The grooming product scientifically proven to make you more attractive

According to science, this is the one grooming product you should never forgo...

It’s a part of many men’s morning routines, uncapping a bottle of aftershave and splashing or spritzing on some scent, but are there reasons we wear cologne beyond smelling nice?

The science of scents is a fine art, an olfactory operation that must be brewed and balanced with precision to ensure that you come up smelling of roses – or leather, or sandalwood…

This may seem an obvious place to start, and it’s not the most scientific point, but wearing a scent can mask other, more unpleasant smells that may be lingering about your person.

Smell is infamously one of the most common mood killers on a date

Smell is infamously one of the most common mood killers on a date, so daubing yourself in aftershave is frequently used as a way to eliminate the possibility of offending your partner’s nose. As a result, you ensure you smell nice, and this can make you appear more attractive.

Last year, a study from the University of Liverpool concluded that certain scents can actually improve the self-confidence of the wearer.

We already knew that aftershave could affect the wearer’s mood, but the study, that was published in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science, pushed this one step further and discovered that when a man changes his body odour it can alter his self-confidence to such an extent that it also changes how attractive women find him.

Pheromones are highly contested within the scientific community

Pheromones are highly contested within the scientific community. Some think them elusive and almost magical substances that the body exudes when mating – and others firmly believe they don’t exist.

However, research has shown that certain chemicals, such as androstadienone, promote activity in parts of the female brain wired for sexual activity. Another pheromone, hedione, is associated with emotions and motivation, and is an active ingredient in Dior’s Eau Sauvage – worn famously by Steve McQueen.

Hedione has also been found to activate a specific area of the hypothalamus in women which is known to promote sexual responsiveness by flooding the body with sex hormones – it’s a scientifically proven aphrodisiac.

Believe it or not, even though we cover ourselves in these colognes and perfumes every day, partners are still only attracted to our natural scents. It is, in fact, the aftershaves that we wear that boost, fortify and accentuate our natural smells and that is what makes us smell attractive.

Think of cologne as a supercharger for your natural scent – but beware: not all aftershaves will do you favours. Some will clash and react to create dull or even unpleasant scents. And it’s the same with women – rather than looking to match scents with a partner, they’re looking for something that will compliment their own.

It sounds far-fetched, but in a study by Monell Chemical Senses Centre, researchers discovered that nice smells did actually boost perceptions of physical attractiveness.

18 young adults were shown pictures of female faces – all of different ages – whilst being simultaneously exposed to one of five different odours, ranging from fish oil to rose. Despite the pictures remaining the same, participants consistently and markedly guessed that the women in the pictures were older when exposed to the unpleasant smells.

So, although you hopefully don’t smell like fish oil, maybe you should think twice before deciding to skimp on the aftershave…

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