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By Judith Newman, Contributing writer.

But here's the question: Do human pheromones as we think of them really exist? ... For decades scientists have known that mammals, birds, and insects communicate their desirability to one another via pheromones. Animals also use pheromones nonsexually: Termites, for example, use them to mark territory or lead members of their swarm to food. (Pheromones are not at all the same as unpleasant body odor, which usually comes from bacteria on the skin. In fact, while pheromones are found in sweat and affect the way we smell, they may have no odor of their own.)

Pheromone-based products make different proclamations...Athena Pheromone 10:13 for women (click for more) is meant to draw men in - period. The product, an odorless additive you put into your favorite perfume, is a synthetic duplicate of "the sex-attractant pheromone women in their 20s naturally emit, " says Winnifred Cutler (click for bio), a reproductive biologist who founded the Athena Institute and is among the staunchest believers in pheromones as sexual attractants.

In a study published in The Journal of Sex Research, "results {suggested} that the {Athena} pheromone formulation worn with perfume for a period of six weeks {had} sex-attractant effects." It's even been said to help women who've had hysterectomies (click for more) regain their mojo.

ROAD TEST:

*** For an entire month, I tested so-called pheromones, and almost all of them had no noticeable effect. Or, I should I say, they had one very special effect: They made me want to take a shower.

But then, one day, success.

I mixed a few drops of Athena Pheromone 10:13 for Women with my perfume. Conversations with men seemed to have more spark; one handsome fellow, who had always been a bit of a flirt, asked me after one too many drinks if I would be interested in joining him and his wife for a threesome. (One could argue this is not the most fla ttering form of attention. Still, I'm a child of the '70's, so I'll take it. ) And the interest wasn't just when I was cleaned up and presentable, either: I was at my most dowdy when a charmingly rumpled father at my kid's school - divorced, he assured me - asked me out for coffee. True, he spent most of the morning talking about his ex-wife's new breast implants, but that was only after I told him I was married. After so much success with people I wasn't allowed to have sex with, I thought I might as well try it with the one I could. I dabbed on Athena Pheromone and put my favorite fragrance, Parfum d'Hermes, over it. I climbed into bed. "C'mon, don't you want to have sex with me?" "Of course I do, " he said, reading the newspaper, "As soon as you wash."

 

Copyright © 2007. Allure Magazine.

COMMENT FROM ATHENA INSTITUTE: Both Athena Pheromone 10:13^tm for women and Athena Pheromone 10X^tm for men are cosmetics that can increase your attractiveness to the opposite sex. Neither product is an “aphrodisiac.”