Relationships4 min(s) read
There's a new outrageous dating trend that has sent chills down the spines of most social media users, as it goes viral on TikTok.
Gen Z dating trends always have the potential to shock the masses, whether it be gooning or looksmaxxing.
But there's a new kid on the block, with the latest dating trend easier to identify by smell than any other method.
It's called pheromone-maxxing, and teenage boys are trying their hand at the stinky method, though some grown men are also giving it a go.
It is the latest of the 'maxxing' trends which have taken over social media this year, as people are trying to take any shortcut they can to try and improve parts of their health or bodies.
From the outside looking in, it's hard to get behind this new method, or see the benefits, if any at all.
The self-optimization trend has gained traction online as an apparent way to appear more attractive, but unsurprisingly, it is far from the truth.
As part of pheromone-maxxing, participants have been skipping showers, avoiding deodorant and... well, drinking their own urine to 'sweat out toxins'.
It makes for grim reading, with the trend apparently giving men a 'natural musk' which allegedly contains pheromones which make you biologically irresistible to women.
Unsurprisingly, this method to make you smell more like an animal doesn't reap many rewards.
Sex educator Topher Cusumano spoke about the research behind the idea, explaining to Men's Journal: “As a means of survival, sex workers are eroticizing body parts that can get through the algorithm.”
While platforms have cracked down on NSFW content, underarms and sweat have become erotic sights to some, and it doesn't violate any social media guidelines.
So what started as a way to get around restrictions has become groups of adolescents neglecting hygiene as a way to enhance their relationship eligibility.
Human pheromones, while confirmed as a scientific category, remain theoretical, with a 2025 review published in Physiology & Behavior looking specifically at androstadienone, a steroid in male sweat.
It is widely considered an example of a pheromone, though research said that findings remained 'inconclusive' after six decades of tests.
Research on the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which is a cluster of immune system genes, revealed that people are unknowingly drawn to partners who have different immune profiles.
Psychology students may recall the sweaty T-shirt studies, which found that women consistently preferred the body odor of men who had the most different MHC genes compared to theirs.
Pheromones in other species can act as a form of communication, with several scientific studies arguing that several animals use them to signal sexual readiness.
But there is some research which suggests that hormonal birth control can completely reverse the MHC preference.
Women who take birth control are usually drawn to men with similar immune profiles instead of different ones, as many aren't warned about this change before starting the prescription.
This has more of a say than an absence of hygiene, and it's believed that not smelling like used running socks can help a man's case.
Essentially, your body odor holds biological data that somebody will evolutionarily be primed to find suitable and attractive.
However, having a shower every day, keeping clean and not drinking your own urine is highly recommended by just about everyone.
Some experts believe that attraction lies in other factors, as Dr Gayatri Bhatia, Associate Professor, Psychiatry, Amrita Hospital told Firstpost: “Human attraction is based on sensory cues, personality, familiarity, context and reciprocal behavior.
“Biology matters but there is no science behind the notion that an unwashed body is a dating advantage.”
