Jelique created Pure Instinct to be a "light and sensual" cologne that was gender-neutral so you could wear it alone or with your favorite fragrances. While Jelique calls this scent light, I find it to be very heavy and recommend that when using it, you only use one drop between your two wrists (rub them together) and one drop shared behind both of your ear lobes, at least when you are trying the product.

While they state that you could add some of this to a tub of water, I recommend this mainly to be used on your pulse points (wrist, behind the ear, etc) because there is no ingredient list available for this product and I'm not sure how it will react with those who have sensitive skin if it is put in a bath.

Jelique does state that this is made up of a "rich combination of rare fragrant essential oils". It also is said to include pheromones to attract the opposite sex. In this review, I will not be covering that aspect of the product because for my husband, anything can become a pheromone and attract him to me and after 32 years of marriage, I am not going to go cruise the aisles at Walmart and see how many men come up to me because they smell this.

I always say that the easiest way to show you the texture is with a photo and I'm going to share a photo here too.



This is oil based and thick enough that it comes off the dauber (like a dropper but it doesn't suck the liquid up inside but instead has it drizzle down the stick) in single drops. While it does feel a bit oily (after all, it is made up of essential oils), it does not feel greasy. It also feels almost smooth.

The aroma is very strong when you open the bottle and sniff it. It is a bit sweet like a fruit sweet or a lemon sweet as opposed to being a flower sweet. It is not a strong sweet flower scent like honeysuckle, which can often be offensive.

As you put it on your body however, it changes its scent. When my daughter wears it, it becomes a bit woodsy and a little like dark tea. She says it seems almost more like a masculine scent on her. When I wear it, the top notes remind me of sitting out near my mom's lilac bushes when I was growing up - or walking by them shortly before they've bloomed. It was not a strong scent of lilacs but a hint of them.

The longer I wear this and get closer to the bottom notes, the more it smells almost like a light musk scent. It is deep and rich and I wish I could describe it better than that.

When I first put it on, I put on about 4 drops and had a headache for about an hour while I waited for the top notes to clear. When I put it on again later, because I only used 1 to 2 drops, I still smelled the lilac top notes, however, the scent was not as strong both in the beginning and as I started to encounter the bottom notes.

How a cologne or perfume performs is so personal that it's really hard to write this portion of the review. What smells good to me or on my body may smell totally different when it is on your body - not only with this product but with any fragrance.

I can state with certainty that this is a long-lasting fragrance though. The first time I used it, I was able to smell it 24 hours later, although the scent was much lighter than it had been before (in strength0 and the aroma itself was a richer, musky scent.

If you've ever bought essential oils before, the size of the bottle will look familiar to you. It is a very small bottle that is very travel friendly. Here is a photo of it next to a small bottle of almond extract so that you can get a size comparison.

On their FAQ page for the Jelique website, when asked what types of pheromones are in this product, the following answer is given.

Without giving up a trade secret I can tell you it is proprietary blend synthetic human pheromones. While formulating this product we tested many synthetic human pheromones and found our blend to be the most successful. We’ve had many companies attempt to knock off our blend, so publishing our ingredient list is not recommended.


They also state that this product is "cruelty-free" and not tested on animals.

I wanted to take a moment to address the pheromones after all, because as I was working on this review, I realized that something very interesting had happened.

As a former rabbit breeder, I have several rabbits still that live in cages plus a neutered male bedroom bunny that lives with us. Whenever Ive worn this, the male rabbits come up to me for pets and cuddling and one of them (my very best breeding buck) practically got in my lap to snuggle up against me and rub his head against me to chin me and mark me as his.

Perhaps there is something to this pheromone thing after all. Even my neutered male bedroom bunny was sniffing at my wrists this morning too and trying to nudge me to get me to pay attention to him. He was also more affectionate than usual.

While researching the proper term for the "dauber", my daughter came across a great webpage that I would like to share with you if you want to read more about fragrances and perfumes and how to wear them. (As it turns out - you shouldn't put the fragrance on your wrists because, the Ph of the skin on the inside of the wrists can be a bit acidic/sour, thus subtly swifting the aroma of your fragrance. This is especially crucial with fragrant compositions which present tart or floral notes.

Want to learn more? How about the fact that, Behind the ear is a rather bad place for perfume, too even if very evocative, immortalised in hunderds of advertisements and films due to its erotic significance of ear lobe kissing & suckling, because at the back of the ears there are glands which produce an oily-smelling substance which distorts your posh perfume.

You can find out more about how to apply perfume.