Stop and smell the roses. Not just because you need a break and it’s a nice way to pass a minute or two. It just might help you get into the mood for sex. Scent really can have a profound affect on awakening your sensuality. Here’s the how and why.
As far back as 1703, scientists were aware of an organ in the nasal cavity of mammals known as the vomeronasal organ or VNO. This organ is used to detect pheromones and was thought to be an evolutionary leftover in humans.
Using scent for romance and seduction is nothing new. In ancient Egypt and Rome, bathing with essential oils was part of the preparation ritual for lovemaking. Today, the perfume industry is a multibillion dollar business.
Your Scent Cache
You have a cache of “scent memory” which has the power to trigger and pull you through a past event, eliciting the same guttural emotional response.
The slightest whiff of patchouli instantly throws me back twenty years to a turbulent and extremely steamy university fling. Eternity for Men coming off the warm skin of a man’s neck is enough to send my libido through the roof.
Here are some things we know are scientifically true.
- No two people smell the same odor the same way.
- According to neurophysiologist, Robert Bonkowski, a person never experiences one smell the same way twice.
- Your ability to detect odors changes daily and depends on your physiological condition.
- You have the ability to distinguish 10,000 individual scents.
For many years, scientists have been studying why scent combined with pheromones has the effect it does on human arousal. Neurologist Alan Hirsch studied the effects of 30 different scents on the state of arousal of 31 men (measured by their penile blood flow). Although all the scents produced some level of arousal, the winner was a combination of lavender and pumpkin pie, producing a 40 percent increase in arousal. Hirsch found women preferred baby powder and a combination of Good and Plenty licorice candy with cucumber.
Where the libido line gets fuzzy is when a couple has been going through tough sexual times. Smelling something, even if it is highly arousing, isn’t going to turn that couple’s sexual experience around any time soon.
On the flip side, I am forever pontificating that in our go-go-go society, we become floating heads leaving our bodies numb. When it comes time to jump in the sack, our minds are going ninety milesan hour and our bodies miss out on a whole lot of pleasure.
Perhaps the benefit of smelly products like perfume or a scented candle reminds us to stay in our bodies. It is a nice pick-me-up in the middle of a crazy day. It sets a healthy intention that our body is sexual and should enjoy the sexual experience instead of going from zero to orgasm in sixty seconds.
Final assessment: why scent works to increase your libido is a little fact and a little hocus-pocus. If it gets YOU jacked up and good to go, that’s all that really matters.