Let’s set the scene – I’m 15 and absolutely dousing myself in So Kiss Me in the hopes of being the hottest thing in high school (spoiler: I was not).
My peers are armed with cans of Impulse and Charlie in the battle to be the first involved in a teen romance.
The boys were no different. Walking past their changing room, we’re suffocated by the plumes of Lynx Africa that waft out.
Surprisingly, my choice of So Kiss Me (described as the ‘flirty, fruity fragrance for the cheeky and flirtatious girl’), didn’t yield magic mate-attracting powers.
However, even now decades on, many of us make sure that the last thing we do before leaving the house for a date is to spray on our favourite perfume or cologne in the hope of making us more attractive to the person we’re meeting.
But what if perfume could really intoxicate someone into being insatiably attracted to you?
Well, according to TikTok, pheromone perfumes could just be making that dream a reality.
Videos related to the term ‘pheromone perfume’ on TikTok have racked up an incredible 26.6 million views with hundreds upon hundreds of content creators swearing by the liquid ‘sexiness in a bottle’.
In the comments section of one video hailing the attention-attracting qualities of viral pheromone perfume of the moment ‘Pure Instinct’, one person wrote: ‘Girl beware! I put it on and then I had to work (I’m a nurse) and omg it was raining men of all ages.’
Another added: ‘I have it and it works, guys just wanna sit and talk to me.’
Pure Instinct is TikTok’s scent of choice – the unisex roll-on perfume is available on Amazon for £19.72 and claims that its pheromones imported from Italy ‘blend with your skin PH to create a one-of-a-kind scent.’
But could pheromone perfumes really be the answer to our woes as we enter cuffing season? Can we finally all delete Tinder while we trip over endless floods of eligible hook-ups as our scent wafts down the street a la noughtie’s Lynx advert?
Well, according to the experts, it’s not quite as straightforward as the TikTokers who swear by the perfumes make it – master perfumer Ruth Mastenbroek explains: ‘Pheromones are chemical substances that are secreted by the body, e.g. in sweat and urine.
‘They are a form of communication that works by sending signals to another animal of the same species, triggering a behavioural response or change in hormones. Scientists are still not sure if they exist in humans, or if they do, what kind of response they would trigger.’
There is some good news, however: ‘There are two steroids which are closely related to some possible human pheromones, and studies have focused on these.
‘Androstenone and androstadienone are believed by some researchers to have pheromonal effects – in fact, both have been shown to have an impact on female mood and may even boost sexual desire.’
But before you begin slathering yourself in these pheromone perfumes, Ruth warns that there’s one big issue – unlike animals we have control of our sexual desire and just because someone smells good, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the scent will make you immediately want to have sex with them.
If you do decide to buy a pheromone perfume, what does Ruth advise going for?
‘In my opinion, pheromones in perfumes probably have a ‘placebo’ effect: if you believe that they will work, then they will work’, she tells Metro.co.uk.
If you’re absolutely determined to smell as good as possible however, ‘a safe bet is probably a lovely, gender-neutral scent like ones with soft woody notes such as Iso E Super; these have done so well in promoting the idea that pheromone perfumes do work’, says Ruth.
The obvious answer, as well, is to go against animal pheromone logic of smelling like sweat and urine and instead settle for smelling fresh and clean.
Perfumes that change on your skin will be affected by what you smell like – no surprises that smoking or whether you’ve had a few beers will all impact this.
Unfortunately, we reckon it’s back to the dating drawing board when it comes to pheromone perfumes – but we’ll take all the help we can get.
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