This was the study that found men susceptible to the scent of doughnuts mingled with licorice. For women, first place for most arousing was a tie between baby powder and the combination of Good & Plenty candy with cucumber. Coming in second was a combination of Good & Plenty and banana nut bread.
— From A Viagra Alternative to Serve by Candlelight at the New York Times. Thanks to Jessica for the link!
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Well, I hate to rain on their parade (actually, I don’t mind a bit, I was just trying to be polite) But they have somehow magically hit upon three of the most annoying or vomitrocious scents I can imagine…..I hate the smell of baby powder!! Good & Plenty candy leaves me way cold and the smell of cucumber is quite nauseating after 5 minutes!
As far as I can tell Good & Plenty candy is cheap, plasticky licorice….so why differentiate between the men’s and women’s? Now the scent of donuts….that does appeal. But sorry, it’s not activating my libido…..it’s activating my salivary glands!
vomitrocious will go nicely with my word vomitaceous!
I though I was gonna be sick reading some of those scents… I’m really tired though and the thought of most things are making me feel ill LOL
I’m always up for a donuts though
I love black licorice, personally. A black licorice doughnut sounds good right now. Skip the cucumber.
I was thinking the same thing. Baby powder makes me gag and I can’t stand licorice. And it seems like a lot of people don’t like licorice, so the results are surprising. Now, the donut – that’s fine by me.
Hm, I find donuts nauseating…too much grease + lots of sugar. Yuk. I don’t like to eat black licorice, but I do like the smell, and I like licorice tea. There’s just something floury about the candy that ruins it for me.
I bet your husband loves that weird Nordic “salmiak” licorice too, eh? I actually have never been a huge licorice fan but have grown to enjoy it (regular, not salmiak) once in awhile. It’s like nothing else.
Ah yes, the one made with toilet bowl cleaner chemicals. Yes, he does, as does the 5 yr old. It’s one of only a tiny handful of items from the homeland he can’t find locally, so MIL always brings a bunch when she visits.
My friend say licorice is like the calves liver of candy – you either really like it or really don’t. I have eaten black licorice all my life.
I’m with Daisy…. ewww.
Judging by that, Etro Anice should be a mega-seller. I know my 5 yr old loves it. As for me…I’ll take the banana bread, thanks; just not to wear. Yum.
If Etro Anice smelled like Good & Plenty for more than 5 minutes, I’d have bought it!
Ha – I bought it for those five minutes! When I was a kid, I was occasionally unable to fall asleep so I would get up and always find my night-owl Dad watching TV. He’d often give me some black licorice and we’d usually end up watching some ridiculous made-for-TV movie. As a kid, I never got to spend as much time as I wanted with my Dad, so now the smell of licorice makes me very happy. But I don’t think this is the kind of reaction the marketers are looking for
Aw, how sweet!
My inner 5 year old does, too! In fact, Etro Anice is high on my wishlist.
Every single blog or BN discussion about most hated aromas invariably end up in everyone agreeing on the vileness of licorice/aniseed though. Suits me fine: in food as well as in scent, licorice and aniseed are a safe bet. More for me!
Nobody mentioned bacon?
Not this time!
Bath and Body Works pretty much killed any love I had for “cucumber” as a fragrance goes, as did the subsequent immitations that blew up afterward. Fresh cucumber smells wonderful in that vegetal way, but I can’t stand fake cucumber. Licorice doesn’t do anything for me, either. I don’t mind it in Lolita Lempicka, but that’s about as much as I can stand. And doughnuts? I think Pink Sugar covered that fairly well. If I want sweet that makes my tummy feel all fluttery, it’s SDV or Tihota for me. I stopped wearing anything that smelled like baby powder as soon as I was allowed to pick my own deodorant, and when I do buy baby powder for my toddler, I buy the lavender and chamomile scented variety. It’s fairly safe to say that a combination of these would not arouse anything in me but a desire to move away from the source of the aroma.
Ah well. Obviously no perfumistas in this study.
Oh. Sigh. I’m always in favor of academic studies and all kinds of arcane science, but I do wish they’d stop trying to measure THIS kind of stuff.
And I have to add that a glass of red wine and some dark chocolate — by myself — passes just fine for “romance” for me these days. No regret.
Wholeheartedly agree: save the research $ for something else.
Red wine, yes; champagne, yes. The effect of these scents on me ranges from annoying (baby powder– gaggy sweet) to nauseating (licorice– VILE).
I don’t think they tested alcohol…they should have!
HdP’s Sexy Angelic kinda fits the bill with the donuts and licorice scent. I personally love it! I only wish it had better throw and longevity.
Actually, come to think of it, maybe it’s a good thing it doesn’t if that study is really true. My husband might not appreciate me having such tempting sillage other men could smell! LOL
Ha
Are there any doughnut -scented perfumes? I’d like to smell that…but not if it smells like a maple bar, no maple please!
There *must* be, but can’t think of any offhand. Lots of cake ones though!