My expensive hair conditioner makes me smell like lavender. My deodorant makes me smell like jasmine. Call me Flower Boy. 

 

I don’t know how to describe my natural smell because I am so used to it. Men supposedly smell musky due to a testosterone derivative in our sweat, so maybe I smell musky. 

 

When I get very sweaty, bacteria on my skin reproduce like maniacs and make me stink. Blame them, not me.

 

We humans spend billions of dollars every year on smelling good. Chemists and scent specialists who can detect a huge number of scents make a bunch of money creating scents for us. The fragrance industry grows bigger all the time. 

 

I have never heard of anyone selling a Malouff scent, so whatever I naturally smell like, no one is willing to pay to smell like that. 

 

Scents tend to stick in our minds more than one might expect. I have had two assistants over the years who smelled like soap. Another scent I recall fondly from long ago: My father’s aftershave lotion, Old Spice. 

 

What smell memories do you have from bygone days?

 

I have two bottles of man perfume (cologne!) that were given to me. I use them mostly when I smell bad and cannot take a shower right away. 

 

I imagine that you have met individuals who smell so strongly of perfume that they may as well shove a gardenia up your nose. I wonder what those folks are trying to cover. 

 

Why do we generally respond positively to good scents? 

 

The part of our brain that responds to scents is closely connected to parts that control emotions and memory. We humans have an excellent sense of smell and can detect tiny differences in scents. This ability may be a remnant of the time when our ancestors used scent for survival purposes: Is that a bear I smell? 

 

Being a rebel, I would like to have an unusual and appealing signature scent, such as the aroma of freshly baked bread or the smell of the air after a rainfall. 

 

What you like as your signature scent?