Science of Sex: Pheromones

September 9th, 2017

Welcome to the ninth installment in a new feature on Of Sex and Love: Science of Sex. In this feature, I plan to discuss the science of sexuality in an easy-to-digest format that’s accessible to the casual reader. I will also follow up with some extended reading material for people who want to know more about the subject of each post.

Enjoy!

science of sex pheromones

You probably think of pheromones as sex chemicals. Many animals produce pheromones, chemicals that help attract mates among other things. But plants and bacteria also produce pheromones that serve various purposes. These chemicals are emitted through sweat, saliva, and other glands.

Human infants, for example, may detect pheromones that lead them to their mothers’ breasts, which is necessary for nursing. One type of moth releases a pheromone-filled mucus cocktail to attract potential suitors. Pheromones may signal whether another member of the same species is healthy and thus a good potential mate. Queen bees attract drones with pheromones (and unappealing pheromones may even serve as a pest repellant). Nature has plenty of examples of pheromones.

It’s the nose that detects pheromones in animals like humans and mice, but detection of these chemicals is unconscious. You wouldn’t realize when pheromones are at play, and animals certainly don’t.

Scientists believe pheromones in a man’s sweat can attract a woman to a man, even if the idea of smelling someone’s sweat isn’t appealing. Since the 1970s, researchers have found ties between body odor and attraction. You may already be familiar with the experiment in which women were asked to smell t-shirts covered in a man’s sweat and rate attractiveness. More recently, a study has shown that a man’s testosterone may rise when in the presence of pheromones of menstruating women.

Even exposure to pheromones from the same gender can elicit an effect as is the case with women and their menstrual cycles (and sweat from any gender can impact the menstrual cycle when applied near the nose). However, the case for pheromones in humans isn’t a strong one, and no specific chemicals have been extracted to reproduce that effect artificially.

Researchers once thought that the vomeronasal organ (VNO) is the pheromone receptor in animals. But humans have a particularly small VNO — and some have none at all. The genes that turn on the VNO aren’t active in every person, either. The VNO may be only part of the picture, too. One study showed that pigs could still detect pheromones even when the VNO duct was plugged, leading scientists to suggest that more than the VNO is necessary to detect pheromones.

The terminal nerve in the brain has been proposed as a pheromone detection, and hamsters with terminal nerve damage do not reproduce. This all makes it hard to make a solid case for human pheromones.

That doesn’t stop companies from promising you can attract a mate and make them obsessed with you with a little help from pheromones. But it does mean that the chemicals, if any, contained in these products are not human pheromones. They come from other animals, usually pigs, and there isn’t proof that they will work for you, a human person.

Even if researchers could prove that human pheromones exist and identify those chemical compounds, a true human pheromone product may not improve your sex life as much as you’d hope. For starters, you’d still produce your own pheromones. Pheromones also have to battle with all the bath and body products we use on a daily basis, which is one reason why researchers haven’t found a strong connection between pheromones and attraction in humans. Finally, humans have a host of other senses that come into play when it comes to attraction.

There’s enough evidence of pheromones in humans to warrant further investigation, but we cannot make a conclusive case for human pheromones.. yet.

Further Reading

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Categories: Science of Sex

Flirty Little Secret Pink Caviar Scrub With Pheromones

November 2nd, 2014

Pink Caviar Scrub With Pheromones
$$20.99 from Amazon

I never thought I would try another Booty Parlor product if I’m being honest. The last time I did, I was rather unimpressed by the quality of multiple products, so I’ve stayed away. It’s been a while, and I’ve opted to review another product from the company thanks to SheVibe. The pink caviar scrub is a body product, sensual as best. It’s definitely not sexual, but I certainly feel sexier when my skin is soft and smooth!

So let’s start with the positives. This thick scrub has some serious scrubbing power thanks to the sugar granules. I’m not sure if the caviar beads help. I can’t really tell the difference between them and the sugar, honestly. The texture is well mixed.

Secondly, I like the smell. It’s generally sweet. The scent is supposed to be raspberry lemonade. I get a hint of lemon if I’m looking for it, but the sugary smell really stands out.

However, there’s something about the overall texture that prevents me from loving this scrub wholeheartedly. More specifically, it’s slick and hard to rinse off. When used on my feet in the shower, it’s slippery. In fact, the residue stays on the floor through several showers, so I couldn’t imagine how slippery this would be after several showers if I used it every time.

Secondly, it’s nearly impossible to wash off my hands and body. To some people, this might feel moisturizing, but it’s definitely intense and not going to be everyone’s cup of tea.  This feeling/residue might stick, but the beads do wash off, so it’s still effective.

And to be honest, I never notice after I’m out of the shower, but it bothers me enough that I’d really like to see the ingredients list changed. When moisturizing becomes potentially dangerous, there’s room for improvement.

I’m not entirely sure which of the ingredients is making it so slippery, but they include Jojoba oil, Shea butter,  grapeseed, soy, and pheromones. It’s likely the shea butter or oil that’s causing this to be sooo slippery. I’m not sure how I could reduce this for the tub that I have left. Like I said, it works well and smells good.

So any suggestions how to make this a little less likely to cause a broken bone in the shower would be great.

Otherwise, you might give this scrub by Booty Parlor a try.. but $26 is a steep price for a product that doesn’t do everything it’s supposed to with flying colors.

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Categories: Reviews, Sexual Health and Beauty

Bijoux Indiscrets cosmetics for better sex

Wanna Be Dazzling Sparkling Body Lotion

January 30th, 2012

Sparkling Body Lotion Pink Cupcake

Sparkling Body Lotion Pink Cupcake
from

This is an archived review of a discontinued product.

So Classic Erotica sent me the matching body lotion scent to go with my snazzy new body mist because those folks are all a bunch of BAMFs. There’s a lot of the same stuff going on between these two products, and that’s a good thing. They smell nearly identical, and that’s important to me. I hate buying a product, falling in love with the scent, and buying another in the lineup only to find out that it smells completely different. That’s so not the case with the body lotion; although, it might smell slightly more berry-like.

The body lotion is slightly longer lasting, too. I put it on one night and could smell it the next morning. It was a great product to smell as I slept but, even during my waking hours, I find myself always sniffing the lotion.

The packaging is almost the same for the lotion. Pink with a cap. The lotion bottle was locked when I first received it. This is a good feature but the height of the pump is slightly shorter than other pumps and I had a hell of a time turning it to get it unlocked. I definitely will be keeping it “open” from now on,

The lotion is thin enough to work well with a pump bottle but this also means it’s not thick enough to do heavy duty. It’s more cosmetic. It does make my hands feel softer and does last through at least one washing. It also doesn’t simply rub over/around the skin like some lotions. That bugs the crap out of me.

As the name suggests, this one contains little sparkles. They’re harder to notice in the dark but super easy to spot in bright light and outside. Because of this, I will mostly be saving this for a night-time product. I don’t usually wear a lot of glitter during the day. It’s not my thing. On the other hand, your arms and chest can bling out if you apply this there.

But while I like this lotion enough, I don’t love it, and the price of nearly $10 for six ounces seems a bit outrageous. It’s not widely available yet, either. Perhaps if more retailers carry it—which I would recommend—the price might drop. It may be a slightly cheaper option if you’re a fan of Victoria’s Secret sweet lotions; however, Bodycology offers a pretty sweet-smelling vanilla cupcake lotion for less than half the price at Target.

I better end this review, though, before you all become HANGRY.

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Categories: Reviews, Sexual Health and Beauty

Wanna Be Sexy Flirty Body Mist

January 30th, 2012

Wanna Be Sexy Flirty Body Mist

Wanna Be Sexy Flirty Body Mist
from

Sadly, this product was discontinued after it was my daily scent for a decade.

When I love a product, it gets a lot of use. I have used the Wanna Be Sexy Flirty Body Mist nearly every day since I received it. That is, to say, it kicks ass. Rather than give you a complete run-down — because we all know what body mist is — here are the pros and cons you should know.

Pros

This body mist smells great. Classic Erotica has ditched the previous and, might I add, not very awesome “Seduction” in place of pink cupcake. It’s sweet and reminiscent of vanilla cake batter but pinker due to the berries. The body mist, however, is slightly more vanilla than berry-like. If you’re not a fan of feminine, young, sweet scents, this is not for you.

The smell lasts. When I first opened the bottle, I sprayed the air in front of me, and the smell was powerful and long-lasting enough to stay with me as I ran to the store. One pump. Pretty impressive from a body spray. Now that I’ve become more accustomed to it, it doesn’t smell quite so strong to me (others probably notice it more), but every time I enter a new room or environment, the smell wafts up to me and delights my nose. For some reason, it’s easy to smell outside!

A little goes a long way. The pump on this bottle creates a finer mist than others. It’s not as wet, which is a plus by itself, but this means that less sprays out at once. Because the spray is long-lasting, this isn’t a problem and it actually means that it one 6-ounce bottle will go further. In fact, even though I’ve used it almost every day and, most days, multiple times, you can barely tell I’ve opened the bottle!

The bottle clearly states that it is paraben-free, sugar-free and sulfate-free. It’s also made in the USA and not tested on animals. These are some pretty cool qualities because sometimes the sensual health and beauty companies don’t give a crap about chemicals that can possibly irritate or dry skin or ethical issues.

It’s affordable. The per-unit price per bottle is definitely slightly cheaper than body sprays from Bath and Body Works.

The overall design is improved. Classic Erotica has updated its product designs and website, I believe. The new label is pink and girly with curly fonts and swirly hearts. It’s much cleaner and, in my opinion, looks better in person than in product images. The spray has been dyed slightly pink, which looks cute.

The bottle comes with a cap that makes it more — but not perfectly — travel-friendly. The cap can come off, however.

So what’s slightly less than awesome?

  • It smells a little syrupy at first. It passes, though! You only need to deal with it for a few seconds.
  • It doesn’t need to be pink.
  • It doesn’t last forever.
  • Some people won’t like cupcake scents.
  • I don’t believe in pheromones/think they’re overrated but no one’s complained that I smell like a wild animal or anything. Because I love the scent, I feel more attractive and that’s what counts!
  • The nozzle seems to gunk up after a while. This has happened two 3 out of 4 of the last bottles I purchased.

Really, though, if you know yourself to like sweet smells like this, give it a try!

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Categories: Reviews, Sexual Health and Beauty

Bijoux Indiscrets cosmetics for better sex

Pure Sex Pheromone Spray

May 23rd, 2010

Pure Sex Pheromone Spray

Pure Sex Pheromone Spray

This is an archived review of a discontinued product.

My first experience with pheromones was at a sex toy party at the last base we lived at. The company rep basically told us that because pheromones are registered in the nose but aren’t actually smells, we will think there is a smell and as the pheromones mix with your individual chemical makeup, that “smell” we think is there will be different for every person. So we dabbed some pheromones on our wrists and I “smelled” quite nice, thank you very much. But I forgot about the concept for a couple of years cause it wasn’t like I was lacking sex.

The idea of a his-and-hers type pheromone spray was attractive, though, as was the packaging. Pipedream did well with the black box (with silver details) contrasting with the bright blue and pink liquid. Unless you’re not very fond of hetero-normative implications, which the blue/pink dichotomy certainly suggests. Sorry. In the event that you didn’t notice the bright colours, the blue bottle has the “male” symbol and the pink has the “female” symbol.

So this narrow box houses a double-ended tube, like some lipgloss-type products. There is a magnetic flap on top, similar to Fun Factory toys that you can lift to see the product. The tubes themselves are clear glass, and the blue or pink liquid really looks awesome and kind of.. chemistry-ish. The silver band in the middle is the cap for both little spray bottles; you pull one off to use it. This means that you can’t separate the pair and still cap them both. It’s kind of a minor annoyance but something I couldn’t help but notice.

Spray bottles are pretty easy to use, right? So spray onto your pulse points (neck, wrists and some other place I forget) and let the product go to work. Except, it kind of smells like gross chemicals when you initially spray it. It fades, and then you cannot smell anything at all. I’d almost rather smell like chemicals, so I know it’s there.

Regardless, Pure Sex Pheromone Spray just doesn’t seem to work in practice. Only one time out of five or so seemed to elicit any response, and I’m willing to bet it was because I’m dead sexy or, at the very least, the circumstances surrounding it. That’s not a very impressive track record.

Honestly, I think it would help if this produced any sort of scent at all, so it would have the “I’m so naughty, I’m wearing pheromones” thing going for it. I know products like these sometimes seem to work simply because of the power suggestion, but Pure Sex Pheromone Spray didn’t even offer me that.

Much to do about nothing, I suppose. I recommend you buy a nice perfume or cologne, instead.

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Categories: Non-Sex Toys, Reviews

Silky sheets Pear Blossom

August 23rd, 2009

Silky Sheets Pear Blossom

Silky Sheets Pear Blossom

This is an archived review of a discontinued product.

I first heard of Silky Sheets a few years ago when browsing some sex toy party catalog. One of my co-workers had purchased it but didn’t feel like it really made the sheets feel all that silky. Since then, I’ve heard several similar accounts but people still recommend this pheromone-enhanced spray because of its drying properties – something which can only be beneficial after a bedroom romp. I finally decided to give this scented, talc spray a run for its money and I have to say, I’m still not convinced.

If you’re unfamiliar with Silky Sheets, it comes in a 4 oz silver spray bottle with cap. It’s not entirely obscene but it’s nothing to show off, either.

I thought, if nothing else, I’d have good smelling sheets. I was wrong. I was torn between the different scents and so I gave my top 3 to a friend who urged me to go with Pear Blossom. It sounded fine. Unfortunately, it doesn’t smell either like fruit or flowers. The scent is something.. perfumey and too heavy, almost fermented. When I spray, I get a small glimpse at a smell I might like but it’s covered up by all the negative attributes. So I don’t think it matters at all if there are pheromones in here because my strong sense of smell is too busy objecting at the scent to process any pheromones.

Secondly, it sprays white. Yes, it can be wiped off and does wear off eventually but it’s super obvious at first. I did a test spray on my coloured armchair and was surprised. I sprayed my red curtain to the same result except, I couldn’t wipe it off right away. I guess you have to wait until it dries. Also, get ready for a visible puff of talc in your air.

But the drying is really where I thought it would work well and I waited anxiously for my husband to come home because I really don’t make much of a wet spot by myself. Sheets finally wet, I sprayed. And touched the spot. And only felt it was wetter. Frustrated, I left it alone and, eventually, it dried. I posted a thread about Silky Sheets on a sex forum but got no response from anyone who had used it. Someone did suggest spraying further away, so I did. Second go around, I had a bit more luck. It really did seem to dry up some smaller wet spots caused by massage oil but the big one, well, I’m not so sure. I gave it a generous spray and noticed no difference. I let it be and it was dry when I came back, and slightly “crispy” (like jeans dried on the line) from the Silky Sheets spray. Yet, I had left the fan on while I was gone and it had been some time. From other reviews, I got the impression that this would work much faster than that.

Without making two identical wet spots to test, I really can’t prove that Silky Sheets does or doesn’t work. I’ll probably continue to use it, just to empty the bottle and I wouldn’t necessarily discourage someone else from using it – as long as they stay away from the Pear Blossom scent – but I wasn’t blown away like I expected to be.

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Categories: Non-Sex Toys, Reviews

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