- Esther, 30, from Newcastle has been single for 18 months
- £190 Psychedelic Love contains hedione to activate brain's pleasure centres
- Blended with rose and vanilla extract heliotropin, it promises 'obsession'
- Road tested Psychedelic Love on a London night out to see if it's worth the price
By Esther Beadle For Mailonline
Published: 02:55 EST, 22 December 2017 | Updated: 02:58 EST, 22 December 2017
If someone could find a scientific formula to guarantee sexual attraction, it would certainly make life a lot easier for single people than spending hours swiping on Tinder only to put up with being ghosted.
Now, perfumers Initio reckon they've cracked that very formula with a new £190 fragrance called Psychedelic Love, liberally laced with the pheremone hedione, which has been scientifically proven to activate brain regions linked to libido and pleasure.
Derived from the Greek word hedone, meaning pleasure, it was first used in Christian Dior’s Eau Savage 50 years ago, but the makers of Psychedelic Love are confident that blending it with notes of rose and heliotropin, derived from relaxing vanilla, is the winning formula for sexual attraction.
The fragrance promises that when 'confronted with this diabolical indulgence, no one is safe from an olfactory obsession', but before you rush off to Harrods, can Psychedelic Love actually live up to its promises?
Esther Beadle, 29, from Newcastle, who has been single for 18 months put the perfume to the test on a night out in London to see if it could help her find a prospective Christmas love interest.
Here, she tells FEMAIL whether Psychdelic Love really is bottled sexual attraction or just leaves a bad smell…
Esther Beadle, 29, from Newcastle put Initio's new fragrance Psychdelic Love, £190 from Harrods, to the test to find out if it can really make you irresistible
Despite my best, and let's face it, frantic efforts, no one has been willing to meet me under the mistletoe this year.
After 18 months of single life I'm resigned to the sorry fact the only overnight guest I'll be getting this December is a jolly fat man with a white beard wearing a plush red suit.
Although desperate for some flirty festive frolics before the month is through, I'm at a loss, feeling I've used all the tools in my seduction arsenal without success.
So when I heard about a new perfume that could potentially help me to spritz my way out of the single market, I just had to try it.
Would-be lovers, hungry for love, have long turned to the power of scent to snare their future beaus. Cleopatra was said to soak the sails of her ships in heady perfumes so Mark Anthony's inner fire would be kindled even before he laid eyes on her.
Psychdelic Love is the third in a series called 'Carnal Blends', and ensconced in a plush flocked purple bottle, accented with intricate golden detail, it certainly looks sexy.
THE SCIENCE OF PSYCHEDELIC LOVE
A pheromone is a chemical factor that's secreted or excreted by the body , triggering a social response in others.
And the pheremone hedione is what's at the heart of the Psychedelic Love formula.
Experts from Germany's Bochum University have shown that hedione can activate the part of the brain that gets our mojo working, so to speak.
By sparking up the region in our minds that kickstarts out libido, the theory is this should develop into impulse of attraction.
It's these compounds that form the foundation of Initio's Psychedelic Love. The French-made eau de parfum is crafted around three main ingredients: rose, hedione, and heliotropin.
Rose are certainly romantic. And if the hedione wasn't enough, Initio claims heliotropin 'goes even further'. In 'overdoses' it's a psychoactive substance.
Psychoactive substances, also known as psychotropics, are substances that change brain function and alter mood. For context, alcohol is one too.
Perfumiers have used heliotropin since the early 1880s, mainly to add a vanilla character to their concoctions.
Psychedelic Love contains the pheremone hedione, romantic rose and heliotropin derived from relaxing vanilla
There's a classy boudoir vibe to the packaging and I don't think it would look out of place on the dresser of some saucy Parisian courtesan.
A neat little card hidden away in the box tells me that 'wild nature and the science of pheromones fuse deeply together within the formulas working their magic imperceptibly… this is where it all begins.'
Retailing at a hefty £190 exclusively at Harrods, something had better begin. Let's hope the resulting aroma isn't as eye watering as the price.
As I douse myself, I'm taken aback by its heady vanilla notes. There's plenty of sandalwood and it's quite heavy and thick. Normally I'd go for something a bit fresher. There's a powerdy, talc-like undertone, which might be the rose. It's certainly potent, noticeable, but it is quite classy – and a bit saucy.
As I hit the streets with poofs of this supposed love potion trailing in my wake, the fragrance's strength is certainly giving me confidence, but will it work its magic? I'm not sure.
'I would ask for your number': Finance student, Mike Bejjani
Esther with finance student Mike Bejjani, 22, who said he would ask for her number after being lured by the aroma of her pheremone perfume
On Kensington High Street there's a flower stall where Meghan Markle has been seen picking up the odd bouquet. Maybe I can nab own my Prince Charming here?
I meet finance student, Mike Bejjani who is out celebrating the end of exams and we get chatting.
'Normally I'm quite shy asking for numbers. I guess I'm a gentleman,' he tells me. 'But I think I would ask for your number now. It's such a sweet smell.'
An enthusiastic admirer
I head to a city centre bar and find myself nursing a glass of house white.
Without warning, there's an arm round my waist and a 'wahey!' in my ear.
I don't know who this older gentleman is, but here he is leaning in to drop a kiss on my cheek.
This is certainly a result, but I'm not sure I want to be wearing intoxicating chemicals when I can't control who might just be this susceptible.
So far it seems that a strong, sweet perfume can definitely get men chatting, but it hasn't resulted in any numbers being exchanged yet.
Esther went along to Soho bar Chatto Matte to see if anyone would approach her as she drank her wine alone
Esther was approached by a rather enthusiastic admirer out of the blue
'I'll give you my number': Barman Emmanuel Alemaani
I settle myself in a little coffee place, Bar Italia, to consider my fate and chat to barman Emmanuel Alemaani, 20, from Sicily.
'Elegance is important. This is elegant,' he says of the perfume. 'It smells like it could be for an older woman or a younger one. It's nice for everyone.'
I laugh over my coffee and I think it endears me to him.
'Perfume is the first thing you notice about a woman, that or their look. Out of 1,000 women in the street, if you walk past her and you can smell how good she smells… yeah, I'll give you my number.'
As he scribbles it down I stare at my notepad in disbelief. His boss glances over with a hearty chuckle and invites me round the counter to pose with Emmanuel and the rest of the crew.
Posing for family snaps only five minutes after meeting is maybe a bit too successful.
Coffee bar worker Emmanuel Alemaani, 20, from Sicily gave Esther his number after being impressed by how elegant she smelled
Within minutes of meeting Esther, Emmanuel was keen to document the moment with a photo
'Your perfume attracted me and my brain': Radiotherapy physician Ali Husaykhan
After bidding farewell to my new Italian folks I attend my first ever singles night.
Bad Santa is an event that's been organised by Social Concierge, London's only invite-only dating club. They gather together successful, beautiful people, get them to mingle over cocktails in exclusive venues and let the magic happen.
Anticipating the place will be heaving with eligible bachelors, I hot-foot it down there with a renewed vigour.
I top up my scent. After three hours or so since first application, it's settled into a much milder, fluffier sweetness – like candy floss – than the loud brash redolence of fudge and vanilla that followed me round earlier.
Esther decided to road test the fragrance at her first ever singles night, Social Concierge's Bad Santa party
As I wander around the room, reactions are mixed. Unlike many perfumes, I don't forget I'm wearing Psychedelic Love. There is no denying it is strong stuff.
Not too encouraged, I make my way home, stopping off for one more glass of wine in a local pub. Barely three minutes after I sit down, the perfume scores its first real triumph of the night. At first I think he's wanting to borrow a chair, but instead the man who approaches me tells me smelled me from the bar about five metres away.
'Your perfume, it's amazing. It's really attractive. It attracted me and my brain,' says radiotherapy physician Ali Husaykhan. 'What are you wearing? Can you type it down for me? Can I get your number? I'd like us to have some good experiences and stories to tell.'
Who would have thought a scent alone would be so beguiling?
Ali Husaykhan was very taken with Esther's alluring perfume and said it had attracted his brain
'I passed you just before, and I wanted to talk to you': Julien
The next day, despite a good wash and change of clothes, the scent is still hanging on my skin.
Later ona, as I stroll through the station to make my way back to Newcastle, suddenly there's a hand on my arm and I hear someone say: 'Excuse me?'
I swing round, spilling my coffee, and stood there is the most strikingly beautiful guy. His eyes are twinkling, he has a little gap between his front teeth and he's smiling bashfully.
'I hope you don't mind, just I passed you just before, and I wanted to talk to you. So I decided to turn round and, well, I mean, you only live once'
He's French. He's called Julien. Turns out he's quite nice. Turns out he wants my number.
I explain that I live about 300 miles away. And I'm getting my coach. But he's undeterred and insists on taking it down and keeping in touch anyway.
As I type my number into his phone, I get another whiff of the leftover perfume. Maybe it has worked some magic after all.
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