Rikowski, A., & Grammer, K. (1999). Human body odour, symmetry and attractiveness. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 266(1422), 869-874. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1999.0717

Human mate selection characteristics include body and face symmetry, as well as attractiveness. These traits were thought to denote developmental stability. The question of the study was whether smell could convey general mate quality. Authors evaluated male and female respondents’ body odor, attractiveness, and facial and body asymmetry. It was found that in female individuals, body odour and face attractiveness were significantly related. Researchers found favorable relationships between body odour and attractiveness, but only when female odour raters were at the most fertile part of their menstrual cycle.