Pheromones are in the air — perhaps more than usual. Coined by Peter Karlson and Martin Lüscher in 1959, “pheromones” refers to a class of naturally secreted chemicals said to emit olfactive signals between members of the same species. Examples include copulin and androstadienone, female and male pheromone respectively, both believed to have a potential impact on human attraction.
Though evidence of pheromones’ influence on arousal remains minimal, this hasn’t stopped fragrance brands from attempting to replicate their purported effects synthetically — an effort that has been met with both enthusiasm and skepticism from the . “While our sense of smell is definitely underutilized and underrated, there is no proof that humans can smell pheromones — we don’t have a functioning vomeronasal organ like other animals,” said Isaac Sinclair, master perfumer at natural brand Abel, adding that the appeal of pheromone perfumes is “primarily a marketing thing: sex sells — even if it might be an empty promise.” Data from Spate shows that videos mentioning pheromone perfumes garner 3.
6 million average weekly views, a 121.1 percent year-over-year increase. While Google searches for pheromone perfumes are rarely brand-specific, the brands most aligned with the trend on TikTok include DLA Cosmetics and Pure Instinct, the latter of which has logged more than 238 million total views across user-generated content mentioning it.
Like many other viral trends, this rise h.