February 3rd, “You stink me!” About stinky boots, smells and perfumes

Snapshots, short episodes in the media, fleeting impressions – and everything just rushes by? “That too” shows the scripts (slightly revised) broadcasts from public and private broadcasting. Some were even written specifically for Heaven On Air. True to the motto: just pause for a moment.

February 3rd, “You stink me!” About stinky boots, smells and perfumes

There are worse things! Nevertheless, I don’t find the idea of ​​maybe having been there to be desirable. What is it about? Scientists held men’s shirts under the noses of young women for a scientific study. And that literally. On the basis of the smell, the women should explain whether they consider the respective shirt wearer to be particularly attractive or less attractive. Incidentally, the shirts didn’t have to stink properly. There were also a few “candidates” who had only been worn for a few hours without physical strain. You are probably familiar with such surveys, in which you should rate something in different grades, from journals and magazines. The result of the “sniff test” was surprising: most women found a subtle note of men’s sweat to be particularly “attractive”, to put it that way. Instead of a “sniff test”, the “munch test” shot through my head. I do not know whether there was at least an equivalent in which men were supposed to evaluate the smells of women. Either way: I’m kind of happy that I didn’t have to face this smell test.

Why the whole thing? Science provides facts: every person has an individual smell, similar to a fingerprint. This odor is distributed over the whole body via odor molecules. But of course there are areas where the smell is particularly intense. Anyone who has ever been sniffed by a strange dog knows that. However, the smelling tools of most modern humans are significantly stunted compared to dogs. This is why it is said that aromatherapy is most effective when the fragrance is dosed in such a way that it is no longer consciously perceived. Smell perception in an area that should rather be assigned to the subconscious.

It also seems to be proven that if the smells of two people differ particularly strongly within certain parameters, they both get along better. So hearts beat high when two meet who smell completely different. Because scent molecules can ultimately be produced by the body’s own chemical plant, it certainly has a deeper meaning when you say: It is possibly because of the smell when two people say of each other: the chemistry is right between us!
Our grandparents were already familiar with this phenomenon. Without any scientific research, they sensed the facts and knew exactly what it means to have the “right nose”. And they were also very aware of what it meant to say about someone: “I can smell him good!” Of course, there is also the opposite, i.e. that you can’t smell someone at all. In the worst case, you might say: “It stinks!”
The chemistry is right, having the right nose to say about someone, I can smell them well or not, they stink: Our language can be so refreshingly clear! Especially when it expresses things that are part of everyday life for our ancestors, but which we have long lost and have to rediscover through scientific research.

Not for nothing have whole books been written about smells in the past. Patrick Süskind’s “Perfume” is one of the younger ones. It impressively depicts the effects of artificially produced fragrances, with which one can even manipulate people and gain power over them. Especially when you use them in a targeted manner, but the smelling person is not even aware of them.
That inevitably leads me back to the ancient Romans: They spent a lot of time in their bathhouses, but they didn’t wash themselves with soap, as in today’s sense. Instead, the Romans scraped their skin with a piece of metal and then rubbed the body with fragrant oil. Mixtures of sweat, dirt and oil that came from gladiators are said to have been very popular with female fans as nourishing face creams. From today’s point of view, this seems a bit more violent than the already mentioned “Müffeltest”. And if you want to go on with the whole story: Just imagine, well-known footballers like Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi or pop stars like Lade Gaga and Rihanna would launch fragrance lines in which their sweat, dirt … .
From the Romans to the Middle Ages: They did take care of things there

personal cleanliness. The Roman bathhouses celebrated something like a renaissance – only here not exclusively for reasons of cleanliness. While the Roman men used to discuss and conclude business in the bathhouses, men and women splashed around in the same rooms in the bathhouses of the Middle Ages, which brought bathhouses the well-justified reputation of being a special kind of entertainment place … Is it a curiosity History that the plague of all things, which was clearly a pandemic for the time, put an end to it all? As far as smell is concerned, oh-so-civilized Europe followed the principle: If everyone stinks, your own smell is no longer noticeable.
By the 18th century at the latest, bathing was again very popular, at least in certain circles. Napoleon and his wife Josephine are said to have bathed more often than today’s dermatologist – you know: the protective acid mantle of the skin and such … – is dear, namely every day. Nevertheless, it is narrated that Napoleon instructed his wife not to wash before returning from a battle. He wants to smell it how it smells. So there it is again, the individual smell that binds people together. That there is a tradition somewhere, according to which Napoleon directed this wish not to his wife but to a mistress, is probably due to the turmoil of history …

It’s actually a shame that we live in a time when individual smells have long since landed on the sidelines. The average consumer is not able to bid in an auction on “Imperial Majesty” by Clive Christian. Unless he would trade in his laboriously saved home for it. So, like most people who surround themselves with scents other than their own, he uses what Lancôme, Prada, Gucci, Bvlgari, Boss and Dolce & Gabanna offer in a price range that is affordable for mere mortals. And thus produce for hundreds of thousands, if not millions. Conclusion: We all smell the same, at least more or less. Some to Prada, others to Boss. And so on. With the body sprays, deodorants and perfumes we cover our individual smells, that is, what clearly distinguishes me from a competitor in the woo. When Chanel No. 5 attracts, maybe even releases the bonding hormone oxytocin, then that no longer means bonding to a single person. No other perfume in the world is as individual as the individual body odor, not even “Imperial Majesty”. I would really be interested in an investigation into whether relationships nowadays may also diverge faster because the artificially applied body odor is more interchangeable than the individual one.
But there has long been a countermovement: namely, the “sniff test” mentioned at the beginning. This can be used to artificially create fragrances that as many people as possible are attracted to.

Ultimately, one more thought is missing: if we want others to be able to smell us good, a perfume can certainly help in the short term. In the long term, however, only one thing helps: behave in such a way in everyday life that others don’t label you as stinky boots. There is no perfume in the world that can help.

Snapshots, short episodes in the media, fleeting personal impressions – time to pause. February 3rd, “You stink me!” About stinky boots, smells and perfumes