First: What are Pheromones?
Pheromones are chemical compounds that are naturally produced and released by animals, including humans, to communicate with others of the same species. These chemical signals play a role in various social and biological behaviors. Pheromones can be released through sweat, urine, and other bodily fluids.
Here are some key points about pheromones:
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Communication: Pheromones serve as a form of chemical communication between members of a species. They convey information about various aspects of an individual, such as their reproductive status, social rank, and emotions.
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Scent-Based Signals: Pheromones are detected through the sense of olfaction (smell). Animals and humans have specialized sensory organs, such as the vomeronasal organ (VNO) in animals, which can detect these chemical signals. The same VNO structure in humans is under hot debate even today.
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Role in Attraction: Pheromones are often associated with sexual attraction and mate selection. Some researchers believe that certain pheromones can influence human attraction and bonding, although the scientific evidence is still debated.
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Social and Territorial Behavior: Pheromones also play a role in marking territory, establishing social hierarchies, and coordinating group activities among various animal species.
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Individual Variation: Pheromone response can vary from person to person. What may be attractive to one individual may not have the same effect on another due to genetic and environmental factors.
We used to be Androtics. Now we’re Pheromone Labs.
We’re the creator of social pheromones for regular folk, like you and me.
We’ve gotten a lot of resistance over the years to the idea, but it’s true: humans aren’t just sex machines. We’re nuanced social creatures first. We’re complex. We think and talk. A lot.
That’s why some of the most important pheromones are actually social — not directly sexual — in nature.
We design simple consumer products to improve lives in practical ways by giving people more control over their social destiny. You simply spray and go about your day. Watch the magic unfold.
We are also the inventor of dosed pheromones for experimenters and the scientific community. Imagine if aspirin was undosed, and you’ll get the idea of how important this seemingly obvious step is. For reasons unknown, nobody thought of it before we did. (And we’ve made many such advances that have pushed phero tech further while most companies stagnate, and continue to do so to this day.)
Where are we?
Like many companies, we have several locations for specialty functions.
We’re partially organized in Palo Alto, California because that’s where the funding and legal support for the tech is.
Our products are mostly formulated in Chicago, just minutes from downtown. A small amount of product is made in Europe.
All ingredients and components come from first world sources, which is unique for any company these days.
The pheromonal molecules come from tenured chemists in the US, with some from Europe. Sourcing the pheromones is the really hard part. Very few chemists can make these types of molecules, especially to the laboratory standard we (and our customers) demand.
All products are shipped from either Chicago or Missouri. Our fulfillment center is located next to one of the largest shipping hubs in the U.S. We’re both just minutes away from The United States Postal Service and one of the busiest airports in the world (O’Hare International Airport). That’s how we can get packages to you so quickly at low cost.
Where do the pheromones come from?
The bulk of components used in our products are mostly from Europe and the United States.
Many of the unique, key components are custom synthesized for us at university chemistry labs, overseen by the world’s top organic chemists. As you might imagine, this is an expensive but quality intensive process. But our customers don’t come to us for “cheap” – they come to us for “the good stuff” that actually works.
Investing in the development of only the purest, high quality organic chemicals has allowed us to create formulas with precision and effectiveness that is unmatched within our industry.
The perfuming ingredients come mostly from Europe, since that is a specialty in France, Italy, and Switzerland.
Here are few other interesting facts:
- The initial technology behind Androtics was developed by Michael Harris in the late 1990s. He worked in academia around Cambridge & in spin-off technical start-ups in that area for many years, until his retirement. After that, Androtics went through a brief chaotic period for a few years until it was eventually rescued and rebooted by our current CEO. With an influx of fresh new funding, we are now able to rebuild as Pheromone Labs and continue research and development to once again regain the paragon status enjoyed by Androtics in its heyday.
- The beta version of the world’s first social pheromone product, “Come Talk To Me”, was released & tested in the Silicon Valley area. The first mass test was during Silicon Valley’s Burning Man Festival during the year 2000.
- In business officially since 2002, we initially sold products to other stores before “going direct” in 2005. The direct model allowed us to make the switch from Chinese made components to the finest, first world, university synthesized components.
- Androtics’ first online shop was started in 2004. In 2021, after much reorganization, we opened A314.com where you are currently reading this message. And in 2023 we launched Pheromone Labs and brought back the popular PheromoneTalk forums