Question for the lads – Smelling of roses

[Auntie Helen]

Question for the gents on this forum.

I review books for a few different magazines and have ended up reviewing a lot of the historical romance genre (the sort of books that chaps generally avoid; Georgette Heyer, Jane Austen, that kind of stuff). Anyway, there are masses of these being published yearly still and I've noticed a strange tendency in the books recently. Which is as follows.

In the stories, when following events from the hero's point of view we find that one of the things about the heroine that he notices is her smell. The fact that her hair smells of roses or some other pleasant fragrance.

Do chaps really go around sniffing women's heads or is this author's license which has been picked up by other authors and is a self-perpetuating myth?

 

[4F]

It's a load of pony.

 

[rich p]

I must confess to breathing deeply when passing an attractive woman although I suspect it's their perfume that I can smell.

 

[Auntie Helen]

I should also mention that men in the books also tend to smell 'masculine' to the heroine, often described as a mix of cigar smoke, brandy and... manliness.

 

[yello]

I guess if someone's hair did smell of roses then you might notice it. But I doubt any bloke would deliberately go sniffing heads to find out!

 

[Cathryn]

I had a boyfriend who smelt my hair once, but was disappointed with the result. I was gutted.

The husband has never sniffed me, but seems quite happy.

 

[oxbob]

It's artistic licence by authors for a new generation of reader's, my 76yr old mother reads these type of books and has commented how they have changed over the last 2 decades

 

[sheddy]

Yes

 

[4F]

Do head and shoulders do a rose flavoured shampoo now ?

 

[Pottsy]

I personally think smells are important to attractiveness, they can be very alluring, though I agree with yello that sniffing strangers in public should be approached with a certain amount of caution.

 

[marinyork]

Yes.

 

[allen-uk]

Slight poetic licence, but only slight.

I can remember the smells of women I've had good times with, just by closing my eyes and... But I don't think it was smell that first attracted me, although it might have been. Are pheromones 'in' or 'out' at the moment? I have a notion that orthodox science has (excuse pun) poo-poo'ed them, but certain intimate human scents still raise an interest in me, even at my advanced years.

And there is a distinct smell to male aggression, although whether it is just sweat, or some factor of testosterone, I know not. (Except that I don't like it!)


A.

 

[Globalti]

You're right... it's the smell of testosterone, you'll smell it in model shops, computer shops, music shops and anywhere else that young men congregate.

Smell interests me a great deal, especially as I work for a perfume manufacturer. I also find myself inhaling when I pass women in the street in the hope that they're wearing something subtle although mostly though it's knockout modern stuff like Angel or Escape, usually too strong because they've committed the cardinal sin of re-applying the perfume during the day. Generally the only smell I like on hair is just clean or the slight residual musk of a quality shampoo perfume. *cough* I hate to sound, er, boastful but over the years I have known a few women who smelled great without any perfume on and a couple who smelled repulsive. I'm sure it's a chemical/hormonal thing. That doesn't include the French women to whom I've got close then recoiled in horror at their bad breath.

 

[Mr Pig]

I personally think smells are important to attractiveness, they can be very alluring...

Totally agree. Some girls just smell lovely :0) I don't think it's just about perfume, some just naturally smell better than others.

 

[ComedyPilot]

I partly read a Gerogette Heyer 'novel' a month or so ago. It was hard reading, but I hadn't come prepared with an alternative for the weekend, so was stuck with it.

Was something about a girl that shot a butler and a lawyer spotted her on a country lane?