Why is it that humans are not attracted to smells that the human body produces like urine or sweat? Every perfume/ cologne is manufactured specifically to mask natural scents and replace them with something completely different. What is it about a cologne or perfume that makes it “smell good” to us?
In: Biology
The scents people find appealing is actually a really interesting and changeable subject.
Probably the oldest “perfumes” were just pleasant, relatively strong smelling things that masked unpleasant odors from people not bathing a ton, bad sewage management, etc.
The modern scents you’re talking about are a pretty recent turn in tastes – clean, fresh scents. The point is almost to not smell like anything – like you’re freshly washed. Which, admittedly, is a good trick if you can manage it after being at work all day. And they’re rarely going to be offensive to anyone.
But in other places, and in the US not that long ago, musty scents were more popular, at least in certain “flirty” circumstances. And those scents definitely are reminiscent of human body odors. They are “sexy and sensual” because they kinda smell like you’ve already had sex.
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