First I'd like to thank Adil and Raquel for sending me the free sample. I've tried out the salve now a couple of times so here are my experiences:
First try: A very small amount (maybe pea sized) applied on the back of my knee. Did not feel much heat, only a tingling which was slightly annoying. No big deal though, just wanted to make sure I wasn't allergic or anything.
Second try: A very liberal amount (not sure how much but maybe 3/4 tsp) applied to my upper back and shoulders. My wife rubbed it in for maybe 5 minutes but stopped because it was irritating her forearms (they were red and itchy). It felt very nice on my back though. It started off feeling tingly, with a slight itch around the area it was applied to, but then progressed to a steady heat after a few minutes. The aroma was pleasant and relaxing, but it did irritate the throat and nose making both my wife and I cough and my nose run slightly. That would have been less of an issue if it wasn't applied in such close proximity to my head. I put a shirt on to help contain the vapors. The salve was applied around 9:30, and I had some kava from 10-10:30 and spent the evening chatting and then later playing some video games. The heat level was fairly intense at times, it seemed to come and go in waves or at least I noticed it more at times than others, though there was always a baseline level of significant heat. It felt very good. Around 12:30am I left the salve on and hit the sack. I had some very weird dreams from the kava as usual and woke up a few times feeling a bit uncomfortable from the heat, but I would quickly fall back asleep. The heat lasted until at least 6 in the morning.
Overall my impression is positive. My wife commented on the great consistency and texture of the salve, and we both thought the aroma was pleasant. The heat was intense at times and while I did not mind it and mostly really enjoyed it, it lasted longer than I wanted, and it did irritate my wife's arms when applying it. I would caution against using as much as I did in one application. I have not used any other salves that caused heat, so I don't have much to compare to. I see mos3z says he did not notice any heat, so it seems like the heat scales with the amount used and you can find the right amount for the level of heat that you desire, which is good. I did apply it to an area with sore muscles, and I did not notice any particular analgesic effect, and don't know if the addition of kavalactones is any improvement over the basic heat aspect of it, but it seems like a very decent salve regardless.
I will try it again on some more sore muscles earlier in the day maybe tomorrow and will report back again.
