Why Would Someone Intentionally Have Body Odor?

It may sound strange, but some people attempt to use body odor, or chemicals that smell like body odor, as an attractant. Whether the strategy works is still undetermined.

Pheromone Products

Some colognes, marketed for the purpose of dating and attraction, contain human pheromones. Over-applying these products can cause odors that resemble body odor.

Androstenone

Androstenone appears in many pheromone cologne products on the market. Humans, especially men, naturally secrete this pheremone in sweat. In large amounts, androstenone smells like sweat or urine, according to Pherolibrary.

Sensitivity

Only some people can detect androstenone by smell, according to Knecht et al. in Behavioral Neuroscience, 2003. A wearer who cannot detect pheromones may over-apply a pheromone cologne, which others might interpret as unpleasant body odor.

Body Odor from Sweat

Because natural pheromones exist in human sweat, natural sweat odor may be used as an attractant. However, odor-causing bacteria that live on human skin and feed on the natural chemicals in sweat may replace the "clean sweaty smell" with a less savory body odor scent.

Effects

Danielle Marck at Bryn Mawr suggests in a 2006 paper that women can show preferences for particular body odors and pheromone profiles. Whether a person can control his or her scent for the purpose of dating remains debatable.

References

• Pherolibrary: Androstenone
• Knecht M., et al, Behavioral Neuroscience, 2003: Assessment of olfactory function and androstenone odor thresholds in humans with or without functional occlusion of the vomeronasal duct.
• Marck, Bryn Mawr, 2006: Finding the Perfect Mate: Male Pheromones and Female Attraction