Its no secret that Scent and Romance are intertwined. Take Valentines Day for example, the industry makes billions of dollars by promoting scent for your loved ones. So where did the idea that something we smell can intensify passion and connection come from?
Looking to the natural world can provide some answers. Animals secrete pheromones essential for mating and attraction. These secretions have been used by perfumers for hundreds of years, like that of the Musk Deer.
But what about in Humans? Does our body odor have any role in attraction? There is so much continued research in this area. Some scientists say that women have a superior sense of smell and if not on birth control (the pill) they can find a suitable partner using their nose. Strong body odors can be a warning to woman that may indicate disease and therefore be unfit as a suitable mate and future fathering of your children. Interesting!
Scent and smell is an extremely important sense. According to an article in Psychology Today, Laboratory researchers exploring human olfaction have found that:
- A faint trace of lemon significantly increases people's perception of their own health.
- Lavender incense contributes to a pleasant mood—but it lowers volunteers' mathematical abilities.
- A whiff of lavender and eucalyptus increases people's respiratory rate and alertness.
- The scent of phenethyl alcohol (a constituent of rose oil) reduces blood pressure.
Its hard to deny the fact that scent can change our mood, it can invoke memory. It plays a part in keeping us safe, sensing dangers and also helps us taste food. More and more research is being done to understand one of our most complicated senses.
So next time you are choosing a scent for yourself or for a loved one, remember our olfactory sense is still so unknown and that scent can change with the biochemistry of ones skin. It can attract or detract. Oh how I appreciate the nose!!