Vanilla is a popular fragrance in perfumes and bath products.  It is warm and sweet, sensual and yet innocent.  It has a reputation as an aphrodisiac, since back in the 1700’s vanilla was often prescribed by physicians to ensure male potency.  Thomas Jefferson is said to have brought vanilla to the United States when he returned from France in 1789.  Soon after that, vanilla was used to fragrance perfumes and tobacco.  Vanilla extract hit the market in the late 1800’s and that made it easy to use in the home.  Women often dabbed a bit on their wrists, or behind their ears.  Recently Chicago’s Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation studied the effect of various fragrances and found that mature men were most aroused by the scent of vanilla.  So now science has proven what we’ve all suspected all along , vanilla may be subtle, but it’s powerful when it comes to love and romance!