Pheromones Perfume: What Is It And How Does It Work?

Perfumes and scents have the power to liven up your funky mood and weird energy. Aromatherapy is a billion-dollar industry because pleasing scents are widely believed to have healing qualities. People love to smell good, whether it be by using expensive designer perfume or burning incense. Those of us searching for a mate might use a delightful fragrance to pursue them. We have even devised ways of prepping our skin for optimal perfume performance to enhance the smell as we glide ever so delicately past our crush. They must have caught the scent, right?

There is ample power in smelling nice, but can good scents actually make us fall in love? Some people think so. Pheromone perfume has been gaining notoriety, and while some people question its validity, others are swearing by its potency.

Pheromones are hormone signals released by animals for various reasons, primarily to communicate with one another and attract mates. Although scientists haven't been able to conclusively determine if human beings possess this trait, that doesn't stop people from believing we do. Human beings are social animals and we generally crave companionship. For some of us who may have a hard time swimming in the dating pool, any sort of help is greatly appreciated. Pheromone perfume is a harmless way to seemingly snag a partner, but does it really work or is it all in our hearts — I mean — heads?

Pheromone perfumes have renewed the hopes of many aspiring lovers. For those tired of waiting on Cupid's arrow, one of the best-selling, viral pheromone perfumes, Pure Instinct, is expected to speed up the dating process. This perfume lists several plant and seed oils as well as hormones such as reconstituted andronone in its ingredients. The fragrance allegedly performs its chemistry by amplifying your own natural scent and works really well according to some social media users.

TikTok user @misshaleymichelle shared that after rubbing on the perfume, she noticed that her partner became more romantic towards her, although it is unclear whether or not her video was real or staged.

Another user, @not.kez, shared that the scent smelled like sweet water on her but fruity from the bottle. Someone commented that it smelled like lemons on her while another attested that it made them smell like burnt matches.

Unfortunately for some hopeless romantics, pheromone perfumes don't seem to be all that they are cracked up to be. Of course, we all wish there could be some easy way to spray on some scents and make someone fall head over heels in love with you, but that's not the case here. There is no evidence that pheromone perfumes actually work the way they are purported to. 

Expert perfumers are also denouncing the fragrance's supposed abilities. Escentric molecules perfumer Geza Schön told Refinery29 that this is because "we don't have synthesized pheromones which we can use in ingredients in fragrances." Perfumer and founder of AromAtom: The Smell of Space Marina Barcenilla attributes the different smells of the perfume on various people to the differences in the fauna and biological substances on our skin. While the fragrance seems to be pleasant as some reviewers have noted, the romantic properties of this elixir seem to just be a brilliant marketing strategy and nothing more. If love is in the air, it sure didn't come out of a perfume bottle.

This doesn't mean that perfumes can't help you attract a potential partner. Everyone loves being around someone who smells great so wearing a nice scent can go a long way in finding love. You can try out tips that will help your perfume last longer throughout the day so that you don't have to reapply.