Athena Pheromone
The Athena Pheromone, otherwise known as the Athena Pheromone 10X for Men, has been the subject of so many mixed reviews and misconceptions over the years that I could not resist putting it to the test myself. Having concluded my testing on the Athena Pheromone, it now finds it’s proper home here, on the wall of shame.
Before I get into the field test results, lets talk a little bit about what the Athena Pheromone actually is. Athena Pheromone 10X is purportedly a pheromone additive designed to be added to ones normal favorite cologne, not directly applied to the person in it’s pure form.
The Athena Pheromone 10X comes with a rather small bottle of this ‘pheromone concentrate,’ and is quite easily mixed and added into nearly any normal cologne, the purpose being to “super charge” the normal cologne and thus turn it into a pheromone cologne. I must admit that I was not thrilled about the prospect of spending a mere $99.50 on this Athena Pheromone additive, but curiosity simply got the best of me on this one. Keep in mind, the Athena Pheromone has been around for quite sometime, hitting the market back around the mid to late 1990′s, but yet information regarding it’s performance is hard to find for some odd reason.
What is in the Athena Pheromone? The truth be told we really have no idea what is inside the Athena Pheromone 10X for Men, the pheromone compounds and proportions are a tightly guarded secret of Athena, we must simply take their word for it that it does contain actual human pheromones, as these folks are more tight lipped about the ingredients than most other pheromone companies out there.
Anyhow, after taking receipt of my nice new bottle of Athena Pheromone additive, I opted to mix it in with one of may favorite colognes, the Eternity for Men, just a personal preference, to each there own. I mixed and blended the Athena Pheromone per their instructions, and then prepared to put it through my now semi standard initial 1 week field testing cycle.
I began my field testing of Athena on a Monday morning, work! I walked in as normal after generously applying my Athena Pheromone spiked Eternity for Men, and prepared to observe whatever reactions would be forthcoming…Lets now skip ahead to Thursday of the same week, I am still going to work waiting to observe whatever reactions may come…Still nothing? Well, now I’m getting a little concerned, rarely have I used a pheromone cologne for 4 straight days and not seen even one single reaction, not a good one, or even a bad reaction! I just wanted to observe something!
I got home Thursday night after 4 days of failed field tests and did some additional research on this so called Athena Pheromone, wanting to make sure I didn’t do “something” wrong? Scattered around the web I did find some curt comments concerning the Athena Pheromone from other users posted here and there years ago, such as;
“I got sucked in. This was one of the first pheromones I ever tried. I bought all the hype and really wanted it to work. A little later I discovered APC. It was a miracle compared to Athena 10X, and it’s considered little more than a cologne on this site. When I realized the product was a scam I tried to get my money back and got a big run-around instead.”
Needless to say I was a tad bit discouraged after finding that piece of information, but I still had 3 more days of field testing left so I decided to push on, even after reading the comments of another previous Athena Pheromone user who suggested;
“The Athena insert says “Some men report observing its effects after three days while others report results after 4-6 weeks of use. ” Like I said before, maybe my age had somehting to do with it ‘s taking four weeks to show effects…”
Now I’m not too optimistic, I’m thinking I’ve already been testing this stuff for 4 days and have seen no results, but now Athena claims some guys see no results for 4-6 weeks! Damn, I should have read the insert first! My second thought was of course, “how could that even be?” A true pheromone cologne or additive that takes 4-6 weeks to actually kick in? I’ve personally seen the Scent of Eros for Men kick in within about 4-6 seconds, and I’ve seen other pheromone colognes easily take between 10-15 minutes before they induced blatantly obvious and in some cases embarrassing responses from women, but my God, 4-6 weeks! How is that even possible?
That’s not a rhetorical question folks, if someone can please explain to me how a “real” pheromone cologne can take 4-6 weeks of continued use before one sees results, please leave a comment, I’d LIKE TO KNOW MYSELF!
And then last but not least I read one gentleman’s comment regarding the Athena Pheromone that really made my heart drop when he quipped;
“I used Athena for about 4 months and then just threw the bottle away. Didn’t do a thing for me.”
Yes, well right about this time I’m basically kissing the $99.50 good bye, but I decided to at least continue the last three days of field testing with the Athena Pheromone.
Of course, with my luck what do I have to report, the same as the first 4 days of testing, Friday at work yielded no responses, with the same finding while out socially on Friday and Saturday night, just plain nothing?
At this point, I simply threw the stuff away…Done!
Folks, if I am personally going to spend $99.50 for a pheromone cologne, or pheromone additive, no one better dare tell me that I must wait 4-6 weeks or 4-6 months before I start seeing any pheromonal induced results from the opposite sex! I see no point in wasting time with a pheromone product that performs this weakly, not when others can do in seconds what the Athena Pheromone apparently can’t do in a full week!
This review of the Athena Pheromone is brought to you by Do Pheromones Work.com
Popularity: 11% [?]
As I do appreciate the well thought out reply I am going to go with the opinion of the Public about your product rather than your own for obvious reasons. I really dont need to discern myself with who is behind what is written on the internet because my #1 concern is, does it work. If they say it works and it doesnt then theres a good chance that a numerous amount of unbiased reviews will say otherwise, which is what we just saw with your product. I cant say that for myself because I havent tested your product. Im sure that you worked very hard to develop your formula..But if it doesnt work or takes 4 weeks to start working for whatever reason then why would i waste my time and money on a product that has less than favorable reviews from real life participants who gain nothing at all from posting their opinions other than to inform other people of their experience with your product? Along with the statements that these other products are alot more effective in terms of time of reaction and a dicernable reaction that you can physically see with your own eyes. As to the statement of what products they are trying to sell. Kyle, “decided to conduct my own empirical review of a number of pheromone products.” this is not a staement for trying to sell a specific product nor to my knowledge or to anyone elses knowledge was he being compensated in any regard to review these specific products to the benifit of those companies. Rather like I said before they being the (unidentifiable people on the internet. aka: Kyle) are a more reliable source of information than you because of the specific fact that they are not trying to sell a product in conjuction with all the reviews of people who ask and agree with his advice about your product and the products he reviews. And more importantly have no direct relationship with “kyle”. Just so everythings out on the table, I applaud your discovery of pheromones in humans and their ability to be synthisized. And I get that they worked. That was back in 1986 even up to 2002 all the journals and newsweek and every university in the world could say your product works but I dont know know what they did. All I know is that they tested it out. however universities test things whether in a lab setting or in a controlled environment. That frankly doesnt matter a whole lot to me personally, what Im interested in is the actual people like me who are going out spending their money and using the product in uncontrolled environments where they can see for themselves if it works so theres no probable cause for a biased opinion in any way. So im sorry but your statement suggesting that information provided by you about your product would be relevant to me is not the case nor should it be to anybody trying to gain information about pheromone products. I appreciate the email back but unless your product outperforms all of the rest which i doubt unless you change what appears to be your ineffective “trade secret” formula I wont purchase it. But thanks again for your time and it was a privilege to speak with someone as successful as you.
And on that note, I think all parties have been given an opportunity to speak their peace, and frankly I’m tiring of this topic, closing comments!
April 3; KYLE:
THANKS FOR THE “HEADS UP” ON MR. WEHRUM. HERE’S DR. CUTLER’S REPLY, CANCELLING
HIS ORDER . ( MAYBE A LITTLE LONG AND OVERLY SCIENTIFIC FOR YOUR WEBSITE? )
Best regards,
Thomas E. Quay, Esq. Vice President and General Counsel, Athena Institute, Chester Springs, PA.
DR. WINNIFRED CUTLER’S REPLY TO MR. WEHRUM :
Dear Mr. Wehrum,
Thank you for you note and link. I have pulled your package and will plan to issue a credit today. Since you try to check things out, but have no way to discern who is behind what you see on the internet or what competing products they hope to sell, I thought you might find our answer about our products relevant.
How do pheromone products differ from each other?
There are many stark differences between Athena’s two pheromone cosmetics and other pheromone colognes or copycats on the market, usually sold at a cheaper price.
First, our formula is a trade secret; the copycats don’t know it. Therefore, their claims of similar ingredients to Athena’s pheromones are false. Secondly, I have been a research scientist for 30 years and identified human sex-attractant pheromones in the 1980′s, publishing papers on my discoveries in scholarly journals after achieving peer review and acceptance.
The pheromone discovery in 1986 received major media coverage in NEWSWEEK, TIME, USA TODAY, and The Washington Post. Over the next seven years I created, tested, and marketed both Athena pheromone products through a rigorous scientific process. And we at Athena Institute, as well as independent researchers, continue to test the efficacy of Athena’s pheromones as sexual attractants using double-blind, placebo-controlled protocols. No other pheromone product, or any cosmetic, is tested this way.
Published research on Athena products include: an 8 week double-blind study of 38 heterosexual men using Athena Pheromone 10Xtm or placebo mixed into their aftershave. 74% of the men wearing Athena’s pheromones, compared to 26% of placebo users, recorded an increase in romantic attention from women. This study was published in the February 1998 issue of the peer-reviewed journal, ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR, the lead article, pages 1-13.
Peer-reviewed journals evaluate the scientific merit of papers before accepting them for publication. In 2002, two independent studies demonstrated that Athena pheromones worked. The San Francisco State University study by Dr. Norma McCoy was published in the peer-reviewed journal, Physiology and Behavior( March 02 issue Vol. 75), and concluded that Athena Pheromone 10:13tm worked for 74% of the women to increase their sexual attractiveness to men. The Boston Study was presented at the Society for Behavioral Medicine in April 2002, and showed women using Athena Pheromone 10:13tm, compared to placebo, increased their sexual attractiveness and the romantic attention they received from men.
Athena Pheromone 10Xtm for men and Athena Pheromone 10:13tm for women are also unique from other pheromone products in that they are odorless additives, the wearer does not have to change his or her favorite perfume or cologne – just add 10X or 10:13 to them.
Our research also substantiates that Athena’s pheromones evoke behavioral responses from the people in contact with the wearer (women respond to men wearing Athena 10Xtm, men respond to women wearing Athena 10:13tm) rather than increasing the wearer’s libido or making him ‘feel good’ like many other products claim. Since Athena sells its two pheromone products directly to consumers, without any middlemen, we exercise quality control over the marketing claims for it. For example, in our marketing we expressly disclaim that our pheromone cosmetic fragrance additives are ‘aphrodisiacs’. Our marketplace feedback reflects the 74-75% effectiveness of Athena ‘s Pheromones that our research has proven. We are honest in our marketing claims and let consumers know these results.
As a scientist, I have also studied animal pheromone and human pheromone research by credentialled scholars who have demonstrated, in several studies, that pig pheromones have a repellent effect on humans. It is humorous, but again consumers should beware, that many pheromone products claim the pig pheromone, androstenol, as their active ingredient.
When I developed my pheromone products I understood that pheromonal communication was essentially species specific. I created and bottled two synthesized formulas, or chemical copies, of the sex-attractant pheromone emitted by a sexually attractive man in his twenties for Athena Pheromone10Xtm, and the sex-attractant pheromone emitted by a sexually attractive woman in her twenties for Athena Pheromone 10:13tm.
Finally, while many products are on the market, I would encourage people to be wary of pheromone colognes that cite research studies and money-back guarantees. Many of their marketing claims cite my research and media coverage as their own – as if proving my own, and colleagues, research prove their products work. Our website lists the 8 published books I have authored with major publishers like Norton, Lippincott, Harper Collins, and Random House, and more than 30 peer reviewed studies so that anyone can check out our claims. I take my science and the mission of Athena Institute seriously. Thank you for your interest.
– Dr. Winnifred B. Cutler, President and CEO, Athena Institute
Just ordered Athena 10X For men has not even shipped but the order confirmed. After reading this compository of complaints backed by evidence and Truth I promptly (today) sent an email out to athena institute. reffering them to this site which im already sure they are well aware of. But wanted to thank everyone for the nonbiased opinion based on cold-hard real life depositions. You saved me $100.00 to try on something better and after reading this ill be sure to do my research before i buy.
Kyle: We have been successfully marketing Athena Pheromones™ since 1993 and currently have customers in about 120 countries. The reorders just pour in and the testimonials we use in our magazine advertisements are real. Again and again we hear customers say “Thank you, Dr. Cutler for bottling your discovery and what you have done for men!” Dr. Cutler is the co-discoverer of human sex attractant pheromones in 1986 as reported in TIME, NEWSWEEK, etc. The “marketplace” results confirm what our 3 double blind studies proved: our pheromones work to increase the sexual attractiveness of the wearer (who follows our directions for use.)
As Athena’s Vice President, I am “biassed” so beware of what I say!!! Tom Quay
Kyle: It might be helpful to the visitors to your site if you would point out the difference between anecdotal “evidence” of effectiveness and published studies that were double blind and placebo controlled. Similarly, if I give a speech on a street corner claiming Athena Pheromones work that doesn’t give me the credibility that Dr. Cutler deserves when the American College of Ob/Gyns invites her to give a 90 lecture on “Pheromones as Sex Attractants” for Continuing Medical Education credits to the physicians who hear her talk…in Philadelphia at ACOG’s annual convention in 1999. I am “biassed” since I am Athena’s VP Gen. Counsel. But ACOG was not biassed in favor of Dr. Cutler; they were impressed with her credentials.
Thomas E. Quay, Esq.
Well I have to say I am one of the many who purchased your product and are dissapointed. Yes phermones are an attractant, we have already established that. But if they aren’t put to good use in a good product (which i believe your’s does not have either) then there is no point. You also have very old studies done by yourselves, and yes you have scientific evidence that your product for women works. But BDR’s comments (scroll down) counter that argument. BDR also said, “In fact, in the research I HAVE done so far (quite extensive for the amount of time it was conducted in), which was originally concentrated mostly on your product only, I NEVER found any positive reviews, comments, or statements, EXCEPT for those posted by your own company, and in your own ads. It’s pretty weak when the only positive results that can be found on a search through google come from your own marketing department. ” With all those comments, I’d consider that some evidence in itself. Yes there is a difference between controlled and real world tests, but this product is being used in the real world. So when in the lab, the results say yes it works, but the enourmous amount negative user reviews of both professionals and newbies beg to differ. Every phermone product has it’s negative reviews, but simply not as much as yours.
Reply to CLAIRE: Our product for women is ATHENA PHEROMONE 10:13™ sold since 1993 and proven effective for 74% of college-age women in a double blind study by Dr. Norma McCoy and 68% of menopausal women in a double blind study by Dr. Susan Rako and Dr. Joan Friebely of Harvard. Both studies were published in peer reviewed scientific journals. That is the Gold Standard. Dr. Cutler in 1999 presented a lecture, PHEROMONES AS SEX ATTRACTANTS, to the annual meeting of ob/gyns for Continuing Medical Education credits. We also GIVE OUT research grants. Claire, you should visit our website: http://www.athenainstitute.com
Tom Quay, Vice President, Athena Institute
Its funny out of all of the pheromone companies I looked up Athena was the only one in the Better Business Bureau that I saw that got an A+. If it really was a scam someone should send in a complaint. Pherlure AKA ANR Got an F rating.
A nice piece on the BBB…I was not aware one had to pay to be a member?
the only pheromone cologne that it worked for me it was the first realm colognes that came out many years ago i tried some from adam and eve and the one called adam cologne and the one that came on a clear glass that you can roll on your body those are the ones that make girls come to me smile to me some said that i smell nice some female friends end up on my bed naked and happy
Oh, and by the way, the “studies” (3) they are referring to were conducted solely on women, and also dealt with menstruation. They target a different product to men because they are the bulk of the buying power of pheromones, and then try to back it up by referring to a study done on women…
Okay, so here is the deal… This review honestly put me more at ease as to the subject of whether pheromones actually work or not.
Here’s why:
The Athena ad is what got me interested in researching and thus buying pheromones. However, everything I ever read about it said it was simply AWFUL. The most convincing, evidence proofed article I ever found (before coming here) regarded both personal and semi-scientific testing of pheromones by a guy who was simply scientific minded and curious about pheromones, much like myself! His testing consisted solely of using Athena and some other minor ones that people on this site don’t seem too fond of, either.
His results with Athena: to put it simply, it was a MAJOR DUD. So, mister vice president of Athena, I think it goes to show that if a large number of people, who are both major pheromone testers AND people with no knowledge of the world of pheromones at all, as well as everyone in between, have gone out and posted or published articles concerning ONE pheromone product and ONLY ONE – YOURS! – concluding that it didn’t work AT ALL, I’d think that it simply didn’t work for them, which would mean that it doesn’t work for a lot more people than you obviously think it does.
In fact, in the research I HAVE done so far (quite extensive for the amount of time it was conducted in), which was originally concentrated mostly on your product only, I NEVER found any positive reviews, comments, or statements, EXCEPT for those posted by your own company, and in your own ads. It’s pretty weak when the only positive results that can be found on a search through google come from your own marketing department.
Regarding the “scientific” research done by your company: that’s just it, it was done by your OWN company. I could go “research” my own piss and say it came out as liquid gold, and turn around and publish it. I’m the only one doing research in the subject, so no other ‘specialists’ exist who could contradict me, nor would there be any contradicting evidence. The only true evidence and studies that could tell us of the true potency or efficacy of a pheromone product shouldn’t really come from the company that makes it, who has total control of the results and ALL the variables of the research, and who also solely composes the evidence for being published. There is a reason no one ever REALLY accepts research done internally by companies in the REAL world of science. There is a reason the FDA tests drugs on their own, through unbiased companies contracted through government funds; they don’t just let the pharmaceutical companies “test” the drug on their own and just accept it immediately. They might take the pharm, company’s own evidence into consideration now and then, but they don’t take that as SOLE WORD of the drugs effectiveness or safety. Also, the bulk of the research isn’t done by one person (your CEO in your case), or by a limited number of people; they do the research through many people, and many times over, through scheduled steps that are well thought out and regulated…..your published research is referring to something different entirely, you are referring to a scholarly publishing, not a legal, government, or federal publishing.. For instance, I have published 2 research projects myself and I am a JUNIOR in college. Those reports could have had anything in them, too.. I did good work in order to be able to put it down in a resume and in order to get more research grants in the future, but you wouldn’t necessarily have to: you could publish one bad paper on research that no one else knows anything about once, and then use that as a slogan forever, unable to publish any more research now that everyone knows it’s a joke….. You know, sort of how you hide behind that one publishing of research you did over 10 years ago?
You may be able to deceive many other people through sleazy marketing and your tiny little ads in the back of Popular Science (which are right next to the “Buy Your Own Flying Bicycle!!” ads), but you can’t keep people from telling the truth online about how much of a scam your product is. The truth is, Athena may work, just a tiny bit, which may have been the best there ever was back in 1998-2000 or earlier, but there are many other better companies who put more money into furthering their product and testing to make it better, in order to beat the competition out. However the Athena is still just as good as it was when it first came out, and everyone else has advanced 10 years better than you, so you scramble to keep a market by bragging out your 10+ year old published research and jacking up your price. In comparison, Athena is like the outdated brick phone of pheromone products today.
You can only trick people into paying twice the market average for the weakest product in that market for so long. Your research will eventually become so outdated that no one will care, even if it was legitimate back when it was published, and you won’t be able to use it as a desperate slogan when people can buy something hundreds of times more potent (which they DON’T have to dilute in cologne) that is HALF the price. Maybe instead of crying about your decade old research that YOU made up, you should just put in the time to make your product better, and keep up with the competition.
No response necessary, this speaks for itself: what is known as The Truth.
Folks;
If you peruse our website, and see the 3 double blind studies proving efficacy, published in peer reviewed scientific journals, and still think we are a fraud, then maybe you cannot spell SCIENCE. To quote our slogan: Athena Pheromones: the Gold Standard since 1993. Our honest advertising states: works for 74%, but not for everybody.
–(Admittedly biassed) Tom Quay, Athena Instititute’s Vice President. 11/26/10
what about the reviews for Athena for woman . Back in 1998 I brought Athena for women and IT DID NOT WORK!!! that was a total waste of money. I worn it for the full 4 weeks and NOTHING!! I had better luck with intamate research products.
Thanks for your comment Claire,
well then I suppose there is no hurry to get Athena for Women tested….I believe you!
I was taking a women’s lit class for two semesters at school. I thought it would be like shooting fish in a barrel if I had the athena pheromone on and surrounded by all these women, they would be eating out of my hands. There were 40 people in the class, one straight guy — myself, and one openly out of the closet gay man. This crap did not work at all. I thought it was me and actually bought a second bottle. What a BIG, BIG, WASTE of money. For the record, I am 6’2, athletic body, and have done fairly well with women. I was just trying the product because I wanted to do as less work as possible in getting dates. Believe me, I could not have been more wrong and disappointed in this piece of crap. It is a fraud.
Thanks for your comment Jim,
Don’t think I can really add much to your/our assessment on this one, it is what it is.
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