It’s difficult to say that humans have pheromones, because we have not yet been able to characterize specific molecules that elicit predictable interactions. Humans are really messy creatures to study, right? There’s a lot of cognitive factors that might play into the way that you respond to an odor that other animals just don’t have, but it certainly seems like we are emitting certain chemical signals that have social value.

— Jessica Gaby, assistant professor of psychology at Middle Tennessee State University. Read more in Is an irresistible human pheromone possible? at WHYY.

In the hope of clearing up the confusion, a group of researchers led by Robin Hare of the University of Western Australia have performed one of the most stringent studies to date.

[...] The study thus found no evidence that either AND or EST is a pheromone. Those who buy pheromone perfumes based on them would therefore appear to be wasting their money.

— Read more at My chemical romance: Two putative human sex pheromones turn out not to be at The Economist.

Hedione activated brain areas in the limbic system significantly more strongly than phenylethyl alcohol. The limbic system is associated with emotions, memory and motivation. But more significantly, Hedione also activated a specific area of the hypothalamus in women which is known to promote sexual responsiveness by flooding the body with sex hormones.

— Scientists at Ruhr-Universität Bochum in Germany are looking into the "pheromone effect" of hedione. Read more at Revealed: the aftershave that triggers female sex hormones at The Telegraph.