Beauty is in the nostrils of the beholder, according to astounding results from a new survey conducted by dating website - Victoria Milan.
The shocking results defy the current global trend of women being expected to be immaculate in all senses of grooming: men overwhelmingly prefer women to smell au naturel.
The survey sniffed around the private lives of cheating 5071 adults from 12 countries to find out how big a role smell plays in sexual attraction.
A great natural scent is definitely a weapon of mass seduction for men: just over half of the women surveyed (53%) say they prefer their men to smell natural and surprisingly, 63% of men would prefer their female lovers to be themselves and let their natural scent do the talking. Surprisingly, Norwegian (16.7%), Irish (18.3%) and American women are the least interested in a man smelling attractive – a massive 25% of American women claim they’ve never been attracted to a man based on how he smells.
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The natural scent of a man has women from some countries swooning, namely French (43%), Polish (42%) Spanish (33%) and Belgian (21%). According to the majority of cheating women in Denmark their countrymen are particularly clean and well kept – statistics show almost three-quarters of Danish ladies prefer a man who smells natural.
Not being up to scratch in the body scent category will have a huge negative impact on a man’s love life. The sample data shows that five out of every 10 women have broken up a relationship purely because the smell of her partner didn’t please her. Belgian women are the fussiest about this, with 86% saying they’ve dumped a man because he smelled bad. Spanish and Polish women are also sensitive to smell, with 69% and 67% respectively saying they’d rather be alone than be around an unpleasant smell.
Cheating gents are just as sensitive to smell in Europe as women – one-third of Swedish men (30.4%), and 37% of Dutch men admitted they’ve left a lover before because they didn’t like their scent. Finnish men are more tolerant, with just one in every 10 (11.9%) saying they’ve ended a relationship based on smell.
A massive 78% of women would go home alone rather than sleep with a man who smells bad. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to take what they can get: five in every 10 say they’ll put up with any smell once they have the woman in the bedroom. An astounding 100% of French and Spanish women say a man who doesn’t smell attractive is a non-negotiable – and he’ll never have the pleasure of her in the bedroom.
Smelling of sweat is a huge no-no for a man if they’re keen to bed a French or American woman. 42% of French women and 57% of American women are turned off by the smell of their partner’s sweat.
Climate and food habits can play an important factor in how each culture interprets smell and their specific tolerance towards it. Northerners are known to sweat less due to their generally colder climate, which might mean they are likely to be more successful in the bedroom.
Founder and CEO of Victoria Milan, Sigurd Vedal, said how you smell is one thing a person can easily control – it’s a matter of working out your lover’s preference.
“There’s no doubt that the scent of a lover is a strong emotional and sexual trigger – years after an affair has ended, you never forget how delicious they smelled. You can’t really control how you look, but you can control how you smell – and that’s a huge win, as we’ve revealed what the preference is for men and women across the globe,” Mr Vedal said.