Perfume that Smells Better the More You Sweat!

There are lucky people out there who can spritz themselves with perfume first this in the morning, and the glorious scent is still hanging around at the end of the day. But for some people, the first hint of perspiration and the perfume is gone. For those people, they could finally be a sweet-smelling solution! A team of scientists in Northern Ireland have said they have developed a delivery system for perfume that would ensure that the more a person sweated, the better they would smell. They have published their work in the journal Chemical Communications. So, how did this come about? Researchers from Queen's University Ionic Liquid Laboratories (Quill) in Belfast were able to isolate the molecules that allow a fragrance to be released when it comes into contact with moisture. To create the delivery system, the team tagged a raw fragrance onto an ionic liquid, which is salt in liquid form and has no smell of its own. It resulted in the aroma only being released when it came into contact with water, like that released when a person sweats. Project leader Dr Nimal Gunaratne described it as a similar to the fragrance being tied to a lead weight, keeping it from flying away. And water acts as the scissors to cut the metaphoric string, allowing the aroma to be released. As if all this was already very exciting, the system is also able to remove the bad odours that form when a person sweats. Contrary to what a lot of people think, it isn't sweat that causes bad body odour. If it were, then everyone would smell terrible as soon as they started to perspire, which we know is simply not the case. Instead, there are glands in the armpits called the apocrine sweat glands that release a protein-rich sweat that some bacteria like to feed on. The horrible smell comes from enzymes in the sweat breaking down as the bacteria feed on it. In a press release, Dr Gunaratne explained that it was an exciting breakthrough, and there are endless commercial possibilities for the use of the new delivery system. "Not only... can [it] be used in perfumes and cosmetic creams, but it could also be used in other areas of science," he added. The team is now working with another company to develop product ideas for the new system. It's fair to assume that those of us who can't get our lovely fragrances to stick around can be optimistic - we'll keep you updated!