The trend: skipping showers for a 'natural musk'

A social-media trend dubbed 'pheromone-maxxing' is encouraging some young men to skip showers, avoid deodorant and preserve their natural body odour, based on the belief that doing so can increase attraction. The practice has been circulating on TikTok among teenage boys and young men, according to reports from Hindustan Times and Moneycontrol.

The idea is that washing less allows the body's supposed natural pheromones to become stronger, creating a 'musk' that potential partners will find irresistible. Some proponents have gone further, with VICE reporting that they have worn unwashed clothes to preserve their scent, and some have discussed drinking their own urine in the belief that it can help them 'sweat out toxins'.

Pheromone-maxxing is part of the wider online 'maxxing' culture, in which mostly young men experiment with ways to optimise their appearance and attractiveness. Looksmaxxing, for example, can involve everything from skincare and exercise to far more extreme attempts to change facial features. Pheromone-maxxing applies the same idea to smell: if animals use pheromones to attract mates, the thinking goes, humans should be able to do the same.

The science: no proven human sex pheromone

There is one rather large problem: scientists have not established that humans have sex pheromones capable of producing the effect claimed by the trend. Pheromones are chemical signals that influence the behaviour of other members of the same species and are well documented in many animals and insects. Researchers have also found evidence that human body odour can affect how people perceive one another. But identifying a specific human pheromone that reliably increases sexual attraction has proved far more difficult.

A 2025 review published in Physiology & Behavior examined research into androstadienone, a steroid compound frequently investigated as a possible human pheromone. Authors Junyi Gan, Yin Wu, Xue Lei and Chengyang Han titled their review 'Is androstadienone a human male pheromone? More research is needed', and specifically called for more research into the compound rather than treating it as an established human pheromone.

A 2026 review in Frontiers in Psychology similarly examined research on olfactory stimuli and social cognition. VICE, in its August 2026 report on pheromone maxxing, described the evidence for a human sex pheromone as unproven.

Expert criticism and health concerns

Sexologist Lauren Muratore, quoted by Adelaide Now, criticised the trend for reducing attraction to a supposed chemical shortcut rather than recognising the more complicated factors involved in human relationships.

Beyond the lack of scientific backing, the practice carries practical downsides. Poor hygiene can lead to unpleasant body odour and skin problems, and drinking urine carries its own health risks.

Forbes reported on the practice in August, while Adelaide Now described urine-drinking as one of the more extreme claims circulating around pheromone maxxing. The trend has also been associated with a mix of serious-looking advice, jokes and deliberately extreme content, making it difficult to determine how much of it is genuine belief and how much is provocative content.

For now, 'natural musk' remains an internet theory, not a proven attraction hack.