20 Aug, 2025 @ 16:18
1 min read

New study claims to prove ovulating women change their armpit scent to attract men

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WOMEN give off a more fragrant scent when they ovulate – and men can’t help but notice, a Japanese study reveals.

Researchers at Tokyo University discovered three compounds in underarm sweat that spike during ovulation, turning the smell from ‘vinegary’ to downright alluring.

Men who sniffed the ovulatory scent rated photos of women as more attractive and feminine – and even relaxed more, with stress levels dropping in their saliva.

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The ‘magic trio’ includes geranylacetone (floral-green aroma), tetradecanoic acid (linked to newborn feeding responses), and palmitoleic acid (nearly odourless but powers other skin scents).

The scent worked best on women initially rated as less attractive, giving them a surprise boost in male ratings.

Professor Kazushige Touhara, who led the study, said the findings suggest certain body compounds ‘act like pheromones,’ subtly helping women catch male attention.

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Dilip Kuner

Dilip Kuner is a NCTJ-trained journalist whose first job was on the Folkestone Herald as a trainee in 1988.
He worked up the ladder to be chief reporter and sub editor on the Hastings Observer and later news editor on the Bridlington Free Press.
At the time of the first Gulf War he started working for the Sunday Mirror, covering news stories as diverse as Mick Jagger’s wedding to Jerry Hall (a scoop gleaned at the bar at Heathrow Airport) to massive rent rises at the ‘feudal village’ of Princess Diana’s childhood home of Althorp Park.
In 1994 he decided to move to Spain with his girlfriend (now wife) and brought up three children here.
He initially worked in restaurants with his father, before rejoining the media world in 2013, working in the local press before becoming a copywriter for international firms including Accenture, as well as within a well-known local marketing agency.
He joined the Olive Press as a self-employed journalist during the pandemic lock-down, becoming news editor a few months later.
Since then he has overseen the news desk and production of all six print editions of the Olive Press and had stories published in UK national newspapers and appeared on Sky News.

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