Is there a connection between scent and gender connection?

[suchacutie]

Ok, this might sound odd at first blush, but consider this for a moment:

The sense of smell is the strongest of the senses. A single scent can bring back memories long forgotten and mental images that have long since vanished.

A year ago I was in a hotel for a week and since I now moisturize daily I thought I'd use the hotel-provided moisturizer. It was far from "manly" and that mixture of ginger and orange made me smile at its femininity. After a day at meetings I showered, became a walking ginger-orange, and went to dinner. As a waitress set down some food she turned to me and with a big smile said, "you smell terrific". I thanked her, not sure exactly how to take it at the time.

A couple of nights ago, as I got ready for bed, I used a hand lotion that my wife and I discovered by accident (Sea Spa .... ocean scent) and after I emptied the first bottle a couple of months ago, my wife found more online. We did our normal getting ready for bed and just as the lights went out she said, "...and you smell wonderful...the hand lotion...".

So, two questions come to mind:

1) Are we who are transgendered at some level drawn to more feminine scents (and not just to be worn on women, but to be worn by us!)? Do any of you use male scents as well, manly ones?

2) Are accepting SOs drawn to men who prefer more feminine scents? Are they possibly drawn to both feminine and masculine scents as a way of defining our transgenderism?

tina

[Karren H]

My sense of smell is terrible... But the thought of an accepting feremone is intriguing. Put me down for a case when its discovered.. Olease. :).

[suchacutie]

Karren, I'm a chemist....do you think there might be funding for such a phermone project??

Would that be fun or what???

tina

[KayC]

Okay, here's one for you...one of my favorite scents for men, "Lagerfeld", I bought for my SO...the other day he smelled really good so I commented about it, only it smelled FEMININE, not masculine, and he said it was the scent I bought him! I know different fragrances smell different on different people, but that kind of blew me away! I figured, oh well, it smells good, feminine, masculine, what difference does it make, I like it!

So pray tell, add to your study, do masculine scents somehow smell more feminine on CDers and what is the reason for it?

[Lorileah]

When I find a "male" scent that isn't cloying and overtly musky, they discontinue it. Years ago I had a "men's Chanel" that my wife loved on me. It was a good compromise when I did wear scents for NOT wearing Brut or English Leather that were popular at the time (Everytime I smell those I thing gold chains, open front shirts and wiggling eyebrows.)

I do wear women's scents now when I wear a scent (again, it has to be subtle and not overpowering arriving 10 minutes before you do) and I lean to light flowery scents. Quiet frequently I get compliments but I think most people assume it is soap or lotion smell.

There are a pheromone scents out there already. But as I stated in another thread, they are not the sexual pheromones (no one wants to smell like someone's crotch.) but are more the pheromones that relax you and make you feel happy. In veterinary medicine we have used these for years (Feliway and DAP). The pheromones that everyone associates with sexual attraction would smell like...well deer attractant. Any hunter out there would tell you that it isn't pretty. You want these pheromones? Don't shower.

[Kate Simmons]

I don't think it makes much difference fragrance wise. The pheromones, on the other hand, are more subtle and detected on an entirely different level.:)

[DonnaT]

I don't even look for men's scents now. I think the last one I wore was Stetson, since my wife bought it for me.

I now choose to wear perfume, use ladies deodorant, scented hand lotion on occasion, and scented a shampoo/conditioner.

My mom loved the aroma of the perfume, and she started wearing it.

I tried a different perfume recently, which I had bought for my wife, and since it had a different aroma when I wore it compared to when she wears it, she didn't recognize it as hers, and gave me a nice compliment.

Had she known it was a perfume, she'd never have offered the compliment, even though she liked it.

[Dana Lane]

I wear only perfume and women's deodorant. I use skin products for keeping my skin in the best shape I can and don't focus on how it smells.


I don't think it makes much difference fragrance wise. The pheromones, on the other hand, are more subtle and detected on an entirely different level.:)

I 'think' I can actually smell pheromones on guys now. After my hormones kicked in I could smell this totally new smell on guys. Even guys who just showered recently. It is kind of a musky odor that resembles a sweat smell but it is different. Can anyone else smell this? Is it pheromones?

[Stitch]

I 'think' I can actually smell pheromones on guys now. After my hormones kicked in I could smell this totally new smell on guys. Even guys who just showered recently. It is kind of a musky odor that resembles a sweat smell but it is different. Can anyone else smell this? Is it pheromones?

I don't know if its pheromones, but I can definitely smell what your talking about. I've always assumed that just what men smell like when they aren't covered in a days amount of sweat and well the "smells of life" so to speak. I rather like it. I love the smell of my partner before he ruins it with some random man deodorant.

I personally don't bother with perfumes. The stuff that I wash myself in always leaves me with a nice fragrance. Especially my hair, that always smells great if I do say so myself.

Tragically my partner has very little sense of smell, so he can't smell me. :sad: Still I suppose you can't miss what you've never had.

[giuseppina]

...
So pray tell, add to your study, do masculine scents somehow smell more feminine on CDers and what is the reason for it?
Can't answer the first question.

The answer to the second is everyone's body chemistry reacts in a unique way to every fragrance. It may produce an attractive scent, an unattractive scent, or something in between the two.

What works with person A may not work so well with person B. Everyone is different.

[Kristen Kelly]

Here's a subject I've had plenty of experence with. I worked for Revlon for 13 years and an Independent Cosmetic Company for 19 years most of the time with perfumes and scents. The things I wear are not always by choice, they dump on me, or sprayed on me, I have to reach into a tank of perfume to retrieve a part. When I shower I become a room freshener. Have had a police officer ask if I was burning incense at a traffic stop when he smelled my work shoes in the trunk. Women comment often that I smell great, and ask what I am wearing. I have met a few people I have dated that later have said they were attracted to me for how I smelled.......And yes I do get free samples, but it's always something we don't make that I love more