Do women smell different when they’re most fertile? Scientists have finally found the answer…

They say that scent is an important factor when it comes to first impressions.

In addition, it has long been thought that women smell more “attractive” to men at times when they are most likely to conceive.

But the smell of ‘femme fertile’ is a myth, new research shows.

Researchers from the University of Leipzig asked 91 men to rate the scents of 29 women between the ages of 20 and 30.

All women were vegetarian or vegan, did not smoke and had not used hormonal contraception in the past six months.

It’s long been thought that women smell more “attractive” to men at times when they’re most likely to have a baby. But the “femme fertile” scent is a myth, according to a new study

The odors were measured using cotton pads under the armpits at different times during the menstrual cycle. The men were then asked to rate the odors for attractiveness, pleasantness and intensity.

It was previously thought that men would find the scent more attractive if they took it during their fertile period during ovulation: the day before ovulation and the day ovulation occurs.

This is the time when a woman is most likely to become pregnant.

However, the study found that there was no link between attractiveness ratings and fertility.

Further chemical analyses showed that there was no difference in the chemical composition of the odor of fertile women.

The team wrote in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: ‘Humans’ mate choice is determined by the quality of the potential partner and is therefore based on assessing aspects of their physical attractiveness.

‘It is believed that even subtle changes in a woman’s appearance can provide information about her current fertile state, such as changes in her face or voice.

‘Similarly, it has been suggested that subtle changes in body odor may provide information about women’s fertility.’

They concluded: ‘Our results provided no evidence that men’s attraction to women’s body odour is positively predicted by women’s fertility.

‘Moreover, the chemical composition of a woman’s armpit odor was not affected by her fertile status or fluctuating hormone levels in the ovaries.’

Previous research conducted by experts at the University of Bern in Switzerland found that women in the most fertile phase of their menstrual cycle produce reproductive hormones that have a more attractive scent.

A total of 28 women donated their body odor samples, with the samples later rated from 0-100 by 57 men. Their hormone levels were determined using saliva samples.

Women with high estrogen and low progesterone levels – an indicator of fertility – were consistently found to have better odor.

Meanwhile, a separate study published in 2016 suggested that women who are most fertile also become more attractive to other women – which is difficult to explain from an evolutionary perspective.