Androstadienone, Sense Of Smell And Cologne

February 18, 2008

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Androstadienone is a derivative of testosterone, that is present at relatively high concentrations in male sweat. In many mammals it is used to communicate sexual and social signals. Research published, last year, found that some women found the smell of androstadienone pleasant (sweet, floral), others disliked the smell, and many could not smell it at-all. This, of course, immediately made me think, can I smell it and if I can, do I like it? I don’t think I can go round sniffing guys or their urine (where it is also present), trying to figure it out.

Some male perfumes and colognes have had androstadienone as an ingredient for a number of years. It has been added with the idea that it would make the wearer more appealing. So my first thought on reading about the fact that for many women androstadienone does not have a smell, and for some it smells bad, that they were wasting their time, or even making the products unappealing.

However, to respond to a signal do you have to be aware of the smell of it? More recent research has shown that exposure to androstadienone in women increased the level of cortisol, the stress hormone. This increase in the level of cortisol increased several functions heart rate, blood pressure and also improved mood. The subjects in this test, though, got a longer exposure to the androstadienone and the effective concentration may have been higher. Research is always confusing, since nobody ever does their experiments quite the same as anybody else. So maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t.

I do wonder, if androstadienone does increase attraction, would it be a good or a bad idea to buy a guy some cologne that contains androstadienone? I can see it both ways. It could make them more attractive to me, but how about more attractive to other women? First I might have to out figured how the hell to pronounce the word.

Links: First study; Second study

photo credit: Ben Scicluna