Why women buy fragrances for their boyfriend but not their best friend

Do you refrain from buying perfume for your friends because choosing a scent is a deeply intimate decision and you respect their personal taste?

Think again, because according to a new study, you’re probably just lashing out, Mean Girls style.

Bryan Howell, industrial design professor at Brigham Young University in the US, says that women use fragrance to deliberately sabotage one another.

“When women like a fragrance, they will purchase it for themselves or a male friend, but not for a female friend," says Howell, whose study was published recently in the journal Food Quality and Preference.

"When they dislike a scent, they won't purchase it for themselves or their boyfriend, but they will buy it for a female friend."

Not only that, but "some women keep their fragrance choice a secret so their friends won't wear it".

Though it sounds as if Howell might have drawn his subject group from the cast of Dynasty, the discovery was apparently made during a study on perfume packaging.

Conversely, Howell says ladies will happily influence the fragrances of the men in their lives.

"Assuming it is for a spouse or boyfriend, they want to pick fragrances they also like since they'll be around that person often."

We’ve rounded up some of our favourite unisex fragrances to lay claim to your man or gift to a friend (provided you’re happy to share, that is).

 
Left to right: Ambre Nuit, $569 approx, Christian Dior; Serpentine Eau de Parfum, $122, Commes Des Garcons; Amalfi Mandarino Eau de Parfum, $190, Tom Ford.