I have a keen sense of smell. I smell things that other people apparently can’t. If I had a dollar for every time I asked someone, “What is that smell?”, I would have a hundred dollars.
Last weekend I was making my way towards a hotel entrance for a work event. A security guard was sitting just out front in his golf cart staring off into space. As I walked past him, his scent followed me for about 5 feet or so before I stopped in my tracks and thought wow! He smells amazing! The man was handsome, but I didn’t pay it too much attention until his scent hit me.
For a brief moment, I allowed myself to indulge, to take in his scent, and to imagine our future together, children and all.
After snapping back to reality, I thought to myself, wow… It’s been a long time since I’ve encountered a man who actually smells good! Most men either smell like nothing or like 3-day-old sweat. So I have to wonder, why aren’t the men smelling good anymore?
It seems to me that everything and everyone is operating in extremes. We went through a period where men were living in shrouds of Axe Body Spray. I’ll admit, it was too much! People surely complained, arguing that wearing that much perfume in cubicle-less co-working spaces was a health hazard. We became more attuned to the feelings and nostril sensitivities of others. Hell, even at dance events, they ask you not to wear anything that smells too strong, but at least wear deodorant, cause no one wants to smell B.O. either.
It seems the men have gotten the memo, though! Or perhaps at the conception of the COVID era and working from home, smelling like anything became less and less important.
But science will tell you that a man who smells good can trigger something in a woman’s brain that may lead to questionable decisions on her part. A woman is more likely to approach you and compliment you if she thinks you smell good.
A man who smells good sends a message that he is clean and confident. If a man also looks clean while smelling amazing, it can enhance his overall appeal. I’m starting to wonder, if maybe the root cause of the so-called male loneliness epidemic is because the men cared less about grooming themselves. If the men are too down on themselves and depressed to care, they spend less time grooming. Men and women both experience this, but I think women are more conscious of the social need to be well maintained in order to find a mate. Simple things like brushing their teeth, getting a haircut, shaving, bathing, wearing clean clothes, splashing on a little something that smells nice, and then of course, actually leaving their homes, might just be enough to turn the tide in all our favor. I mean there still is the one little caveat of men needing to stop listening to podcast bros and actually do some self healing/work/reflection/something…
I’ve encountered so many people in the last six months while traveling all over the country for work, in airports, hotels, and conventions. My keen nose can pick up even the slightest hint of something icky as soon as I walk through a door. How can it be, that none of the men are smelling like anything!? I smell women and their light lotion scents and perfumes all the time, but the men are suspiciously scentless.
Ask any woman, and she’ll tell you just how much she loves a man who smells good. And heaven forbid that woman loves you to death, she’s gonna want to bury her face in your armpit. She’s gonna steal all your t-shirts and hoodies that smell like you. The scent of your cologne or deodorant mixed with your natural scent will send a woman into a tizzy, we are just animals after all.
