Can A Perfume Make You Smell Younger?
Posted June 9, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Big corporations will do just about anything to get you to buy one of their products. And nowhere are the claims bigger than in the perfume industry. You’ve seen the come-on lines – one scent will make you sexier, another irresistible, and a third will have you beating guys off with a stick.
And then there’s Ageless, a perfume that makes a claim that will never get old. The manufacturers insist their blend of pink grapefruit, mango, pomegranate, jasmine and musk will make you smell younger.
Yes, you read that right. You’ll smell younger.
How can they make such a startling claim? Harvey Prince Co., which makes the exclusive product, insists it has the science to back it up. According to its research, as you age, your body chemistry changes and you begin to emit a very subtle smell. It’s due to a chemical called “noneal,” which is apparently tied into the breakdown of a fatty acid in your skin.
You and those around you may not know it’s there on a conscious level, but it’s supposed to tell others that you’re no longer looking for a mate, that you’ve aged and that you’ve settled down. Somehow that translates into less sexy and old.
But Ageless maintains it can mask that aroma and its scent can make others think you’re at least eight years younger than you really are.
The company says it conducted clinical trails in which a group of men were exposed to women with specific scents and then asked them to judge how old they thought they were. They used the responses to design the fragrance and then added the bold claims about making users ‘ageless.’
Many experts don’t buy it. “They may get the sense that you’re somebody who feels youthful, that they may have absolutely young feelings suited to you, but it’s not going to change how you look,” warns psychologist Dr. Heather Jordan of York University. “Sorry!”
CityNews Health Specialist Laura DiBattista decided to try to find out for herself, with a before and after perfume test. Guesses about her age ranged from the mid-30s to the mid-40s without the odiferous spray. Once it was applied, the next estimate came back a bit younger (we’ll discount the 25-year-old guess made without it – although Laura was flattered!)
The result of the completely unscientific test: without the perfume the estimates averaged 36.2 years of age. With a generous amount applied, it came down to 33.8
Does that mean it works? “There certainly is some play between smell and attraction,” feels Dr. Jordan. But she claims the only way to make yourself truly seem younger is a good diet, exercise – and surrounding yourself with people who are a lot older than you are.
The price of this miracle perfume isn’t cheap. It sells for about $120 a bottle in Canada and you’re supposed to spritz yourself at least twice a day.
But then you have to keep one thing in mind – hunting the fountain of youth is a procedure that has always truly been ageless. If not Ageless.
