Aphrodisiacs in perfumes – do they really work?

Many animals are renowned for their ability to attract sexual partners using chemical signals. However, when it comes to the effects of pheromones on humans, scientists are divided. Many still debate whether pheromones added to perfumes actually act as aphrodisiacs.

A finding by Australian scientists has added fuel to the fire. They believe two naturally occurring steroids, considered human pheromones, have no effect on how a partner is perceived. The chemicals—estratetraenol (EST) and androstadienone (AND)—are already found in perfumes designed to captivate the opposite sex. However, the stimulating effect of their use may be purely a matter of the mind, as the Australians described in the journal Royal Society Open Science. It is unlikely that EST and AND are human pheromones , says one member of the University of Western Australia research team.

Two experiments

Scientists checked in two experiments whether these chemical compounds had any effect on 94 heterosexual people of both sexes and acted as aphrodisiacs.

Testing process

In the first stage of testing, participants were asked to determine whether a gender-neutral face (computer-generated from photos of people of both sexes) belonged to a man or a woman. In the second stage, they were asked to rate the faces in terms of attractiveness and indicate whether the person was adulterous or not. The researchers found that exposure to estratetraenol and androstadienone did not influence the subjects' choices as it would if these substances were actually pheromones.