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Perfumes
and the Women Who Love Them
by:
Jim Jin
If it is
Valentine’s Day, then many
men resort to flowers or
candy to show the women in
their lives just how much
they really care. For the
bigger holidays such as
birthdays or Christmas, men
typically reach a bit deeper
into their pockets for the
larger ticket items such as
jewelry or perfume. But the
reason why so much perfume
is sold in any given year
has far more to do with
hormones and the feelings
created by certain scents
than by the gift-giving
rationale of men.
Perfumes,
colognes, and scented oils
have been part of human
civilization since the time
of the ancient Egyptians and
beyond. Jars and vases
filled with exotic
fragrances have also been
found in ancient Chinese
burial sites. In fact, the
use of perfumes has no exact
starting date as its exact
history is unknown. All that
is truly known is that women
and men have been using
cologne and perfume to
enhance their own scent for
thousands of years will
continue to do so for the
foreseeable future.
In any given
year, 66% of men and 75% of
women find themselves buying
cologne or perfume during
the course of a year.
Researchers believe that
part of the reason why women
love receiving perfume (and
also when men love giving
perfume as a gift) is due to
pheromones. Pheromones are
hormones thought to
stimulate sexual appetite or
interest and they are
triggered by scent.
So do women
love perfume because it
makes them want to have sex?
No, actually the scent has a
more dramatic effect upon
men. While the effect is
less pronounced in women,
certain colognes worn by men
have been known to produce a
similar desire in women.
Although a link between the
scent of perfume and
increased sexual desire has
been found, researchers do
not believe that it explains
the desire to wear perfume
on a daily basis.
In fact,
most scientists believe that
human pheromones and their
impact upon our behavior has
decreased over the years as
we have become more advanced
and civilized. While most
scientists conclude that
scent once played a rather
large part in human mating
habits, they believe that it
has relatively little to do
with sexual attraction in
this day and age.
So then…why
do women love perfume so
much and why is it such a
popular gift during the
holidays? It actually seems
to be due to the simple
feeling created by wearing
any fragrance that one finds
appealing. In fact, the
feeling created by a woman
wearing perfume is similar
to that made by a candle
used for aromatherapy. It is
soothing, subtle, and
slightly romantic but not
really sexual in nature.
Of course,
it does not really matter
why precisely a woman loves
wearing perfume. All that is
truly important is that she
does love to smell great and
the attention she receives
when wearing her favorite
perfume. In time, the
perfume and the scent of her
own body will combine into a
singular aroma that will
literally become her own
scent.
As the sense
of smell can recall the most
vivid of memories, it is
this unique scent of a woman
combined with her perfume
that people tend to remember
most when thinking of that
person. Men will often buy
the same perfume for a woman
even years after she has
ceased using it because it
is the scent they have come
to identify with that woman.
And yet,
women do move on to new
perfumes and always seem to
be on the search for a new
scent to adorn their bodies.
Of course, it is not
surprising for some higher
end perfumes to cost $100’s
of dollars per bottle which
is why a large number of
women and men find
themselves shopping for
their favorite brands
online. The Internet can
also be a great place to
find deals on new perfumes
and fragrances as most
websites generally offer a
much greater selection than
traditional stores.
The love of
perfume by both men and
women may be completely
instinctual and somehow
related to sexuality.
However, the fact is that
perfume just plain smells
great and therefore puts us
in a good mood. Who doesn’t
like something that smells
good—be it a pot roast or a
garden lily? Of course, pot
roast has a tendency to make
us hungry…so what does the
smell of fine perfume make
us? There has to be a really
good reason why perfume is
so popular, now doesn’t
there?? |
