Children, work, tiredness, a new episode of Lost - there are so many reasons why a woman's get-up-andgo may have got-up-and-gone when her partner makes bedroom eyes.

Scentuelle patches promise to have as similar an effect on a girl's libido as something sparkly in a Tiffany's box, and for a fraction of the price.

I'm pleasantly surprised when I open the twee flowery packet. I'd been envisaging a large, brown bandage; but the patches are small - not much bigger than your thumbnail - and transparent.

For maximum effect, I read, I should wear a patch all the time and replace it every day.

I stick the patch on the inside of my right wrist and sniff. The fragrance is faint - the instructions warn me not to wear scent, which interferes with the patches - but pleasant. For the next six hours, I sniff it frequently.

As far as I can tell, it's not having any effect - the postman manages to deliver the mail unmolested.

But by bedtime, I'm feeling frisky. Whether this is because I've been thinking about sex all day or because of the patches, I can't tell. Either way, my ever-willing scientific partner gets lucky.