There is no reliable evidence that pheromone perfumes make the wearer more attractive. No human sex pheromone has been identified, and the steroid molecules most often sold as "human pheromones" — androstenone, androstadienone, estratetraenol and androstenol — have not been shown by robust, repeated experiments to change how people behave towards each other. A pheromone perfume can still be a pleasant fragrance, and wearing a scent you like can make you feel more confident. But any effect it has is the ordinary effect of a perfume, not a chemical signal that others cannot resist.
What a pheromone is
The word was coined in 1959 for chemical signals that pass between members of the same species and trigger a specific response. The classic example was found the same year: bombykol, the substance a female silk moth releases to attract males. Many animals use pheromones, from insects to mammals, and in many of them the effect is clear, repeatable and measurable.
Whether humans have pheromones of this kind is a different question, and after decades of research it remains unanswered.
What the science says
A detailed review by the zoologist Tristram Wyatt, published by the Royal Society in 2015, examined the evidence for the four steroids usually called human pheromones. It found no robust evidence that any of them is one. Many of the studies behind the claims were small, were not repeated, or did not first establish that humans actually respond to the molecule in a consistent way. Wyatt argued that the search should start again from first principles.
Two more points are worth knowing:
- The organ many animals use is not much use in us. In many mammals, pheromones are detected by a separate structure in the nose, the vomeronasal organ. In adult humans it appears to have little or no working role.
- People smell these molecules very differently. Androstenone, for example, smells strongly unpleasant to some people, faintly sweet or woody to others, and of nothing at all to many — differences linked partly to genes. A signal that so many people cannot perceive in the same way is a weak basis for attraction. See How Does Smell Work?.
A perfume can change how you feel. It cannot change how someone else is wired.
Why people feel they work
- Confidence. Wearing something you think makes you attractive can change how you carry yourself, and others respond to that.
- A pleasant smell is pleasant. People notice when someone smells good. That is true of any well-chosen perfume.
- Expectation. If you expect a result, you tend to notice the moments that seem to confirm it and forget the rest.
None of this needs a pheromone. It is what perfume has always done.
Body odour, musk and the idea of attraction
Our own natural smell does carry information — it changes with diet, health, stress and the bacteria on the skin — and people often find the smell of a partner comforting. But that is a far cry from a single bottled molecule that reliably sparks desire.
Perfume has played with the idea for a long time. Musk was originally an animal material, and animalic notes still give some perfumes a warm, intimate, "skin" quality. Today those notes are made synthetically. See What Is Musk in Perfume? and What Is a Skin Scent Perfume?.
If you want to be noticed
- Choose a perfume you love. Liking is personal and learned; see Why We Love Some Smells and Dislike Others.
- Wear it where it can be found up close — the neck and chest rather than a cloud around you. See How to Apply Perfume.
- Wear less than you think. Too much perfume pushes people away faster than too little.
- Test before you buy. A pheromone product is still a perfume, and should be judged on skin over a day like any other; see How to Test a Perfume Before You Buy It.
Common questions
Are pheromone perfumes a scam?
The attraction claims are not supported by good evidence. The products themselves may be perfectly pleasant fragrances; judge them on how they smell, and on their price, not on the promise.
Do pheromone colognes work on women, or perfumes on men?
There is no good evidence that they work in either direction. The steroids used have not been shown to act as human pheromones.
Can you smell pheromones?
Some of the molecules sold as pheromones have a smell that some people notice and others do not. A real pheromone in the biological sense would not need to be consciously smelled at all — which is part of why the claims are hard to test.
Do humans have pheromones at all?
It has not been shown. Researchers continue to look, and some think human chemical signals exist, but none has yet been identified with the evidence that animal pheromones have.
Sources
P. Karlson and M. Lüscher, "'Pheromones': a new term for a class of biologically active substances", Nature 183 (1959). Tristram D. Wyatt, "The search for human pheromones: the lost decades and the necessity of returning to first principles", Proceedings of the Royal Society B 282 (2015), article 20142994.
Further reading
The musks and animal-like materials perfumers actually use, and how they are dosed, are covered by RUŌOD Lab in Musks in Perfumery and Animalic Notes in Perfumery.
