By Andrew MacDougall
It turns out we pick our perfume not only for its fragrance but for how it will interact with our underlying body odour, according to a leading scientist.
Dr. Craig Roberts from Stirling University explains that odour is critical in coordinating a variety of behaviours in anmals and whilst we tend t0 think that information in human odour doesn’t really affect human behavior, It actually does.
Speaking at a Fragrance Forum on “Body odor in biological perspective”, Roberts says: “Human body odor contains information which enables us to recognize other individuals and may be used in choosing our sexual partners.” Recognizing body odour In this biolological perspective has direct implications for
the use of fragrances, he adds.
The doctor presented the way in which humans pick partners with different MHC genes, exploring why we wear perfumes if odour carries such strong preference messages.
Preferred fragrance
Roberts explains that it was actually the introduction of clothing and cooking that meant that our odour became unpleasant, initiating the trend of wearing perfumes, according to previous research.
“Fragrances might not simply mask body odour, but rather complement it, or even enhance the information contained within it.”
“We found that when someone’s body odour is combined with their preferred fragrance, the resulting blend is more pleasant to other people than the same odour combined with an arbitrarily chosen fragrance,” he states. “This suggests that choice of a fragrance is influenced not only by the properties of the fragrance itself, but also by how it will interact with that person’s underlying odor.”
This logic oould suggest that we are good at selecting perfumes for ourselves but not for our partners, as we choose fragrances that match our body odour, says Dr Roberts.
Research shows that our natural smell interacts with the perfume we wear and that these mingled scents affect potential sexual partners.
“One implication is that fragrances might not simply mask body odour, but rather complement it, or even enhance the information contained within it. Another is that this interaction could be important in
understanding how consumers choose perfumes,” concludes Dr. Roberts.
