Purchased as a gift, "tested" it out before wrapping it. By which I mean I held it to my nose and tried out the different functions. Impressive little device!Wouldn't look out of place in a makeup kit or loose in a purse, good variation of strength and frequencies, even when opened it looks like lipstick without a close inspection.The noise is miniscule - at its highest point, it sounded like a phone vibrating in pulses. At lowest, it wasn't really discernible at all inside a purse.The only detractors I see are that the battery isn't something you're likely to have lying around (I believe a spare battery cost $3?) and the button is unprotected, so if you don't put it into a specific lipstick case or coin purse, it's possible it'll get bumped and turned on unintentionally.I was impressed enough that it almost didn't make it into the gift bag. Good deal - no question!