Do Redheads Have A Scent?

Updated: April 21, 2021

Redheads are rare, unique and extraordinary. We feel less pain (may need more medication), generate our own Vitamin D and have the Mc1R gene to thank for our red tresses. So, it may not come as a surprise to hear that redheads actually may have a particular scent or smell.

READ: 13 Astonishing Facts About Redheads

The author of The Redhead Encyclopedia, Stephen Douglas, wrote that redheads have a naturally sweet, musk-like scent. We have also read that a redhead’s scent can be described as violet and amber. Douglas also makes a claim that a redhead’s scent can change with emotions.

On top of having a special scent or smell, other findings believe redheads have “a pheromone attraction.” Meaning, there are people out there who are specifically attracted to redheads. Hence, the reason why you’ve probably heard someone say to you at one point in your life: “I have a thing for redheads.”

Definition of pheromone [taken from Dictionary.com] : a chemical substance produced and released into the environment by an animal, especially a mammal or an insect, affecting the behavior or physiology of others of its species.

It also seems like Douglas is not the first to come to this conclusion. In 1886, Frenchman Augustin Galopin stated in his book, Le Parfum de la Femme that, among women, redheads have the strongest scent: amber and violets. To add to that, Rowan Pelling, the founding editor of The Erotic Review, agrees that redheads have a strong natural scent, but contends that, “Redheads famously have a distinctive civet scent, which drives many an admirer wild.”

Could this attraction be tied into a redhead’s scent and smell? Could it be that all of us redheads smell the same? We’re not advising you sniff the next redhead you see, but this is definitely a conversation starter when you do see another redhead walking down the street. Plus, this special redhead scent is said to also attract bees!

Do you have a special scent? Share below and Rock it like a Redhead!