Have you ever walked by someone that smelled so good that you just HAD to stop and ask yourself if it’s even possible to smell that good? Have you ever been weirdly attracted to someone just because of their scent? Um, I know I have. Now, I’m not just talking cologne or perfume smells here; I’m talking about people’s natural scent, with or without all the extra scents. Even the guys that weren’t the most attractive suddenly became 10x more good looking because of how they smelled. That always made me think…why is it that I’m so attracted to smells? Why does a smell change the way I see a person?
According to the article linked, pheromones are the answer to my questions. The pheromones people release through their glands are really what link smell to attraction. When you walk by someone and their scent hits your nose… a chemical reaction occurs that sends signals to the brain that can either attract or remind you of something. There have been various studies that show that smell can lead to sexual desire and especially sexual attraction. From three glands we possess in our bodies: sebaceous, sweat, and apocrine glands…the one most linked to attraction is the apocrine gland. Apocrine glands are known to release some steroids, such as Androsterone, that give off odor which is what results in the sexual behaviors/attractions. I’ve heard also that men are most attracted to women when they are menstruating. This is actually really weird and hard to believe which is why I HAD to look it up. It’s true. There have been studies that show that this is true. Men can smell whether a woman is menstruating or not (subconsciously, of course) and it is seen that when the men smelled the scent of the woman on her period, they were more sexually attracted.
I really found this all so interesting, considering girls would never think that during their “time of the month” they were found to be more attractive to guys. Also very interesting to know that when you’re around someone that smells a certain way you can easily be sexually attracted to them regardless of their physical attractiveness and you don’t even realize it.
Reference Sites:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199603/the-smell-love
http://www.smart-publications.com/articles/human-pheromones-the-science-behind-the-scent-of-attraction
http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/content/15/4/579.full
The most interesting thing I found about this post is the fact the men are attracted to the scent a women produces while it is her “time of the month”. I never would have thought that our smell receptors are sensitive enough to pick up on something like that, but from an evolutionary standpoint it does make sense. Men want to have a partner that is able to reproduce and what other way is better to detect that than to be able to smell when a women is menstruating. This post will make me think twice about why a girl I passed smelled so damn good. It might be something more than just the perfume she is wearing.