The question as to whether using human pheromones will make one more attractive to the opposite sex is difficult to answer. It has been shown that a human does use his sense of smell much more acutely than previously guessed. A recent study showed that students were able to track a bar of chocolate by sense of smell alone, and were even able to distinguish which nostril could smell the chocolate better, thus determining direction.
However, scientists are not convinced that humans have pheromones, as for example animals and insects do. The most convincing studies on human pheromones have shown that women living together often have synchronic menstrual cycles. This suggests that women may give off some undetectable odors that regulate and bring menstrual cycles together.
There is also a great deal of anecdotal information on this topic. For example an office predominated by women employees may all find cycles occurring at roughly the same time. Further, families of sisters frequently have synchronic menstrual cycles. However, this does not necessarily prove human pheromones are involved. The answer may be more intricate and may be in part emotionally based.
Some studies have analyzed the possibility of human pheromones in relationship to attracting the best possible mate, from a genetic standpoint. Early studies do show that people seem to find others more “smell attractive” that are most likely to be different from themselves genetically. As well, studies among homosexual men suggest that gay men may have a response similar to heterosexual women in regards to certain smells associated with arousal.
Research has also suggested that human pheromones are not the only things involved in attraction. For example, women during ovulation are most likely to be attracted to visual alpha male characteristics, such as strong muscles, youth, and full heads of hair. Thus if human pheromones are actually involved, they can only be partially involved.
What has never been proven is if artificial pheromones that are often mass marketed as human pheromones are likely to attract anyone else of the opposite sex. If one receives a great deal of spam email, for example, one will frequently get ads claiming one will find a mate or be instantly attractive by purchasing synthetic human pheromones.
No evidence exists that any of these products work, or that being more attractive to the opposite sex is greater if one uses synthetic human pheromones. In fact, other studies show that the US in particular is a visually based society. One tends to go for looks first, rather than smell. Mass marketing of particular body types has made such types desirable, in first establishing attraction.
