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Sarah,* a 41-year-old lawyer, was skeptical when a friend gave her a sample of Synergy Anti-Aging Aromatic ($250; nvperriconemd.com), dermatologist Nicholas Perricone's new synthetic pheromone fragrance. As instructed, she dabbed the cinnamon-scented liquid under her nostrils and on her pulse points several times daily. The effect was immediate: "While I'm wearing it, the amount of attention I usually get from men doubles," says Sarah.
So what is a pheromone? "They're chemical substances excreted by animals to trigger a reproductive behavioral response from recipients of the same species," says Winnifred Cutler, Ph.D., a biologist who has studied the effects of these chemicals on sexuality and fertility for more than 25 years. It is believed that pheromones are detected by receptors in the nose and that women first begin producing them during puberty. While studies suggest they play a role in fertility and menstrual synchrony (the idea that women who live together will cycle together), the chemical makeup of a human pheromone has not been determined. Though many companies, including Perricone's, claim to have created products containing synthetic sex pheromones, we found none willing to reveal their formula, so it's impossible to know which, if any, actually have.
Why did a dermatologist renowned for his wrinkle-smoothing serums and creams decide to produce a pheromone fragrance? "I've always been interested in pheromones and have had neuropeptides [short chains of amino acids that act as messengers in the human body] in my skin-care products for years," says Perricone. "When we found that neuropeptides could activate receptors in the nose, making people more responsive to pheromones, we combined these two systems. Thus the name Synergy," he explains.
How does Synergy work, exactly? According to Perricone, the pheromones and neuropeptides in Synergy intermingle with our own set of pheromones. The wearer, sensing this blend of chemicals, will in turn feel more confident and calm. Users are advised to dab the product beneath their nostrils to boost these calming effects, which allegedly have antiaging benefits as well. "Stress is the most effective accelerator for aging," notes Perricone, "so by reducing stress, we can reduce the acceleration of aging." He claims that the pheromones and neuropeptides in Synergy are also designed to act on those around us, to pique interest from the opposite sex.
Did Synergy make Sarah more attractive or just more receptive? Maybe a bit of both. "I felt more outgoing and got more attention," she says, "but I couldn't tell if it was because I was more gregarious or because men were actually more attracted to me."
Though Perricone's is the newest pheromone product, and the first from a major cosmetics company, it's not the only option. Cutler created her own formula in 1993, Athena Pheromone 10:13 ($98.50; athenainstitute.com), a clear, odorless liquid that can be added to any fragrance. It is the only purported sexual-attractant pheromone product for women we found that had been tested in independent double-blind, placebo-controlled studies and whose results were published in scientific journals. In one 2002 trial, 74 percent of women wearing it experienced a statistically significant increase in romantic attention. Nancy,* a 55-year-old flight attendant who has been using Athena 10:13 for a year, gets more interest from men when wearing it, and she says even younger men tend to perk up around her. "I'm not looking for a man," says Nancy, "but I still love the attention."
Experts like Alan R. Hirsch, M.D., founder and director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, think these products could be worth a try. "If they do in fact contain pheromones, there's good reason to think they may be effective," he says. Cutler adds, "The thing I'm most excited about isn't determining the exact pathways pheromones take, but rather knowing that they've brought more love into people's lives."
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