Scent is such a powerful sensory experience. Anyone with a nose knows this ;) In fact its been scientifically verified that it triggers memory more than any other of our senses. Scent has been used for healing purposes, which we call aromatherapy, for thousands of years. And perfumery, has deep roots aswell. From Ancient Egypt, to China, to India, and Greece, the art of imbibing yourself with the aromatics of flowers, herbs, spices, resins, and wood has been a huge part of the beauty culture all over the world. Apparently scientists have finally recreated Cleopatra’s famous perfume that she wore to seduce Mark Antony. The base of it being olive oil, which is different than how we typically do it today, using alcohol as the base, and has cardamom and cinnamon, and some sweetness in there. Mmm I’d like to smell that. The wise use of aromatics can be a beautiful way to enhance attraction and leave a sensory imprint on someones memory of you. In my experience, the attraction quality that can come with how you smell, is determined by the scents ability to synergize, to work WITH your pheromones. The etymology of pheromones means “transfer of excitement.” These invisible scent molecules that we produce alter the behavior of others, including sexual arousal. They also, on a subconscious level, allow us to determine if someone would be a good mate, a romantic partner to procreate with. There’s incredible information in our pheromones. It’s not uncommon for a woman to get into a relationship while on birth control, and then when they go off of it, they find that they’re no longer attracted to their boo. This is because birth control alters our own production of, and our sensing of pheromones. Thats powerful. And thats also why we don’t want to mask our pheromones through synthetic fragrances, which is what most of perfume today is made of. Instead, if you’re someone who likes to wear a scent, you want to choose wisely. Many botanicals, usually in the form of essential oils, can enhance and harmonize with our bodies own pheromones, our aromatic aphrodisiacs. For example, sandalwood can smell amazing when worn, because of it’s musky similarity to the androgens , sex hormones, that our armpits produce. Our scent reveals more than our sexual compatibility, it also is an indicator of health. If your body odor is putrid or your breath stank, thats a sign of an imbalance. And trying to mask it instead of getting to the root of the stank, is not wise. When deciding what perfume to wear, there are some things you need to be aware of. Most perfumes today, including scented body lotions, hair products, candles, dryer sheets, anything with a scent, are likely made with synthetic fragrances. These synthetic fragrances have been linked to hormone disruption, cancer, asthma, kidney disease as well as neurological disorders. And what many perfume wearers don’t know, is that their smell can be triggering serious headaches or migraines to many. I’ve bursted many bubbles over the years, whether its telling them kindly that they’re gonna have to find a different seat on an airplane, to declining a hug from a friend, because of their perfume or cologne. Because I avoid synthetic fragrance like the plague, I have an immediate repulsory response to them. Because our body is amazingly adaptive, we can become desensitized to these scents if we are chronically exposing ourselves to them. This does not mean that it’s not having a long term biological impact on us, it just means that we don’t have an immediate and noticeable response to it. I’ve heard of folks who went from dousing themselves with these fragrances, to cutting out the exposure to the best of their ability, and then all of a sudden losing a bunch of weight. This is how powerfully these synthetics effect us, on a hormonal level, metabolic level, immuno and neurological level.
What you can use instead are pure essential oils. And you can have a lot of fun with it by experimenting with mixing different scents together. My favorite place for the best botanical blends ever are from Living Libations. The founder of this company, Nadine Artemis, has been studying botanicals and their scents for decades and has created the most amazing formulas using the highest of quality essential oils. Depending on your preference you can find a more masculine scent or a more feminine scent. Enjoy :)