Or rather, what is it about that scent? A friend of mine called me up to dissect her date with a guy she'd recently met and, sadly, the date was a bust. However, she did come away with two consolations. The first of which was spending a couple hours with his cat (she is a die hard cat fan who has been forced to leave her cat with her parents until she can locate another apartment). The second consolation was the fact that his musky cologne had permeated her shirt and was wafting towards her nose with every breeze from the window.
When she told me this through a silly, slightly drunken giggle, I was 1) immediately jealous and 2) transported to "fantasy land" where cowboys and rugged outdoorsmen run rampant. At which point I believe I said "Mmm musk, sigh!"
We both started laughing. And she brought up a good point - why is that smell so powerfully seductive? One can only imagine... because even on the lousiest date (he wore sweatpants and spent the entire night "adjusting" himself!) a man can still be attractive when wearing whatever scent it is men wear. Seriously, it's as if the smell evokes my "perfect man" no matter who is wearing it.
My house has played host to several different guys in the past, all of whom smell delicious. Most recently, a pilot (cough cough... maybe I should address uniforms in another blog?), who must have showered and/or spruced up before I went to bed because the hallway smelled wonderful! And my friend visiting from far off lands... well, let's just say I made up reasons to go in the bathroom when he'd finished showering! Even my sister's husband smells good from time to time :P
But WHY?
I mean, I understand natural "male" scents... that's pheromones and hormones and genetics; and are only cursory attractants. Musk though, is a whole other story. Musk is that heady scent that makes men's cologne smell so damn good. And after doing a fair bit of research because I'm truly interested to know why us girls love it so much, I still don't have an answer. What I do have is a list of facts from various resources that I'm not going to bother citing:
- Women are 100x more sensitive to musk than men
- It originates from a rectal gland of the Musk Deer and has been used as a fixative in perfume for centuries - the name itself is derived from a Sanskrit word meaning "testicle"
- The term is now applied to many different substances that emit a similarly potent scent
- It is naturally secreted by animals to attract mates
- Males secrete a musk-like odor contained in Androstenol, a sex pheromone
- Ambergris, or aged sperm whale barf, has a natural musk that has been used as a fixative in perfume
- Indole is another musky fixative, smelling of crap (no literally... feces) if overly concentrated. In fact, indole is in human feces, though can be extracted from plants or made chemically.
- All this fixative stuff basically refers to a stabilizer that reduces evaporation of a perfume. It is essential to any cologne with the added benefit of being a "base note" in the scent compound
- Dogs have glands in the face, rear end, and paws, as well as in hair follicles. Their paws in particular secrete a musk that I like to describe as a "puppy smell." I love this scent and it is especially noticeable when Lily falls asleep! So cute!
Anyway, there you have it folks. It seems to me that the other scents like leather, sandalwood, vanilla, cedar, orange, cinnamon, etc etc that are layered on top of the fixative act to make the scent unique. And while they help to trigger memories that women associate with each scent, it is the musk that reels them in.
And God, how I love it!
P.S. those Axe commercials are completely true (albeit a bit over the top) when it comes to any guy scent - even if it's not Axe.
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