- Scientists have found spraying nice smells can increase pulling power
- Female noses have become increasingly attracted to the scents in them
- The effects were only found to be applicable to less masculine men
Mario Ledwith for the Daily Mail
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As marketing gimmicks go, it could hardly have seemed more unbelievable.
With just one spray of a deodorant can a scrawny and unassuming man is transformed into a sex god who is chased by flocks of beautiful women within seconds.
But rather than being the stuff of make-believe, scientists have discovered that the ‘Lynx effect’ could in fact be making Mr Normal significantly more attractive to the opposite sex.
A study found that men who are not blessed with good looks can significantly make up for their lack of sex appeal by using perfumed deodorants.
With just one spray of a deodorant can a scrawny and unassuming man is transformed into a sex god who is chased by flocks of beautiful women within seconds
Males lacking strong jawlines and chiselled cheekbones are naturally at a disadvantage in the mating game because they emit less sexual hormones so are not as appealing to potential suitors.
But female noses have become increasingly attracted to some of the scents contained within deodorants meaning they can find less fetching men just as masculine.
The study will come as a pleasant surprise for Unilever, the company behind the long-running ‘Lynx effect’ advertising campaign for its range of deodorants.
Yet researchers found that the effects are the same for a wide range of deodorants and only applicable to less masculine men.
For it found that fragrances did nothing to increase the desirability of men who are already blessed with good looks because they already smell good to potential partners.
Researchers found that deodorants also led to an increase in perceptions of femininity in women, but the effects are not as intense because men are much less sensitive to smell.
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The study, which was carried out by Dr Caroline Allen for the University of Stirling, concluded that men are able to use deodorants to ‘artificially raise their game’.
The study collected samples from 40 male and female ‘odour donors’ aged between 18 and 33, who wore cotton pads strapped to their armpits.
Each donor gave a sample when they were wearing no underarm fragrance and another when they were wearing their usual deodorant or anti-perspirant.
Photographs were also taken of each of their faces, which were then presented to a panel of 275 ‘odour and face raters’.
The volunteers were then tasked rating the masculinity or femininity of the sample body smells and pictures of faces.
Men deemed to be attractive were found to have a masculine smelling odour without the use of a fragrance.
However, less attractive men were found to have a less appealing smell until they applied a deodorant.
While body odour is often viewed as a sign of poor hygiene in modern cultures, the paper describes how people unknowingly process natural smells to detect important clues about a person.
Body odour is often viewed as a sign of poor hygiene in modern cultures (file image)
Research shows how scents help people choose sexual partners and garner information about a person’s health, diet and genetic compatibility can also be gathered.
It is also suggested that natural smells can give clues about somebody’s emotional state and when a female partner is more fertile.
But the widespread use of deodorant and perfume in western countries to mask natural smells, prompted the researchers to examine whether humans are attracted to these artificial scents.
Dr Allen said: ‘Our study found that when women apply a deodorant it does increase their rated body odour femininity, as would be expected.
‘Though it seems as though something else is at play when it comes to male body odour and male deodorants.
‘Only those men who were rated low in masculinity to start with showed a significant increase after applying their deodorants, and the men who were highly masculine initially showed no increase after deodorant application.’
She added: ‘Men are able to level the playing field by making themselves comparable, at least as far as odour is concerned, to more masculine men.’
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