NEW YORK - A study of smells shows that the scent of grapefruit on women make them seem about six years younger to men. However, grapefruit fragrance on men does nothing for them.
The study by the Smell and Taste Institute in Chicago was conducted by Institute director Alan Hirsch. Hirsch smeared several middle-aged woman with broccoli, banana, spearmint leaves, and lavender but none of those scents made a difference to the men.
But the scent of grapefruit changed men’s perceptions. Hirsch said that when male volunteers were asked to write down how old the woman with grapefruit odor was, the age was considerably less than reality.
I find that copious quantities of beer have a similar effect, and not only does that make women seem younger to me, but oftentimes more attractive too.
Edited to add:
Now there’s an interesting job!
“Are you comfortable, Madam? Good, then I’ll begin with the banana before moving on to the full knickerbocker glory…”!
Fortunately, I’ve read a book (I think by Eva Ibbotsen,) in which the hero’s chubby nemesis was fond of knickerbocker glories…otherwise, you would have lost this Yank.
Women would seem younger smelling of just about anything other than lavender, spearmint, banana, and broccoli!
Let’s look at this realistically. What could be worse than your grandma’s cologne, mouthwash, breakfast remains, and–there’s no way to be polite about this–gas.
Compared to that, crankcase oil would be positively festive.
You can always put grapefruit in the beer. You’d probably need to cut down on the hops, as the grapefruit add their own bitterness. I actually have tried putting grapefruit in beer. Blech; I don’t think anyone could drink enough of it to make a difference. Raspberries work much getter.
