What if you had the secret to seduction all along? What if it were simply the essence of your skin? This is the brilliant promise of pheromone perfumes, a type of fragrance that works with your body’s natural chemistry to create a unique scent. It’s your skin, but better.
“If you wear a lot of perfume, you start to notice how a particular perfume takes your natural musk to the next level,” says David Moltz, the perfumer behind Brooklyn-based fragrance studio DS & Durga. Scroll through #pheromone perfume on TikTok there is no shortage of wild sagas that glorify the power of scent: just one little bit Pure Instinct’s roll-on pheromone perfume has women asked out And waitresses double their tips (views are in the millions at the time of writing). But beyond the TikTok-fueled hype, can a perfume really make someone fall in love with you?
“The idea is that these scents are designed to mimic human pheromones, which are ultimately used to attract others,” says Jérôme Epinettewell-known French perfumer and creator of the famous Sol de Janeiro Cheirosa 59 Perfume Mist. “They bring a sensuality… something more animalistic, that brings a bit of drama.”
What are pheromones?
Pheromones are chemicals that animals and people use to communicate. They are thought to be a sign that we are ready to mate. Our bodies excrete these chemicals through sweat and other body fluids.
What is in pheromone perfumes?
What sets pheromone perfumes apart from the usual fan-faire is the fact that their “notes” are not the usual suspects – à la rose, patchouli, gardenia, etc. Their purpose is to bring out your skin’s chemistry. Many do this by creating synthetic versions of pheromones intended to enhance your natural scent. The hero ingredient here is often Iso E Super, which enhances the skin’s musk. The effect is a whisper of woodiness, some muskyness and a hint of sweetness. It is in popular fragrances such as Escentric molecules Molecule 01, Commodity Paper Personal Eau de Parfum And DS & DURGAs I don’t know what – all of which smell different depending on who is wearing them.
“Having an enhancer or skin scent is an obvious tool in your perfume collection to mix with and wear something neutral if you’re not trying to go all out on a given day,” says Moltz. “Soft transparent musk and woody amber that do not get in the way, but frame an idea like “rose” or “cedarwood”. If that note happens to be your skin, it enhances your own scent.
The magic of Iso E Super is not in its power, but in its subtlety. The kind of smell someone else might notice on your neck but can’t place.
