculiar, characteristic odour of patchouli when rubbed. Its whitish flowers, tinged with purple, grow in

both axillary and terminal spikes. The crop is cut two or three times a year, the leaves being dried and packed in

bales and exported for distillation of the oil. The best oil is freshly distilled near the plantations. That

obtained from leaves imported into Europe, often damaged and adulterated even up to 80 per cent, is inferior. It is

used in coarser perfumes and in 'White Rose' and 'Oriental' toilet soaps. Although the odour is objectionable to

some, it is widely-used both in Asia and India. Sachets are made of the coarsely-powdered leaves, and before its

common use in Europe, genuine Indian shawls and Indian ink were distinguished by the odour, which has the unusual

quality of improving with age. Hence the older oil is preferred by perfumers and used to confer more lasting

properties upon other scents.
---Constituents---Oil of Patchouli is thick, the colour being brownish-yellow

tinted green. It contains coerulein, the vivid blue compound found in matricaria, wormwood and other oils. It

deposits a solid, or stearoptene, patchouli alcohol, leaving cadinene.

It is laevorotatory, with the

specific gravity of 0.970 to 0.990 at 15 degrees C. (59 degrees F.).

---Medicinal Action and Uses---Its use

is said to cause sometimes loss of appetite and sleep and nervous attacks. The Chinese, Japanese and Arabs believe

it to possess prophylactic properties.

---Other Species and Adulterations---
Java patchouli, often grown

in Indian gardens for home use, is a product of Pogostemon Heyneanus.

The inferior oil of Assam is from

Microtoena cymosa.

Cubeb and cedar oils are said to be usual adulterants. I have bought it

in leaf form to burn on charcoal as incense, but I think the more common form, and the one often refered to at this

forum is the essential oil.

Patchouli has a bad rep with some people due to the hippies using it to mask body

odor in leiu of bathing. The incense has also been overused to hide the smell of marijuana.

I myself like the

smell of good patchouli oil.

Here's another take on the herb, from an

incense website:

Patchouli



(Pogosemon patchouly)



Description: Patchouli (also spelled "patchouly") is a tropical

bush that grows up to three feet tall. Native to Malaysia, it is cultivated in many parts of the world including

the USA. Although a fairly plain, unassuming plant, once its leaves have been fermented and dried the scent is

distinctive and powerful. Patchouli is a very heavy scent and is sometimes used as a fixative. Patchouli is a very

earthy scent that is both beloved and despised among incense users.

Use: Properly prepared leaves are easy

to powder and can often be found in powdered form. Even in its whole herb form, patchouli is very potent. As an

essential oil, patchouli is akin to an scent explosion and must be used with a stingy hand. A little goes a very

long way. Powdered leaves can be added to any blend to add deeper and heavier notes to the scent.

Although

patchouli can be grown as a house plant, growing patchouli for making your own incense isn't particularly

practical. The leaves must be fermented before use. They are even fermented before the oil is extracted. Without

the fermentation process your patchouli will still be useable but will have a far stronger green herb scent and only

the slightest hint of the classic patchouli scent.

General Information: Patchouli is often called the

definitive scent of the hippie movement of the 1960s. It was certainly popular at that time in the USA and England.

Perhaps as a result of that, there are those who despise the scent of patchouli. It is an herb that usually

elicits a strong response of either love or hate. Its scent is also thought to be one of the best ways to mask the

scent of body odor, so perhaps that had something to do with its popularity at that time.

Although it may be

associated with the 1960s to many people, it is still in popular use today. Its history extends far beyond the 20th

century. Patchouli was known to incense masters in India thousands of years before it was known in Europe or the

Americas.

Because of its heavy, earthy scent, patchouli is obviously associated with the sign of Earth. Its

addition to incense brings a strong presence of Earth energies. Although some traditions see it as an herb

symbolizing separation, others teach it is an herb of love and unity.

In either (or neither) case,

patchouli is a powerful addition to any rolled or powdered incense. Although it is powerful, and should be added

sparingly, it is a good aromatic for beginning incense makers. It is forgiving. If you add too much to a blend,

you'll simply end up with a batch of patchouli incense (since it will overwhelm everything else). As long as you

like the scent of the patchouli itself, keep some on hand at all times. I was first introduced to

essential oils through a book, "Magical aromatherapy," by Scott Cunningham. Patchouli is a prominent ingredient in

several of his "prosperity" based oils and incenses.

When using essential oils, it is best to buy them in

their pure form, though for some herbs that is cost prohibitive. There are several grades of oil and synthetic ones

too. The pure essential oils are best for perfume purposes.

[ToifvT5S]

ICE BREAKER by DatingClass
A short article on one of my favourite ice

breakers.

The Hi and Bye ice breakers introduction is a more direct approach to getting to know a girl as with

this approach you start of by showing your interest in her. It's very risky, no doubt BUT it is also quick and in

the event that the conversation doesn't go the way you hope it would, it gives you an easy exit.

The below

example illustrates how the approach works:

Imagine that you are in a hotel lobby to pick up some guest when you

saw a hottie sitting on one of the lounge chairs reading a woman's magazine.

What you'd do is: walk up to her

and say, "I'm on my way out but I can't help noticing you and not come over and say hi. My name is Steve."



She says "Hi, I'm Lisa." And you say "I have to go but I would like to get to know you so, can we like exchange

email addresses?" If she says yes, get her email and leave. If she says no, then say "Hope to see you around, Lisa."

Then leave.

In such circumstances, it's wiser to ask for her email address rather than phone number. Women feel

less threaten when giving out their email addresses to stranger as oppose to phone numbers.

Some of the

situation that calls for this measure :

You are really in hurry and leaving and do not want to pass up the

chance of getting to know this hot lady. You know the risk involved but then it's either you take the risk or

she's out of your life for good. Anyway, this measure calls for a quick exit therefore the embarrassment of being

turned down is a short one only.

If you are the kind of guy who is intimidated by good looking women, you

definitely should opt for this measure. This is because this method limits interaction time. Limited interaction

time means less talking to do; definitely for guys who don't know how to have long conversation with women. Less

talking incidentally will also lead to less chance of you screwing up the interaction.

This is also a good

approach for clueless guys. By clueless, I mean guys who don't have the faintest idea of what to say or do in the

company of a girl they are interested in. This short, simple and quick method is the answer.

This technique is

meant for the encounter to be over quickly ~ short and hopefully successful!

COLOGNE NOTES



Trying to find the right cologne to wear in the attraction arena is a subject that

many men could use some brushing up on. Picking a good cologne that not only smells right on you but also fits your

personal style takes a bit of skill and a lot of active awareness.
If you are not careful, you will spend

lots of money on colognes that simply do not mix well with your body chemistry. And even though they smell great to

you, because you are use to your own bodily odors, the scent you are sporting might be killing your chances with the

ladies before you open your mouth to initiate first contact with them.

However, if you happen to come across a

cologne that really works with your body chemistry and accentuates your own unique style, then your chances with the

ladies could dramatically improve.

So, you are probably asking yourself, "How do I begin looking for the right

cologne for me?"

Before you can answer this question, you must be ready to accept that what you think smells

good might be the wrong cologne to use unless all you are trying to do is smell good for yourself. Also, the goal

behind finding the right cologne is not always to smell great necessarily. Smelling good is nice and all, but it is

not always as effective as you might imagine.

Of course you do not want to smell bad. What you want to do is

smell unique and interesting. There is an art to choosing the right cologne and the men who master it strive to

leave women with a certain feeling rather than simply striving to smell good.

When I go looking for a new

cologne, I always take a woman with me. If she says something like, "That one smells sort of nice on you!", I know

immediately that that is not the cologne for me unless I just want something to wear around the office.

What I

am waiting for her to say is "Gee, that cologne is really interesting. I'm not sure what it is about that scent but

it has a certain appeal to it!" Because what she is really saying is that the cologne has an attractive quality and

a sense of mystery to it rather than merely saying it smells nice.

And what you are trying to do is get your

hands on cologne that attracts women to you, not merely makes you smell nice around them. It is extremely important

to understand this fundamental difference. Because if you don't figure this out, you will waste a lot of time and

money with colognes that make you smell nice like every other guy who just smells nice.

To illustrate this more

clearly, imagine the first time you cuddled with a woman who was wearing a perfume that lingered in the room, on

your pillow, or on your jacket. Even though she left ten minutes ago, her scent is still there to remind you of your

experience with her when she was around.

This is the kind of effect you want a cologne to have when trying to

attract women. Because if you are wearing the right cologne and you hug a woman and some rubs off on her, often this

can cause a woman to start thinking about you more intensely even though you are no longer in her presence. Women

know this trick very well and use it on us men all the time to keep us thinking about them even when they are not

around.

Another important key to remember is to always have more than one type of cologne to switch between.

This way if you see the same woman a lot, you will not smell predictable around her.

I have a friend who wears

the same cologne around everywhere he goes. The problem is that some women told him that his cologne smells nice and

as a result that is all he will wear. Unfortunately, none of these women are dating him.

It is because even down

to how he wears his cologne, he is predictable. By rotating between different colognes, you can play a little game

of hard to get with a woman's sense of smell. And don't underestimate a woman's sense of smell. Teasing a

woman's senses--especially her sense of smell--tells her on a whole new level that you get it.




Thoughts, ideas, concerns?

'Specially from zee ladies!

[itaspCatCriny]

this is an old thread once

again, so sorry for bringing it back. but one thing about the cologne advice i disagree with is this. when you

change your colognes frequently, it gets rid of that ONE scent that you associate your lover with. with my past

ex's, the fact that they had that one smell about them that i loved, and couldnt get enough of, just smelling it

even months after the relationship brings back feelings about them. so i like to have one cologne that people can

associate with me but one that nobody else wears, yet im still searching for that one. ive tried very sexy for him 2

by victoria secret, fierce by abercrombie, and some amouage samples, dia actually, havnt tried the others.

[Haftdrarp]

Unless you have a chemist mix

up a personal cologne for you, you're unlikely to find one that other people don't wear.

However, the more

expensive a cologne is, the less likely you are to encounter people who have been around it before (cost is not

necessarily an indication of quality, but rather of scarcity).

It's can be somewhat expensive to find a rare,

high quality cologne that works well for you.

[itaspCatCriny]

well maybe if i cant get one

that NOBODY else wears, i meant that i would prefer one that isnt worn by a large amount of people and one that

people arent LIKELY to smell again, at least within a few years

[raspirator]

I know, Tyler! Wear

patchouli!

Personally, I have had great success with getting e-mails lately, but not much in getting

a response from any of them. I kind of like Naughtie's idea of giving IM info.