Wasn't it just a cheap knockoff of that old app?

That beeswax trick is a classic, but I've always had the opposite problem with it. It gums up my block after a while, especially if any dirt or grit gets mixed in. I just keep my clinch block inside my coat to warm it up before I start. A warm block seems to work better for me than adding anything to the face of it.

Honestly, calebh79 has a point about gear working together. But what about the person inside the bag? A cold sleeper versus a warm sleeper changes everything. That 30 degree rating assumes you're wearing a base layer, but what if you sleep in just shorts? Or you're just tired and damp from the hike? Your own body is the biggest variable in that whole survival versus comfort math.

Was the confusion not the whole point?

Totally get that. Had a corner lot in Seattle where the inside-out method was the only thing that worked. Sometimes you gotta let the rooms tell you where the walls go.