Pickup Product Review

Gratuitous nudity

There’s a lot of stuff out there on how to be more successful with women. Where do you begin? I’ve gone through a lot of it, and not all of it is created equal. Here’s my personal list of what I think is the best, what’s okay, and what I liked the least. There’s nothing objective about this. It’s pure opinion.

::: Table of Contents :::

Part I. The Absolute Best

  • Introduction
  • Division 1: The Best From The Pickup Community
  • Division 2: The Best From The Mainstream
    • 1. Inner-game
    • 2. Masculinity
    • 3. Success with Women
    • 4. Female Perspective
    • 5. Sex
    • 6. Fashion, How to Be Funny, Health, Wealth

Part II. Okay

  • Introduction
  • Division 1: Solid
  • Division 2: Decent
  • Division 3: Good Rep, But What’s The Big Deal?
  • Division 4: Ross Jeffries Regurgitation (NLP Stuff)

Part III. My Least Favorite

Part IV. Haven’t Tried, But No Interest

Conclusion: Where to Start

PART I: THE ABSOLUTE BEST

::: Introduction :::

I choose these as the best because they have at least two of the three following things:

a) They Produce Results: They’re PRACTICAL. They actually helped me to change.

b) They’re Original: They practice what they preach. They’re leaders. And, they helped me to see the big picture.

c) They’re Affordable: It doesn’t break your wallet to get one of their products.

::: Division 1: The Best From The Pickup Community :::

1. DAVID DEIDA.

He’s not part of the pickup community. But his ideas were the ones that helped me to succeed with women the most.

  • The Way of The Superior Man Book
  • The Way of The Superior Man CD
  • Enlightened Sex Book
  • Enlightened Sex CD

2. MYSTERY.

Most pickup gurus started out as students of Mystery. He’s practical, and he gives you the big picture. Only problem with his books are they’re written by Lovedrop, not Mystery. They’re Mystery’s ideas of course, and they are still revolutionary.

  • The Mystery Method – Gives you the big picture. Drawback: heavy on theory. Strength: One of the best pickup books out there because it has all the fundamentals.
  • Revelation – Covers pickup only until C1.
  • The Pickup Artist – Based on Mystery’s writings from Mystery’s Lounge. Reminded me of a Platonic dialogue. Good because you get to see a lot of “pickup in action.” Also, you get a series of videos on kino escalation when you purchase the book.
  • VH1’s The Pickup Artist videos – You get to actually SEE pickup in action (not just theory). Some of the best lessons I’ve learned were from watching this show.

3. NEIL STRAUSS.

If Mystery is Socrates, Neil is Plato. Mystery is the great teacher who never bothered to write anything down. Neil is the great student who wrote everything down, made Mystery famous, and spread his message. And his writing is a pleasure to read.

  • The Game – Inspirational.
  • The Rules of The Game – Forces you into the field. But covers only the attract phase, so it doesn’t give you the whole picture. Almost like marketing to join his StyleLife Academy to learn more.

4. DAVID DEANGELO.

Focuses on the “attract” phase and inner-game stuff. Great on fundamentals. Although cocky-funny is a practical technique, he’s heavy on theory and teaches through lecture.

  • Double Your Dating – The book that started it out. The ideas from the rest of his products are contained in this book for $20. Can you say FANTASTIC value? Great fundamentals. Gives a whole picture, from the approach all the way to sex. The voice and style of writing rubs off on you, and fills you with confidence, too.
  • Interviews with Dating Gurus – CDs sent to you each month, with every great dating guru. Only series out there like it. INVALUABLE. These interviews are intellectually stimulating and nourishing. You get to hear so many outlooks, and see patterns underlying them all.
  • Sexual Communication – Categorized as fundamentals. One of his best. How to create attraction with women by bypassing her “polite persona” to speak with her primal brain. I got my biggest aha here. You create sexual tension by play fighting WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF ROMANCE/DATING/SEX. That aha wasn’t on the CD, it’s was a passing phrase buried in the text.
  • Mastery with Women and Dating – Deep, philosophical, profound. Awesome, awesome inner-game stuff. One of my personal favorites.
  • Bars and Clubs – Useful techniques into being more effective in bars and clubs. Recommended.
  • Body Language – Good fundamentals. Wasn’t his best. Best part: Mystery’s presentation on Body Language. Mystery demonstrates how to lean back and how to body rock. Sweet.
  • 77 Laws – Has more to do with general inner-game than success with women, although there’s some stuff on dating toward the end of the DVD. But he didn’t even cover all his best “rules of thumbs” here, so I was a bit disappointed. Still, invaluable inner-game stuff that applies not only to women and dating, but to being a success in life in general.
  • Attraction Isn’t A Choice – His second ebook. Far inferior to his first. Duller writing style. And way too heavy on evolutionary psychology. There’s some value to it, of course. I thought his mailbag at the end was one of the best parts.
  • Advanced Dating Techniques – Categorized under fundamentals. Awesome insights. Mix of inner game and techniques. Heavy on theory, light on practice. Doc, Lance Mason (AWESOME presentation on body language here), and Neil Strauss are guest speakers which give even more value to this program.
  • Power Sexuality – Heavy on theory. Two important insights though: an insight into the nature of female sexuality that changed how I looked at female sexuality. And an insight into getting in touch with the animal within you, and to accept sex not as bad but a good thing. Those insights (and a few more) were VERY worth it.
  • On Being A Man Who Naturally Attracts Women – Categorized as inner-game. I personally thought this was one of his weaker products. “Mastery” is superior for inner-game. Interesting stuff about male initiation rites and how we don’t have them in the industrialized world, but I didn’t think he got to the heart of the matter.
  • Approaching Women and Starting Conversations – Some good ideas about how to approach. Didn’t help me as much as Style’s Jealous Girlfriend routine. That routine, with the important insights of having a false time constraint and a root, remains the best training wheels for starting conversations, in my opinion. You can find that routine and those fundamentals in “Rules of The Game” for like $20
  • Cocky Comedy – This was my absolute LEAST favorite product. The best part was Sean Stephenson’s presentation. What I disliked about it was DeAngelo’s discrepancy between teaching how to be funny yet being overly serious. Still some HUGELY important insights, like the types of characters to role play with women. And Sean’s presentation is so damn good, it saves entire the product.

5. LANCE MASON.

His products were the ones out of all the rest that changed my game for the better. HANDS DOWN. He brought all the theory I had absorbed into HARD practice. Only drawback: his courses are VERY expensive. $797 – $897 a pop. He offers payment plans, though. But still.

  • Charismatic Conversations – Course on Attraction. If you wanna learn how to create attraction, this is THE course.
  • Real World Rapport & Day Game – Course on Comfort. There’s some okay stuff on Day game, some good stuff on how to vibe and converse, and some great stuff on how to create deep rapport with women. I learned MUCH from it. Solid product, but of three, I felt was the weakest. Still solid. Not sure if it’s worth the hefty price tag, though.
  • Zero Drama Dating & 60 Minute Seductions – Course on Seduction. How to close the deal (you get to see examples in action), how to date multiple women ethically, and some very original and illuminating insights on female psychology. Worth the price tag.

6. BRAD P.

One of the few that wasn’t a student of Mystery. An original. Practices what he preaches. His ideas of social freedom is a revelation.

  • 30/30 Club – 12 month course. The title stands for the fact you’ll be doing 30 approaches a day every 30 days. You get all his CDs and ebooks at a fairly affordable rate. $29/month for silver, $67/month for gold. What’s awesome: starts at fundamentals, and slowly builds on them to advanced skills. Takes you step by step, refusal of theory overload. In fact, marries practice with theory.
  • Fashion Bible – attract women through fashion. This is THE book that helped me get my fashion under control. Hands down. His “sexy stereotyping” theory VERY helpful.
  • Adventures of Brad P – Brad P’s Field Reports. Not told in a cohesive narrative like The Game. Similar to The Game in how inspirational it is. Gets more X-rated than The Game, which is cool. Invaluable because you get to see pickup in action, not just stuck in theory.
  • Instant Attraction – All about Brad P’s famous openers like The Horse Girl. He gives you plenty of scripts, breaks them down, and helps you create your own.
  • Planning the Perfect Date – How to plan Day 2’s. Great strategies. Also, he gives a few sparse tips on conversation too.

7. ROSS JEFFRIES.

If Mystery is the father, Ross is the grandfather. Important insights into capturing and leading a woman’s emotions through language.

  • Speed Seduction – Ross came out with a 3.0 version a couple years back, just after I had gotten the 2.0 version. So, what I say here applies to the older version. His “NLP technology” isn’t necessary, in my opinion, to be successful with women, but I do think it’s CRITICAL to understand the principles behind it. For example, capture and lead a woman’s imagination and emotions, 4 doorways to a woman’s mind, not to submit to her but be assertive. SUPER important, but NLP doesn’t seem like a necessity. Great bonuses, like an interview with Rick H on getting threesomes, online dating, a surprise interview with David DeAngelo (as Eben Pagan–yes David DeAngelo started out as a student of Ross). I absolutely love the workbook that’s included. One of the best parts is an mp3 player you get called The “Unstoppable Confidence” course. Fantastic for inner-game… might be one of the best parts of the program. Also, you get a transcript of the seminar, which is the meat of the program. Drawback is the seminar section. While there’s great nuggets in there, Ross talks in circles, and I was never clear how to create patterns after listening to it. He talks about patterns and how great he is at creating patterns, but I was at a loss how to create a pattern myself at the end. An ebook called “Master Seducer’s Handbook” by John Cliff does a better job at taking you step by step how to create patterns, if you want. Who knows, maybe his version 3.0 improves on being clearer in the how-to of creating patterns?

8. DAVID SHADE.

His ideas of “be the man,” take the lead, be Dominant in the bedroom. They apply to the pickup, too. Also, if you end up successfully picking up a woman, you’ve gotta have a sense of what to do with her once you’ve got her in bed. One of his important insights is your most important tool in the bedroom isn’t your tool, it’s your voice.

  • Secrets of Female Sexuality – Book about how women actually WANT sex and WANT to get fucked.
  • Give Women Wild Screaming Orgasms – Fundamentals like anatomy, dirty talk, techniques to give her orgasms by stimulating her clit, deep spot, how to have anal, he gives you some inner-game stuff (such as sleeping with women doesn’t validate you as a person), and the program contains classic penetration techniques like 9 shallow strokes, 1 deep; 8 shallow, 2 deep; 7 shallow, 3 deep; 6 shallow, 4 deep; and so on until you get to 10 deep and start at beginning again.
  • Give Women Hot Phone Sex – Focuses on dirty talk. What’s invaluable is you get to actually hear David Shade give women orgasms on the phone. Learned a lot from this. Only drawback: he prints texts of his theory, but nothing on what he actually said to the women to make them orgasm. That’s the stuff I was most interested in studying.
  • Advanced Sexual Hypnosis – Takes dirty talk to the next level. Focus is on hypnosis, and the amazing things you can do for women simply through language and taking a strong lead. It’s cool because this product teaches less through lecture, and more through his personal stories. And there’s a hypnosis script at the end you can actually use on your woman. This is the advanced stuff. Shade recommends starting with Give Women Wild Screaming Orgasms. Highly recommended though.

9. ALEX ALLMAN.

He emphasizes building sexual trust with women, listening, and communicating. His programs tend to be more on the spiritual side than David Shade’s (David Shade emphasizes more NLP). But Alex still stays practical and gives excellent techniques, from the basics like giving her a clitoral orgasm, to the advanced stuff like stacking orgasms and you having non-ejaculatory orgasms. He’s the real deal.

  • Sexual Mastery – Covers basics on her anatomy, your body control, and sexual communication. This is my absolute favorite program by Alex Allman. I followed his 3 step orgasm and to my surprise it actually worked! Deeply insightful and practical. Some advanced stuff in here too, like stacking orgasms. All audio, but fantastic.
  • Revolutionary Sex – ebook, great on the fundamentals. Great tips on giving her oral (for example, take a break from licking her clit and kiss her, or while you’re licking her clit, feel her tits, so it’s not just a purely physical experience) and how to give her extended orgasms.
  • Command and Control – this program teaches you how to control your ejaculations and separate them from orgasm. Good exercises and tips like if you make sounds, it helps with control, and his challenge for you to make a conscious effort NOT to orgasm when you’re with her. I don’t know if I learned to have non-ejaculatory orgasm from this program alone, but it certainly helped me along the way.

::: Division 2: The Best From The Mainstream :::

1. INNER-GAME

  • The Way of The Superior Man, David Deida – How to deal with women and be a man from a spiritual or philosophical point of view. Talk about the big picture. Holy moly. He’s the best.
  • Awareness/Way To Love, Anthony DeMello – Written by a Jesuit priest from India, what’s most important is reality and awareness, not the external, like “esteem” from others.
  • How to Want What You Have, Timothy Miller – Written by a psychologist but based on almost Buddhist principles of compassion, attention, and gratitude. Strong inner-game comes from practicing these principles.
  • Mastery, George Leonard – Written by a master of martial arts… stay on the path of practice, don’t make your journey towards mastering a skill about getting “medals” or thinking of yourself as a “master.”
  • Mastering Your Hidden Self, Serge Kahili King – about an ancient religion of Hawaii called Huna… great insights into how the mind works and creating your own reality through the right thoughts.
  • When I Say No, I Feel Guilty, Manuel Smith – Written by a psychologist, about how to be assertive and how to deal with manipulation.
  • How To Win Friends And Influence People, Dale Carnegie – On human relations and seeing things from the other person’s point of view. Invaluable.
  • Six Pillars of Self-Esteem, Nathaniel Brandon – Written by the psychologist who invented the term “self-esteem,” wisdom about being validated from within, not by others.

2. MASCULINITY

  • The Way of The Superior Man, David Deida
  • Iron John, Robert Bly – Analysis by a poet of the Grimm fairy tale “Iron John,” he gets deep into what it means to be a man who’s “wild,” protective, and emotionally centered.
  • No More Mr. Nice Guy, Robert Glover – Written by a psychologist, examining the origins of The Nice Guy syndrome from the feminist movement, and a prescription how to break free from it.
  • Wild at Heart, John Eldredge – Written by a Christian writer who writes about what it means to be a man. If you’re not a Christian, it still offers much. He thinks the three desires of men are: having a battle to fight, having adventure, having a beauty to rescue.
  • Being the Strong Man A Woman Wants, Elliott Katz – Guide on not compromising yourself with women, but being a strong man with women

3. SUCCESS WITH WOMEN

  • The Way of The Superior Man, David Deida
  • How To Be The Jerk Women Love, FJ Shark – All about how to challenge women and the mindset you need to have to challenge women. Huge. Also points out the importance of qualification.
  • How to Be Successful With Women, Ron Louis and David Copeland – Written before Mystery Method and David DeAngelo, but seems to be influenced by NLP and Ross Jeffries. Regardless, some valuable stuff in there everything from getting your presentation down to relationship maintenance. It’s missing that critical piece about “being a challenge.” The authors realized this and tried to write a book to make up for it called “How to be The Bad Boy Women Love.” The title sounds promising and although decent, it’s not as good as this one.
  • How to Make Someone Fall in Love with You in 90 Minutes or Less, Nicolas Boothman – Written by a NLP guy. Although written for both men and women, it seems to be geared toward women. Fantastic NLP fundamentals though. And one insight from this book about the three things we need to fall in love gave me one of my biggest breakthroughs in approaching women.
  • How to Pick up Beautiful Women in Nightclubs and Other Places, John Eagan – written in the early nineties before the pickup community (in fact Mystery had read it to help him be more successful) by a bouncer/bartender who “saw it all” when it came to guys approaching women, and gave women a survey on what the most effective way to pick them up was. Big takeaway was how important smiling is. Second, the direct approach, or sincere appreciation, works. Gives actual direct openers that sound a bit dated but can be easily tweaked. This book helped me a lot. Recommended. Valuable for understanding the women’s perspective, too.
  • 5 Love Languages, Gary Chapman – There are 5 languages we use to express love: words of affirmation, quality time, gifts, act of service, physical touch. Speak in the language your woman prefers and it will help you a relationship last with your woman.
  • Her Love Bucket and The 7 Rings of Desire, Sherrie Rose – Not a book, but a website. According to this woman who calls herself “The Love Linguist,” a woman has 7 rings of desire: sex, contact (e.g. calling her), recognition (e.g. saying “thank-you” or “you look beautiful”), provisions (e.g. giving her gifts), do for, do with, lifestyle (your values, how you live your life). It’s similar to the 5 Love Languages. The idea is to find your woman’s 3 – 4 favorite “rings” and constantly stimulate them, if you want to keep her happy, and the relationship alive.
  • I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell & Assholes Finish First, Tucker Max – Reading these hilarious stories, you’ll get the mindset you need to be more successful with women, namely “I don’t give a shit.”
  • The Many Loves of Casanova, Giacomo Casanova – See the great seducer in action. Valuable lessons.
  • Art of Seduction, Robert Greene –  He analyzes all the great seducers and seductions from history and finds underlying patterns of what makes an effective seduction. Intellectually stimulating, great writing, and a pleasure to read. Not practical.
  • Sleight of Mouth, Robert Dilts – a classic NLP book about how language is a representational system that builds our mental model of the world. Awareness of our language can help us to perceive the world around us more accurately and to respond to the world more effectively. How to speak and listen can help our success with women.
  • Influence, Robert Cialdini – Written by a psychologist. He argues there are six triggers in our minds that make us react in a certain way. We get bombarded with choices and we need a short-cut to cut through it all and make quick decisions. Like judging a book by the cover. The six triggers: reciprocation, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority, scarcity. Originally written to analyze how marketing influences and persuades us, it can be applied to how women evaluate us, too. Also helps understand your own psychology, as well as the psychology of your fellow human.

4. FEMALE PERSPECTIVE

  • Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women, ed. Ann Krentz – Essays by romance writers breaking down the appeal of romance novels for women. Gives a hint to female psychology and what they want in a man.
  • Undercover Sex Signals, Leil Lowndes –  Love this book. Women signal interest in us all the time. They’re so subtle, a lot of times we miss them. But if we pick up on them, half the work is done before we approach. Written by a woman, you get a great perspective on what women want.
  • Dr. Z On Scoring, Dr. Victoria Zdork – Written by a Playmate and Penthouse Pet with a JD in law and a PhD in psychology. She covers everything from inner game to sex. Best value is you get the female perspective on pickup and sex, and you get a peek inside the mind (and insecurities) of hot women.
  • Secret Garden, Nancy Friday – Classic. Written in the 70s. Written by a woman who collected hundreds of women’s most secret sexual fantasies. Talk about getting an inside look at what women long for. Also shows you how sexual women are, and how they long to be dominated.
  • In The Garden of Desire, Wendy Maltz and Suzie Boss – Another great book that collects women’s fantasies in order to help women express their sexual selves more freely.
  • 9 1/2 Weeks, Elizabeth McNeil – This is the memoir that the movie was based on. It’s a true story written by a woman who was an executive for a large corporation. You’ll see first hand how women long to surrender and be dominated by a strong man.
  • Bare, Elisabeth Eaves – Another memoir written by a journalist who worked in a strip club. Gives a great inside look of the female perspective and the awareness women have that their bodies have a strange power over men.

5. SEX

  • Enlightened Sex, David Deida – how to take sex from mere “friction” to something more spiritual, and enlightening.
  • Making Love to Women, Nina Hartley – video made by porn star turned sex educator. Wonderful insights on what goes on in a woman’s mind, how to make her feel comfortable, and give her pleasure.
  • Secrets of Sensual Lovemaking, Tom Leonardi – One of my personal favorites. Focuses on giving women squirting G-spot orgasms. It’s not just about physical techniques. He says it takes both physical and psychological techniques to get her there. Learned so much from this. Great understanding of how to be better with women in general.
  • How to Satisfy a Woman Every Time, Nora Hayden – Fantastic technique/lesson on teasing a woman with your cock. The anticipation creates so much desire in her, you put her on the brink of orgasm before you even enter her.

6. Outside Pickup, But Related: Health, Wealth, Fashion, How To Be Funny

FASHION

  • Brad P’s Fashion Bible, Brad P – This book helped me understand fashion better. Gives a practical philosophy of how fashion can create attraction, then gives you the how-to. Very grateful for this book. Helped me a lot.
  • AskMen.com Presents The Style Bible, ed. James Bassil – Gives FANTASTIC fundamentals on fashion, everything from shoes and socks to maintaining your clothes and grooming tips. HIGHLY recommended.

HOW TO BE FUNNY

  • How to Be Funny, Jon Macks – Written by a writer for Jay Leno, he doesn’t think funny is something you’re born with, but something you can learn. Gives awesome practical tips on how to be funnier in everyday life.
  • The Comic Toolbox, John Vorhaus – Written by a Hollywood comedy writer, he gives the tools of the trade comedy writers and comics use. His idea is that comedy = truth + pain, and that the biggest roadblock to comedy is the internal editor. Loved the “philosophy” and the practical tips.
  • Comedy Writing Secrets, Melvin Helitzer – Written in the 80s and more for writers who want to work in comedy. Gives solid fundamentals. Most famous in the community for giving David DeAngelo his famous insight that comedy doesn’t arise from the words or lines you say, but from the character you play.

HEALTH

  • p90x, Tony Horton and Beach Body – Simply awesome. No fads here. Just the solid fundamentals. Pushups, pull-ups, free weights, plyometrics, kenpo, yoga, stretching, eating healthy. It’s also like having your own personal trainer. If you follow this program for 90 days, you WILL get a better body, guaranteed. I had lost 40 lbs first time I went through it. Challenges you. Will make you stronger.
  • Body for Life, Bill Phillips – a book that taught me so much about the fundamentals of eating right and exercise. Great conversational writing style. Not just about changing your body, but inner-game stuff on getting your life right. Practical. Not a quick fix, but how to create habits that will keep you healthy for the rest of you life.

WEALTH

  • Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill – A classic written during the depression. Andrew Carnegie inspired Napoleon Hill to write this book. Napoleon Hill spent years studying the most successful people in the world during his time (including Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie) and found the common thread was their success began in their thinking. This book taught me the most invaluable lesson: we have power over our thoughts, and therefore our actions… power over our thoughts is probably one of the few things we have power over.
  • Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki – Dubbed as the #1 Personal Finance Book in history. Compares two philosophies of money. One by Kiyosaki’s biological father who was an academic genius but believed you have to work for money, and died penniless. The other by Kiyosaki’s best friend’s father who was an academic failure but believed money should work for you, and died wealthy. This book was a life-changer for me. It inspired me to open up my own businesses. Lesson: Don’t just be a consumer. Better to spend your money on things that create value for others.
  • Self-Made Wealth, & Turn Your Talent Into Income, Eben Pagan – Eben Pagan is the real person behind David DeAngelo and who created the Double Your Dating online empire. He shows you how he did it through these programs. Find your talent, use it to create value for others, and make money as a byproduct.

PART II: GOOD

::: Introduction :::

The reason these people are B Level is for one of three reasons:

a) Heavy on theory, light on practical stuff. You’ll get stuck in your head.

b) They’re basically a rip off of Mystery or Ross Jeffries. Why not go to the original source, the TEACHERS of these guys who will actually get you results?

c) Waaaaaaay too expensive.

::: Division 1: Solid :::

These are a little better than the rest in this category because they give you stuff that can actually help you get results.

1. Vin Di Carlo

  • Escalation Ladder – FANTASTIC miniature ebook about how to physically escalate. Not enough pickup teachers teach this. He gives you a system. And it kicks ass.
  • Secrets of Sexual Tension – Another miniature ebook. I learned A LOT about creating sexual tension from this.
  • Attraction Code – His manifesto ebook. He gives you theory and demonstrates through case studies. My take-away: be stable amidst the “dissonance” out in the field. That’s veeeery attractive for women. In the end, great on philosophy, lighter on the how-to. Still great stuff, though.
  • Pandora’s Box – series of modules that comes with an ebook. HUGE points for being so damn innovative and original. It’s about female psychology. Inspired by the Myers-Briggs Test, the idea is there are 8 types of women based on the fundamental conflicts women deal with: Time (find a high-status mate before she gets too old), Sex (she wants sex, but there are consequences), and Relationship (focus on raising a family, or being career-oriented/self-sufficient). HIghly Recommended. Gives you an understanding of the female perspective. And you get some great “quizzes” you can use with women out in the field as qualifiers/DHVs.

He has other great stuff. He dubs himself as all about Natural Game, but in reality he’s HEAVY into theory. He was a student of Mystery under the handle “Woodhaven” but distinguished himself when he rebelled against scripts. I’ve learned much from him, and recommend him. I also learned from him that you can have a woman drive to YOUR place and having a woman help you with your passion can increase her attraction in you because she’s investing in you. I also respect the fact he invented EXERCISES to help you with pickup. He tries hard to get pickup out of mere theory. In the end, he is theoretical, and he’s a student of Mystery’s.

2. Richard La Ruina, a.k.a Gambler

  • Natural Art of Seduction  – A book published in the U.K. mainstream. Seems to want to be a combo of Neil Strauss’ “The Game,” “The Rules of The Game,” and your standard ebook on PUA theory. I know that sounds confusing. The emphasis is on PUA theory. But he interlaces his own transformation story, and throws out a lukewarm exercise here and there. It’s an okay book. Basically a restatement of the Mystery Method (even though it’s self-styled “natural game”).
  • Pickup University – Series of DVDs. It’s basically film footage of Gambler and his instructors lecturing at seminars. Solid fundamentals, but it’s still all lecture.
  • Stealth Attraction – DVD. Emphasis on club game. The idea is to pump up social proof, and other little techniques to help increase your success rate in approaching club girls. Lots of ingenious techniques. It’s all how-to. It’s all lecture. But he demo’s his techniques on a girl at the seminar. I’d recommend it. I’d say it’s one of his best.

He reminds me of Vin Di Carlo. He’s from the U.K. He also dubs himself as all about Natural Game, but is HEAVY into theory, too. He also started as a student of Mystery. He’s great on the fundamentals. I learned much from him about body language, and conversation. But he’s heavy into lecture as that’s style of teaching. Kezia,

Kezia Noble

SUPER-hot woman who puts out pickup info for guys, had her start as one of his instructors.

3. Stephane Hemon

I enjoy his spiritual insights into success with women. Verges on New Age though. But his results show he’s the real deal.

4. Nick Sparks

I’ve learned a lot from him, but mostly from just watching him in action. Here’s a couple of links so you can see what I’m talking about. Here, Sparks demo’s his method of physical escalation. And here, Sparks demo’s talking with a cute girl and flirting.

5. Daniel Rose

  • The Sex God Method – His 4 principles of being great in bed is AWESOME! Those principles are: dominance, emotion, variety, immersion (i.e. being in the present). He emphasizes the psychological aspects of being good in bed. But he includes some scripts and techniques, too. A classic. Ebook highly recommended.
  • Membership Site – His membership club is a money drain, and all his video modules (as you can see from the pic above) is lecture. The best part of his membership is a video (not his, and not mere lecture) about how to control ejaculation. THAT was awesome.

6. Jason Julius

  • Orgasm Arts – Series of modules. He emphasizes physical techniques of giving women orgasms. He lectures but he also demo’s the techniques on a prosthetic of a vagina. God, it helps not just to be blabbering but to actually demo. Recommended. Great fingering techniques. One time payment, life-time membership.

7. Joshua Pellicier

  • The Tao of Badass – Haven’t read the book, but heard great things. In his marketing, I noticed he relied on the insights of Mystery and Lance Mason, such as banter and qualification. Solid fundamentals though in that marketing, though.
  • How to Date Multiple Women – ebook with membership site (no secret on-going payments), no-bullshit, real practical tips you can use about how to date multiple women. Short and sweet, too. Seems to have integrity. Recommended.

8. Marni Wing

She’s best one-on-one with you. I watched one of her videos, and what I remember from it is the word “proactive.” I think that was one of the qualities she said women thought were attractive in a man. I also had phone conversation with her once. I was amazed how quickly she honed in on my sticking point, which helped me become more aware of it. I also had some email correspondence with her, and she was great at giving you the female perspective. I learned more from those one-on-one sessions than the video I watched. She’s got integrity, she gives you value, and she’s VERY insightful.

9. Mirabelle Summers

I read a miniature ebook by her called How to Become a Sexual Dynamo. Holy shit. I learned SO MUCH about how to be better in bed and the female perspective from this. I even wrote a post based it called The Five Principles of Female Pleasure. That little ebook? HIGHLY recommended.

10. Ellen Eatough

I listened to Alex Allman interview her. She had great insights about how foreplay is something that happens all day, not just before sex. Her newsletters come from a spiritual perspective. I’ve learned much from her.

11. 2 Girls Teach Sex

Basically this is just girl-on-girl porn, with some instruction tacked on. The instruction isn’t anything insightful. It’s just a rip-off of Daniel Roses’ 4 principles, but with different names. The value of these DVDs definitely isn’t in the instruction, which is B-level, but in actually watching the women have sex with each other. Yeah, I get turned on watching it, but I picked up a few tips along the way, too. Haha

::: Division 2: Decent :::

12. John Alanis

His insight into success with women: have a sense of “authority.” I thought this was very original, and insightful. Besides that, I don’t know a lot about him. He seems like a good marketer, but I’m not sure if his content delivers or not.

13. Badboy

He’s awesome because he’s so raw and direct. He has a limp, and he’s from Europe (Croatia I believe). One of the originals from The Game. But his company seems a little disorganized.

14. Stylelife

Regurgitation of Mystery

15. Mehow

Regurgitation of Mystery. His “Get The Girl” ebook is solid Mystery Method fundamentals. But still a regurgitation.

16. Gabrielle Moore

“The Female Orgasm Revealed” book was awesome. My big takeaway from that book was to get a woman as close as you can to climax before you enter her, then when you enter her, her orgasm is right around the corner. “Turn Her On Faster” was a massive waste of money.

17. Scott McCay

I’ve listened to interviews with him. A lot of stuff on being a good guy. He’s okay. Nothing to write home about.

18. Alex Coulson

Okay. Regurgitation of Mystery. His idea of showing actual pickup scenes and breaking them down is great, though. The info seems solid, and he seems like he actually has game.

::: Division 3: Good Rep, But What’s The Big Deal? :::

1. Hypnotica

I know David DeAngelo was friends with him and DeAngelo said he learned much from him. I know Neil Strauss said this man and Steve P gave him his graduate course in pickup. I know this, so I made an extra effort to give this guy a chance. Over and over. But to me he just rambles. I listen for coherence, or at least content, and it’s a challenge. The closest thing to content or coherence I find is half-baked regurgitation of David Deida, NLP, and The Secret. I’m sure he’s AWESOME with women. And maybe you have to be there in person with him doing one of his hypnosis sessions to get the real benefit. But just from what I’ve seen of him, I don’t see it.

2. Steve P

This is Hypnotica’s partner in crime. They often teach seminars together. When he speaks, I listen. He’s more coherent than Hypnotica. HOWEVER… I RUSHED to get his White Tiger Tantra DVD set as soon as it came out. It was a disappointment. I went through it twice. I wanted to like it. 5 DVDs, and I got more out of the only DVD in the set that Steve P wasn’t on. That DVD went over the fundamentals of massage, and I learned from that. Steve P does the voiceover, but he doesn’t demo in this particular DVD, yet I liked the DVD he wasn’t on best. Why? Why were the other DVDs not as good? The DVD  I liked was clear in its communication and took you step by step through the basics of massage. The other DVDs looked like they were shot on the fly with explanations thrown in as an after thought. What put the nail in the coffin for my opinion of Steve P in general was in an email Steve P sent out to his list. He asked for this inordinate amount of money, something like $100,000, just to learn from him. He just lost me after that. But from the few recorded seminars I heard him speak at, the man definitely has some great insights.

3. Brent Smith

I once subscribed to his newsletters because David DeAngelo said he learned from this guy. I got little out of them. I’m sure he’s great with woman, but just saying “be indifferent” doesn’t really help.

4. Carlos Xuma

I also tried to give this guy a chance. He’s got a stellar reputation. But really long newsletters. A lot of fluff. Wasn’t learning anything new. And listening to him talk… yowzers. His voice is so nasally, it’s hard for me to listen. I respect the fact that he runs an upstanding business. He’s insightful. But nothing was standing out to me. And his voice was so nasally. Oh, did I say that already?

::: Division 4: Ross Jeffries Regurgitation (NLP Stuff) :::

1. Tony Clink – The Plan: Have Sex Tonight With A Gorgeous Woman in 69 Easy Steps was simply a regurgitation of Ross Jeffries. It’s all about how to pickup women using NLP. Shrug.

2. John Cliff – Master Seducer’s Handbook is all about using NLP to pickup women. What’s great about the book are the exercises he provides, especially in part one (the book has three parts total). I also like that he actually shows you the how-to and the theory behind using NLP with seduction. He does this better than Ross Jeffries’ Speed Seduction product I have. So, respect. But still, it’s NLP. It’s been done by Ross Jeffries already.

PART III. MY LEAST FAVORITE

These aren’t bad guys. In a lot of cases, they’re doing great things. I just had VERY mediocre experiences either dealing with their products, or with their customer service.

1. Rion Williams

His idea is brilliant. His writing sucks. Probably the most painful writing I’ve ever read in my life. It was as if he barfed on the page and then decided to sell it for $50 because his idea is half-way original. His marketing writing convinced me to buy the book, which is good. But what pissed me off was in his marketing he talked about how he was so different from every pua in the community. When I read the book he basically says the exact same thing that the pua community talks about. I felt bull-shitted. His original idea? Women’s beauty is a social construction. Therefore, talk to her like a human being rather than a hot “object.” That’s basically the pua idea. But rock on for pointing out a woman’s beauty is just a social construction. I was hoping he’d expand on this fantastic idea, and learn more. No. He’d just restate that sentence over and over. FANTASTIC insight, but unless he takes the time to edit the book or expand on his idea, save your $50.

2. Swinggcat

  • Real World Seduction – ebook. Apparently, he invented the term “push-pull.” He reminds you to think of yourself as the Prize. His writing was also painful, second only to Rion Williams. His sentences were so contorted to try and be funny that it was sometime torturous to read. Also, after I bought his book, mysteriously $29 was deducted from my bank account every month for what? I still have not the slightest clue. I got it to stop, but he was slow to answer my emails asking him to stop payment. His book is a classic in the community, but for me it was not a happy experience.

3. David Wygant

I’ve listened to him in interviews, and read a few of his newsletters. He comes off as a pompous prick to me. Makes it hard to listen to him.

4. Christian Hudson

I’m sure he’s great. Really. But I had watched a video of him lecturing at the 21 Convention, and a video of him interviewing someone. In the interview he’d get all pissy with his business partner Nick Sparks when Nick was just trying to have a little fun. So, he annoys me.

5. Authentic Man Project

Holy New Age Men Batman. Most of their ideas seem to be a pale imitation of David Deida. I test-drove one of their products: a CD, DVD, and manual. I felt like I needed a shower afterwards.

6. Adam Gilad

Way too New Age for me. He also seems to regurgitate David Deida. He’s a writer, though, and he’s got some great insights into writing a good online profile for yourself. Outside of that, whatever.

7. Love Systems

I bought Routines Manual and Magic Bullets. Both sucked. And way overpriced. The company once called me, don’t know why, probably to sell me something. Anyway, I told them how I felt gypped by their product. They were like “whatever” and hung up on me. Awesome. Maybe I had come across as a little frustrated for spending so much and getting so little in return, and this particular guy didn’t want to hear it. Ever since, zero interest in this company. Besides, they’re a rip off of Mystery. In fact, the company was called “Mystery Method” until Mystery left them. And the new name of their business? Why would you pair such an impersonal, factory-sounding word “systems” with such a personal word such as “love”? Pass.

PART IV: HAVEN’T TRIED, BUT HAVE NO INTEREST

1. Real Social Dynamics

Tyler Durden is a guest speaker in a lot of David DeAngelo’s products, and I’ve gone through a number of them, as you can tell. David DeAngelo would basically suck Tyler’s dick in his introductions, but after listening to Tyler speak (this was before I had even made the connection that this was the same Tyler from The Game) I couldn’t figure out why David D made such a fuss about him. I thought his voice sounded like Mickey Mouse. And he’d just ramble. I did come across a later video of him in his own seminar, and I thought he kicked ass in that talk. Anyway, his big contribution to the community is AMOG techniques (Alpha Male Of the Group). Who gives a shit? I wanna be more successful with women, not out “alpha” guys. I’ve heard his Blueprint product is good, though. But I also heard his product is like Eckard Tolle. That makes me not to want to look at his products even more. On top of that his portrayal in The Game is a turn off. He gets a lot of good reviews, and I’m sure they’re warranted, but personally I just don’t have any interest. Again, I’m sure he’s solid. But he learned everything from Mystery (and David DeAngelo), so why not just go directly to his teachers?

CONCLUSION: WHERE TO START

I’d start with an overview:

  1. Double Your Dating ebook, David DeAngelo – Great overview on attraction. (Later down the line, Sexual Communication is great. Expands on how to create attraction. And Mastery with Women & Dating is FANTASTIC for inner-game stuff.)
  2. The Game, Neil Strauss – Inspires you for what’s possible with women.
  3. Mystery Method, Mystery – The theory and big picture behind that possibility. Watch VH-1 Pickup Artist on Amazon if you want to see the theory in action.

Next, PRACTICE. These products will help you do just that.

  1. Rules of the Game, Neil Strauss – forces you to get out into the field… but only for 30 days
  2. Charismatic Conversations, Lance Mason – THE BEST to help you get success. This product emphasizes the attract stage. Later on, I’d recommend Zero Drama Dating & 60 Minute Seductions for seduction and dating multiple women.
  3. 30/30 Club, Brad P – picks up where Rules of The Game left off. It will take you to mastery level. Forces you to make 30 approaches per month for 1 year. Online coaches to help you along the way. You get every one of his products, including his fashion stuff.

While you’re out practicing, especially with the help of the 30/30 Club, you’ll have time to work on your sexual skills and inner-game. In my opinion, these are some of the best products to help you do just that.

  1. Sex:
    • Sexual Mastery, Alex Allan
    • Give Women Wild Screaming OrgasmsHot Phone SexAdvanced Sexual Hypnosis, David Shade – in that order.
    • Secrets of Sensual Lovemaking, Tom Leonardi
    • How to Satisfy a Woman Every Time, Nora Hayden
  2. Inner-Game/Masculinity:
    1. Inner Game
      • Way of the Superior Man, David Deida
      • How to Want What You Have, Timothy Miller
      • Awareness, Anthony DeMello
    1. Masculinity
      • No More Mr. Nice Guy, Robert Glover
      • Iron John, Robert Bly
      • Being the Strong Man A Woman Wants, Elliot Katz
    1. Skills
      • When I Say No I Feel Guilty, Manuel J. Smith – great on assertiveness.
      • How to Win Friends & Influence People, Dale Carnegie – great on general social skills.

There are three big areas of life to get together: health, wealth, and relationships. As your success with women increases, here are some products to help you get the two other areas of life under control, too.

  1. Health: p90x, Tony Horton & Beachbody
  2. Wealth:
    • Think & Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill
    • Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki

Ultimately, the change will happen not through products, but PRACTICE. Practice is the best “product” you can get. And it’s free.

More gratuitous nudity

10 thoughts on “Pickup Product Review

  1. Sean

    Thank you so much. I have been looking for a review like this for a long time. Thanks 🙂

    Reply
    1. renaissan

      My pleasure! Definitely let me know if you have any other questions about pickup products. Would love to answer them. It’s a maze out there. Thanks for the comment.

      Reply
  2. AG-Spear

    Hey renaissan, thank you very much for that great list! There are so many PU products out there that you will ‘miss the forest for the trees’. The marketing hype makes it even worse to see through that maze. When you read some of the product commercials you think like you have to buy that product BY ALL MEANS in order to become a good PUA… it’s like a brainwash! I’m glad to hear the opinion of someone who has tested all this stuff and succeded in game .

    Would you agree that it’s very usefull to use the M3 model (Mystery Method) as a gameplan and framework for techniques from those other products (the ones you like and that fits best to your personality)? For example BradP will give you great routines, but he doesn’t give you a structure with objectives and calibration rules like Mystery does.

    In my opinion Revelation is a powerfull adition to the original Mystery Method, because it also captures Mystery’s full presence and charisma and contains a lot of subleties, which can help to grasp and implement the MM techniques. What confused me was that many competitors claimed that the MM is outdated. The book revelation is 6 years old, so I checked other systems/ (which promised to be ‘up to date’) but for me they all seemed to be weaker and less comprehensive than Revelation.

    Kind regards
    AG-Spear

    Reply
    1. renaissan

      This is such a FANTASTIC comment. In fact, the article I’m working on as we speak is EXACTLY on your question. It addresses those comments out there that the Mystery Method is outdated.

      Those comments about MM outdated is marketing crap. “New” is one the favorite words marketers use. A great way to attract customers is to say “I’ve got the NEW system (and in this case to say Mystery’s system is outdated).”

      The Mystery Method is about the fundamentals. Learning it is like learning to dribble a basketball or shoot. Once you learn them, you can create your own style. Fundamentals don’t go out of style. What’s brilliant about Mystery’s system is the sequence, the structure, and its comprehensiveness. That’s not outdated at all.

      That you’ve checked out other “up-to-date” systems that were weaker proves that point. I’m so glad you brought this to my attention. Because you’re reinforcing my need to publish this article.

      To answer your question: YES! I do what you talked about above all the time.

      I use the Mystery Method as a game plan, or a structure. Like a story-teller might rely on the three-act structure of a story. I then fill it in with other routines I’ve learned elsewhere. For example, I’ve used Brad P’s Horse Girl opener for A1 (my opener). I might use a banter-line from Lance Mason during A2. I might use a Ross Jeffries pattern in C1.

      I love MM because it brings these different pieces into one puzzle. It’s invaluable for what you said. Its game plan and strategy. From there you can fill it in however you’d like.

      The only point I’d disagree with you is the book Revelation. It covers the Mystery Method only until C1. The Mystery Method book covers A1 all the way S3. So, I’d say Revelation is slightly less comprehensive than Mystery Method (the book). Although there’s some great stuff in Revelation. For example, I learned a lot from the section about balancing interest with disinterest.

      GREAT question, though. Does this answer it well enough?

      Reply
      1. AG-Spear

        Thank you… this is a very valuable comment. It answers my question really well!

        I’m glad to hear that it’s possible to use the MM as an overall gameplan, because I invested a lot of time to study it’s structure. When I first read it I was so stunned because it brought order in the dating world of chaos.

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