Ep 24: Think You Can Use Pheromones to Find a Lover? Think Again.
- Nat
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
Since we're in the throes of love month, it's only fair that we talk about pheromones. Specifically: do they work in humans, and is "pheromone perfume" a real thing or just a very confident marketing claim?
The short answer is: we don't really know, and the perfume is almost definitely a placebo. But the science of how we got here is honestly pretty interesting. Buckle up, you're in for a wild ride!
What even is a pheromone?
The term pheromone comes from the Greek words for "to transfer" and "to excite," which is a very evocative origin story. Scientifically, pheromones are defined as substances secreted by one individual that trigger a specific behavioral or developmental response in another individual of the same species.
The key word there is hormonal. A pheromone doesn't just make something smell nice or feel a certain way, it has to actually change physiology. This would be something like altering a menstrual cycle, triggering ovary development (or non-development), or telling an entire hive to attack. Speaking of which...
Bugs are absolutely obsessed with pheromones
Insects are where pheromone research is most solid. Silk worms use them for mating. Honey bees use them to run basically their entire society (including suppressing worker bee ovaries, which is wild). Male mealworm beetles secrete one pheromone to attract a female, then cover her in a completely different one afterward that functions as an "anti-aphrodisiac" to deter other males (rude, but effective).
In 1997, researchers flooded a 35-acre cotton field with sex attractant pheromones to disrupt mating between beet armyworms. The males were so overwhelmed by the artificial female scent that they couldn't locate actual females for over 100 days! It was basically the pheromone equivalent of spam email.
Okay but what about humans
Discussing pheromones in humans is where it starts to get messy.
Compounds like androstadienone (found in male sweat) and estratetraenol (found in female urine) have been proposed as human pheromones. Humans definitely produce them, but the question is whether they actually do anything beyond triggering an emotional or sensory response.
The most commonly cited example is menstrual cycle synchronization. But here's the thing: it hasn't actually been proven that synchronization consistently happens. Some studies support it, lots of others don't, and even the studies that do show synchronization can't cleanly attribute it to pheromones specifically. Other environmental factors, stress, and shared schedules could all plausibly explain cycle shifts in people living in close proximity.
And this is the fundamental problem with pheromone research in humans: isolating a single chemical variable while controlling for everything else in a person's environment is basically impossible. Research on female anatomy and physiology has also historically been underfunded and understudied, which doesn't help. Can we get someone on that, please???
The Great Pheromone Myth
In 2010, researcher Richard L. Doty published a book with that exact title, arguing that there is no accepted scientific definition for a human pheromone and that human responses to smell are complex, context-dependent, and shaped by learning, not just simple hardwired triggers.
There's also the matter of the vomeronasal organ (VNO), sometimes called Jacobson's organ. This structure sits at the base of the nasal cavity and is extremely important if you are a snake (if you're a snake reading this article, leave a comment and let us know how). In humans, this organ develops in utero and is nonfunctional in adults. So even if we were producing pheromone signals, the hardware that most other animals use to receive them is pretty much useless in us.
So about that pheromone perfume
Pheromone perfumes typically contain synthesized versions of androstadienone or estratetraenol. The marketing claims they work by triggering subconscious attraction responses through the VNO. The problem is that the VNO that doesn't work in adult humans.
To be fair, smells absolutely affect the brain. The olfactory bulb is literally part of your brain (your nose is just two holes that go up into your skull, after all), and smells can trigger dopamine responses. But triggering an emotional or pleasurable response is not the same as triggering a pheromone response. One is your brain doing what brains do around nice smells. The other would require a functional VNO and a specific hormonal response that we haven't been able to demonstrate in humans.
The confidence boost you might feel wearing a perfume marketed as "pheromone-infused" is definitely real, but the mechanism behind it probably isn't. And honestly, a lot of things in the beauty industry are this way. So if you do buy a pheromone perfume, buy one because you like the way it smells, not because you think it will attract a mate. Or do, don't let us tell you what to do!
Bibliography & Extra Reads
Bhatt, D.L. et al. "Pheromones." National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK200980/
"Pheromone Solid Phase Synthesis: A Revolutionary Advancement in the Synthesis of Pheromones." PharmiWeb. https://www.pharmiweb.com/article/pheromone-solid-phase-synthesis-a-revolutionary-advancement-in-the-synthesis-of-pheromones
"Pheromones in Animals." National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK55973/
Yong, Ed. "How Animals Communicate via Pheromones." American Scientist. https://www.americanscientist.org/article/how-animals-communicate-via-pheromones
"Evidence for Human Pheromones." Science.
"Survival of the Smelliest." The Biologist, Royal Society of Biology.
PLOS ONE (menstrual cycle synchrony study). PubMed Central, National Library of Medicine. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3987372/
Huberman, Andrew. "How Smell, Taste & Pheromones Shape Behavior." Huberman Lab Essentials, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eDg9yOvvrQ
"The Story Behind Pheromone Perfumes." Ramsons Perfumes Blog. https://ramsonsperfumes.com/blogs/news/the-story-behind-pheromone-perfumes
"The History of Pheromones in Perfumery: From Ancient Times to Modern Day." Nearstore Blog. https://nearstore.com/blogs/articles/the-history-of-pheromones-in-perfumery-from-ancient-times-to-modern-day
"Back to Basics: How Pheromones Are Made." Love Scent Blog, August 13, 2021. https://blog.love-scent.com/2021/08/13/back-basics-pheromones-made/
Pure Instinct Original Roll-On Pheromone Perfume. https://pureinstinct.co/products/original-roll-on-pheromone-perfume
Lovery Pheromone Perfume Collection. https://lovery.com/collections/pheromone-perfume
Eye of Love Pheromone Perfume Set. https://www.eyeoflove.com/products/pheromone-perfume-set-attract-him-womens-parfum
"Pheromone Perfumes: Beyond Advertisements." Science Focus, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. https://sciencefocus.hkust.edu.hk/pheromone-perfumes-beyond-advertisements
"Do Pheromone Perfumes Actually Work?" The Healthy. https://www.thehealthy.com/family/relationships/do-pheromone-perfumes-actually-work/
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