What type of man would wear a delicate floral perfume? Apparently, one that wants to increase his testosterone levels. According to a recent study, men who were exposed to a floral scent saw their testosterone go up, while a musk scent made testosterone drop. The opposite was true in women: the floral scent we think of as feminine made chick-testosterone (and probably arousal) drop, while musk boosted it.

The problem here is that perfume is used for two different things. People wear perfume to project a sexual persona to others. But they end up inhaling the perfume and projecting that persona on themselves, negatively changing their own state. On a psychological level, they may claim that scent as their own. But on a primal, biological level, the body responds to it as other.

So most men get aroused by a floral scent that is instinctively female, and their alpha-dog status appears to be biologically depressed by a perfume which the body interprets as another, more powerfully scented male. Oops.

Aphrodite's ideal would be to inhale the scent that is associated with the opposite gender to increase your own arousal, while at the same time emitting a scent of your own gender that only others could smell. (This assumes you are heterosexual. If not, please think this through and share the results with us).

Not sure how this could be done - maybe men should soak in ylang-ylang scented water at night and sleep on a lavender pillow, have a neutral scent at work, and only use musk when they are going to a party or club (applying it away from one's own nose). Maybe women should enjoy musky masculine scents in their bubble bath, and then spritz to imitate a lotus blossom only when they go hunting for Mr. Right.

The study also found that when either gender wore any perfume, cortisol (a stress hormone) decreased. This is not surprising - many studies have previously shown this effect.

Note of Caution: Many of the synthetic nitro-musks used in perfumes appear to be endocrine disruptors that can throw a monkey wrench into the body's sexual chemistry.

External Links

• The effects of odor on cortisol and testosterone in healthy adults.