Flirting is an art that involves the five senses and that goes beyond pleasing the eye. The latest research has found that the tone of voice stimulates sexual desire, as do certain fragrances, specifically pumpkin pie and lavender for men, and talcum powder for women.
In this sense, the influence of smells on human courtship was well known, but it was believed to be linked to the emotional evaluation of the brain. A new study has shown that a pleasant smell directly modifies the way we perceive the facial features of another person, making them more attractive to our eyes.
Scented products have been used for centuries to enhance personal appearance, and in light of the results of this work, they do so literally. The research, published in the journal PLoS ONE , reveals the potential of scent to alter the perception of facial beauty. In the experiment, 18 adult participants, two-thirds of whom were female, were asked to rate the attractiveness and age of eight female faces through the display of photographs. Simultaneously, the researchers released fish oil and rose oil, and found that the pleasantness of the smell had a direct influence on the rating of the attractiveness of the faces, but not on the estimation of age .
According to the authors, the finding shows that olfactory and visual gratification are integrated into the same emotional evaluation , which suggests that the neural processing of both occurs in the same brain region.
