The Scientific Reason Sniffing Panties Is Such A Turn-On

Sniffing panties is a kink, but it shouldn’t be. Hear me out:

For a sexual act or preference to be kinky, it needs to be deviant. What makes panty sniffing kinky is that it involves giving into an animalistic urge that society has deemed “dirty.”

Now, there’s nothing wrong with being dirty. The best of us are. But there is something wrong with what makes panty sniffing dirty, and that’s the idea that vaginas aren’t supposed to smell. It’s a cultural notion that’s become the norm in modern history, despite being completely unfounded. It’s also flat-out wrong.

For women, the result has been widespread shame and vagina-guilt. Just look at the hundreds of products that exist to deodorize a lady’s nether bits. “Feminine hygiene” products like these perpetuate the myth that a smelly vagina is a dirty vagina, when in reality, it’s a sign of sexual health.

The truth is that using these products will most likely make women less attractive to men, at least on a primal level. Just ask panty sniffers—these products break their hearts. That musk that many women try to cover up is actually biologically programmed to make men horny.

So if the lingering scent of vagina is what makes some people so crazy about panties, is sniffing them really so kinky? On a social level, sure, but on a scientific level, not at all.

To learn more about why exactly a woman’s scent incites a wild sexual response, keep reading.

Smelly Signals

The quick answer to why sniffing panties turns some people on is pheromones. Pheromones are chemical scents that naturally attract animals to each other for mating purposes, helping them to communicate and ultimately reproduce. They play a central role in wildlife, but because humans don’t possess an organ to process them, scientists remain unclear on the role they play in humans.

Humans do give off pheromones, though—you can find them in every bodily secretion. They’re in the oils in our skin, in sweat, and yes, in vaginal fluid. A person’s pheromones contain a unique signature of their health, strength, and fertility, which, some scientists argue, we subconsciously acknowledge when looking for a sexual partner.

For example, researchers at the University of Texas, Austin conducted a blind study to determine how pheromones affected sex drive. They asked a sample of men to sniff t-shirts worn by women at different stages of their menstrual cycle. By a large margin, men rated the t-shirt worn by women at the peak of ovulation to be the “sexiest” and most “pleasant.”

But men aren’t the only ones affected by pheromones. Research shows that when both men and women are exposed to pheromones, they experience improvement in mood, focus, and emotional processing. Women also experience increased sexual response and are more likely to achieve sexual satisfaction.

Manipulating Pheromones

Since pheromones have such strong matchmaking abilities, people often try to use them to find partners. Recently, the pop science of pheromones has been coopted by creative and resourceful millennials looking for love. Pheromone parties are a new sort of speed dating, in which a three-day-old shirt is the tool used to make a love connection.

Attendees arrive with their used shirts in plastic bags, which are assigned numbers and scattered around the party. At their own pace, they then go around sniffing each of the bags to identify their ideal partners based on smell. Though parties like these have a distinctly modern feel, the idea of strategically using pheromones to find a partner is nothing new.

Records from the middle ages show that women once used their own vaginal juices as a natural perfume to appeal to suitors. A little dab behind the ears, on the neck, and on the chest, and men supposedly fell at their feet.

Today, the idea of a woman rubbing her own lady goo all over herself might sound a little in-your-face (literally), barbaric, or just gross. But in reality, it’s no grosser than many modern-day perfumes, which often advertise using pheromones as a way to sell sexual attractiveness.

Perfumers may not be getting their ingredients straight from the source, but the product is essentially the same. For example, fragrances that tout human pheromones tend to include the chemicals androstenone and androstadienone, both of which are organically found in sweat and urine.

In the end, it makes little difference whether the perfume comes from a body or a bottle. If it works, it works, right?

The Secret to Panty Sniffing

Men and women both emit pheromones; it just so happens that the ones women emit from their vaginal area are way more powerful. These pheromones are called copulins and they are the main reason sniffing panties can be so arousing. In fact, their name is inspired by their effect on male sex drive.

Studies have found that copulins essentially have a mind-control effect on men and are able to weaken a man’s resistance. If a love potion ever existed, this would be it.

These super potent chemicals are strongest in fertile women and have the power to literally alter the male hypothalamus, causing men to act in ways they wouldn’t otherwise. For instance, men tend to find themselves more attractive when under the influence of copulins, which also trigger an instant testosterone boost of up to 150%. And because these pheromones decrease their ability to discriminate physical attractiveness in women, you could say that men get “copulin goggles.”

Put simply, copulins make guys want to have sex with whomever, immediately. Used panties, which are pretty much just storage units for copulins, are one way to get that feeling on demand.

Granted, the sexual appeal of sniffing used underwear isn’t strictly scientific. As powerful as copulins may be, they’re not the only thing that can get you going. For some people, it may be mostly visual.

Either way, if you’re looking for a particularly pungent pair or just one that’s pretty, you’ll find it on Sofia Gray. We’ve got pheromones in stock.