Your scent really determines whether men find you attractive
Do you ever stick your nose right into that one little dip in the neck to deeply inhale someone's scent? It's logical, because how someone smells evokes all sorts of feelings in you. But now research also shows that the female body scent affects men's behavior.
One sweat is not like the other. If you spend days, weeks, and months in a gym that is just a bit too small, then you know what I’m talking about. Sometimes, there’s such a grotesque odor coming from someone that it takes your breath away and knocks you out immediately. And occasionally, someone walks by and their sweat smells kind of good? Clean even? Maybe attractive? I’ve always found it complicated that a sweat smell can also be pleasant, but nature apparently really works that way.
The smell of fresh coffee on an early morning. The hint of Chanel at a friend’s place. The notes of a fine wine when you really stick your nose into that glass. The combination of onion and garlic in a pan. And sometimes even that first puff of a cigarette drifting by on a summer day on the terrace. What you like to smell is personal, but there’s something else going on in the realm of body odor.
A little scent
Researchers from the University of Tokyo decided to stick their noses into this remarkable matter. In this case, it was about the body odor of women and the effect it has on men. There seems to be all sorts of information stored in the composition of our body odor, better known as sweat. Only now it turns out that this does indeed have an effect on others.
At the moment a woman ovulates, her body odor seems to deviate just slightly from the norm, as can be read on Scientias.nl. This has a special effect on the behavior of men. It took endless amounts of time, sweat samples, and research there in Tokyo, but it now turns out that the moment the egg embarks on its journey towards the uterus, your scent becomes a sort of natural love potion. Nothing magical about it, of course, it’s just mother nature.
The man in question feels calmer when he notices this scent from a woman, he experiences less stress, and he even finds a woman more attractive. Now you might think this was already well-known, but nothing could be further from the truth. This is the first study that actually shows that it is so. It concerns three specific scent compounds in a woman’s sweat that have this effect. Which effect, you naturally want to know. Men rated the body odor of women during their ovulation higher. But it didn’t stop at just sniffing, as they also found the women actually more attractive during this period of the cycle than otherwise.
Sweats and sweats
The researchers are certainly intrigued. It reveals a completely new form of communication between men and women, the existence of which has not been known until now. It is now up to brain scans to show whether it not only has a calming effect but also influences the actions a man takes. Other studies have already shown that scent influences your behavior.
Sweat or a specific body odor can therefore say much more than you might have thought. There are even indications in the research that this scent directs the behavior of men. So you know that, in case you immediately jump in the shower to give your sweats a wash in the heat. That hint of sweat could have a particularly favorable effect on a male person in your life. Of course, you need to know in which phase of the cycle you are before you throw your arms around a certain man right after you come out of the gym. It would be a shame if your own sweat suddenly turned against you.
Scents often hold memories as well. It even seems that this is much stronger than, for example, images or sounds. A scent also evokes emotions. Scent itself changes your mood. I understand that well, because I always become particularly cheerful when I follow my nose towards a good restaurant. How we experience a scent is partly innate and largely learned. Does something you smell bring a positive association? Then there’s a good chance you’ll always find it pleasant to smell.
Also fun to know? Women increasingly associate toxic men with one particular perfume. Endless memes circulate on the worldwide web about the scent Sauvage by Dior. Nothing scientific about it, of course, but entertaining. So the next time you’re at the perfume shop, stick your nose in that bottle, then at least you’ll know which red flag you can quickly let pass. And with which green flag you have a stress-reducing effect during ovulation.
Source: Scientias.nl | Image: Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson in ‘Babygirl.’
