Same Perfume, Different Scent | SiOWfa15: Science in Our World: Certainty and Controversy
The other day I heard someone say that the scent of sandalwood smells different on everyone. I’ve also bought some perfume because it smelled good on my friend, but when I sprayed some on myself it didn’t smell the same at all. This made me wonder if all perfumes smell different on people or only certain scents. I knew that people have different body chemistries and scents react in various ways, but I had no idea how. Nuria Estape, a science journalist for The Healthy Skin Blog claims that skin is made of different chemical compounds, which are released into the air through evaporation by the eccrine and apocrine glands, therefore creating a natural scent. The natural scent then blends with the perfume and creates a scent unique to each individual. According to Karen Kirkpatrick, “The perfume chemicals that stay on your skin longer mix with your own skin’s chemistry, which changes all the time due to things like heat, humidity, sweat, medications, diet — even age.” There are three “no
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