# What does Sex smell like? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 30, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244 "2004-03-30T04:07:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Faucet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@Faucet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faucet)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/1 "2004-03-30T04:07:16Z")
I’m 18 and I am not ashamed to say that I have not gone that far with any girls…kissing, rubbing and all that stuff but no sex. I keep hearing people talking about the smell of sex and sex in the air. So I have a few questions regarding that; 1. Where does this smell come from? 2. What does it smell like? (Be as descriptive as possible) Eventhough I have not smelled sex I would say it is a combo of vaginal fluid and sweat…but I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/2 "2004-03-30T04:54:40Z")
And semen…don’t forget semen. Semen is quite pungent, and old semen is really, really rank. The total effect is unmistakable, but I don’t know if I can describe it. It smells a bit like mushrooms, a bit like scallops, and a bit like sweat. It’s pungent and earthy and, well, _biological_-smelling. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/3 "2004-03-30T04:59:48Z")
You’ll know it when you smell it. It’s sort of a musky, meaty smell. ---
**Author:** ![Headcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@Headcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Headcoat)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/4 "2004-03-30T05:14:53Z")
like a vagina. ---
**Author:** ![leenmi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@leenmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leenmi)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/5 "2004-03-30T05:18:56Z")
Sin. It smells like sin. Dirty, musky sin. The smell of which makes the baby jeebus cry. Or apple pie. Depends on the participants. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/6 "2004-03-30T05:25:35Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > And semen…don’t forget semen. Semen is quite pungent, and old semen is really, really rank. > > The total effect is unmistakable, but I don’t know if I can describe it. It smells a bit like mushrooms, a bit like scallops, and a bit like sweat. It’s pungent and earthy and, well, _biological_-smelling. If your man juice is _that_ stinky you might want to think about changing your diet or smoking-drinking habits. ---
**Author:** ![SSgtBaloo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@SSgtBaloo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSgtBaloo)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/7 "2004-03-30T05:57:35Z")
Possibly TMI follows in second paragraph. Avert your eyes if you are sensitive/easily incensed by things you’d rather not hear about. I believe that at least some references to the “smell of sex in the air” are actually figurative and not literal. The actual “aroma” can vary quite a bit, depending on the hygeine of the involved parties. With TW, it was something like fish that had just started to cross the line between “fresh” and “better pitch that”. YMMV –SSgtBaloo ---
**Author:** ![Thaumaturge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@Thaumaturge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thaumaturge)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/8 "2004-03-30T06:13:13Z")
Throw some fish in a bucket of very diluted bleach. Salmon probably work best. ---
**Author:** ![Cruktar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d9b06d/32.png) [@Cruktar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cruktar)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/9 "2004-03-30T06:13:21Z")
In my experience, with the current SO, it’s sort of a warm, organic, fresh-sweat kind of smell, not at all unpleasant. YMMV, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/10 "2004-03-30T06:17:13Z")
> [@Faucet](#): > > I’m 18 and I am not ashamed to say that I have not gone that far with any girls…kissing, rubbing and all that stuff but no sex. I keep hearing people talking about the smell of sex and sex in the air. So I have a few questions regarding that; > > 1. Where does this smell come from? > 2. What does it smell like? (Be as descriptive as possible) > > Eventhough I have not smelled sex I would say it is a combo of vaginal fluid and sweat…but I don’t know. Lick your hand. Let it dry a little. That very pungent smell where you licked? That is _exactly_ (only much weaker) what “sex” smells like. It may help if your hand is a little sweaty and if you are in a warm place. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/11 "2004-03-30T08:49:54Z")
they say it smells like durians and almonds. ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/12 "2004-03-30T10:38:26Z")
Pretty much what everybody else says. An old mukker of mine used to say, “There’s only two things that smell like fish - and one of them’s fish.” But I think he slept with some scraggy girls… ---
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/13 "2004-03-30T10:58:42Z")
Well, the sound of having sex with a dead body is punching your fist into a jar of old mayonnaise. I’m sure there’s a smell associated with that, too. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/14 "2004-03-30T12:48:39Z")
Argh… women only smell like fish when they have a particular vaginal infection: bacterial vaginosis. So if you’re with one who has that smell, suggest that she see her gynocologist, because it can’t be cleared up by the stuff in the store. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/15 "2004-03-30T12:50:19Z")
Like the pollen from that bush near my house. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/16 "2004-03-30T13:13:36Z")
Ok. Slight hijack. What gives semen its characteristic smell? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/17 "2004-03-30T18:27:04Z")
Doesn’t the smell of sex depend on what kind of sex you’re having and with whom? I can think of lots of possibilities, each with its own array of aromas. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/18 "2004-03-30T18:47:17Z")
On a side note, one of the security guards in my old college dorm used to use his unfailing ability to smell the scent of lovin’ to root out females who had stayed in the dorm past the “Midnight Curfew” that the campus enforced on co-ed visitation. I’d like to say I went to college in the 60s or something, but this was at a black public university in the south in the late 90’s. ---
**Author:** ![Mort\_Furd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mort\_Furd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mort_Furd)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/19 "2004-03-30T19:16:08Z")
Possibly TMI: When Mrs. Furd is in the mood, I can smell it on her breath. More than anything else, her breath smells like salami. As for the smell of sex itself, the descriptions above are pretty much right. It does sort of depend on the person and the conditions. ---
**Author:** ![Pablito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@Pablito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pablito)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244/20 "2004-03-30T19:41:32Z")
Masturbate, and you’ll have half the smell of sex in your hand (or wherever you deposit it). Women’s smells vary lots, it seems. Some don’t have a noticeable odor at all–even when my nose is as close as it can get, but then I don’t have a particularly sensitive sniffer. I’m usually a bit disappointed if I don’t smell something, because that contributes quite a lot to the excitement and atmosphere. I’d say that most women I’ve been with have a very attractive odor. Trying to describe that general smell in detail, I’d say it’s kind of a mix of spicy (like perfume dripped on a stick of cinnamon), a teensy bit sour (a citrus tinge, like dilute tangerines), muskiness (open up a closet in the basement that hasn’t been opened in years, or maybe take the top off a plastic garbage can that doesn’t have any garbage in it), and a little bit of sharpness, almost bitterness (like asparagus or coffee: two of my favorite tastes). Throw in some almonds and a slightly overripe banana, and you’re getting pretty close to the wonderful complexity and fullness of the aroma. Of course it varies hugely from woman to woman and even by time of the month for each woman. Only a very small percentage of women, in my experience, have had a smell that I would characterize as too strong or a bit objectionable. Now, having suggested how you might understand the characteristic odors of each gender, I will complicate the issue yet further, because the overall smell of ‘sex’, created by mixing those two odors together, is greater–or at least qualitatively different–from the sum of its parts. Maybe the process of mixing changes things, or there’s some fermentation going on, or saliva and sweat become significant contributors, or whatever. So it’s going to be somewhat different from what you might expect. Still, knowing what the individual smells are may help you to anticipate the end result. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-sex-smell-like/237244.md?page=2)