Women in nightclubs may at last be saved the question "do you come here often?", as old-fashioned chat-up lines are replaced with the latest scientific shortcut to sex: the pheromone face wipe. A London biotechnology firm yesterday launched a brand of moist tissues soaked in the scent of 50 human pheromones - the sweat molecules responsible for sex appeal.
Kiotech claims the Xcite! facial wipes make people appear more attractive to the opposite sex within a three foot radius for up to 12 hours.
George Dodd, a biochemist and "smell scientist", developed the wipes from 30 years of pheromone research.
He said: "Our studies in nightclubs show that this pheromone combination dabbed across the wrist and neck makes people appear more confident.
"Users were described as 'friendlier, warmer and more inviting' with a more attractive smile." The wipes could make a person more influential in business meetings, he said. For people in their 50s and 60s, they could also save relationships.
"The Viagra pill gets the machinery working but does nothing to get you interested. Pheromones actually increase sexual attraction," he said.
The wipes will be sold in his and hers versions for £1 each. They will be marketed to teenagers in clothes shops such as Top Shop and Miss Selfridge, and sold from condom machines in pubs and clubs.
Dr Dodd said the wipes worked best on white heterosexuals, the focus of most pheromone research.
Nick Neave, a biological psychologist at Northumbria University, said the effect may be limited. "Pheromones come from clean sweat. Once the wipes have mingled with the sweat produced on a dance floor, they might be as unappealing as the urine-like stench of stale body odour."
