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The hidden power of perfume elhuyar, ana galarraga   In an interview in 1954, a journalist asked Marilyn Monroe what she wore to bed. Marilyn smiled and sweetly whispered the following answer: “Chanel Nº 5”.
Ever since then Chanel’s Nº 5 perfume has been amongst the bestsellers and in addition to its sales figures, it has been one of the stand out examples of the ties between publicity, fashion and perfume. That’s all well and fine now, but back when it was first released on the market it was a major risk. First of all, as well as the natural ingredients like the exotic Ylang-Ylang flower, the Orange flower and Grass Jasmine, they also added a synthetic ingredient belonging to the Aldehydics family. Then there was the fact that the name of the perfume made no reference to the favoured topics of the times: love, passion and nature. Instead, they chose a simple number. The design was pure simplicity as well: a square glass bottle. It caused a revolution in the world of perfumes.
How do perfumes have the hold on us they have? The power of perfume is not only down to publicity and the deign of the bottle; the scent is the most important. And even though our sense of smell is rather marginalized in this audio-visual society of ours, scientists have verified that our sense of smell can do things that none of our other senses can.

For example, our sense of smell is much more potent when it comes to jigging our memories. Neurologists have demonstrated that the part of the brain that controls emotions, the Limbic System, is directly connected to the smell-nerves. These nerves are also linked to the Hippocampus, the part of the brain that looks after memory. That’s what’s so incredible about the emotional side of smell: some smells are received in a neutral and objective manner, whereas some others have the power to conjure up past events and emotions. Moreover, the memory of the emotions recalled by smell is much stronger than the memory of the events themselves.
Then there’s the appearance on scene of human pheromones, also closely tied to our sense of smell. Pheromones are odourless substances excreted in our sweat that are seemingly capable of changing our emotional states and moods. Researchers long ago identified the existence of the these substances in insects and some mammals, but it wasn’t very clear if they existed in humans. However, research and investigation over the last few years has proved that humans also produce pheromones and that they do cause a little bit of mayhem every once in a while. An example of this is that girls who live together will eventually ovulate at the same time (student flats are the perfect place to confirm this). It seems that this synchronisation is caused by pheromones.
It also seems that pheromones can attract members of the opposite sex. There are quite a few perfumes containing pheromones on the market based on this belief. Whether this effect has been scientifically proved is another ball game altogether. That said, there can be no doubting that perfume has always been used towards this end, to attract others. Go on, own up, when you splash on those few drops after you’ve showered, I bet you’re thinking the same thing!