The researchers argue that instead of using perfumes and aftershave to cover the smells produced by our body, we choose, in essence scents to enhance the natural smell of us.

They have found that when people choose their own flavor and mixed it with their own body odor, causes the smell to be regarded as more pleasant and more attractive than others.

The Dr. Jan Havlicek, an anthropologist at Charles University in Prague, who has studied how the aroma affects our behavior, is expected to present his results at a conference in London next week.

He said: "The perfumes have been used by humans for thousands of years and the prevailing view was that this was the mask natural odor of our bodies to make us smell more attractive."

"In fact, what we find is that there is a strong interaction between the individual perfume and body odor. People choose perfumes eventually fill their own smell."

The researchers asked volunteers from twenty to put a spray of perfume they had chosen themselves to one of the armpits and another aroma that was selected at random for them to another before taking samples for the experiment.

Was then rated by a panel of 21 women. The researchers found that women always find the most attractive scents and pleasant aroma when was it that he had chosen the volunteer.

Professor Tim Jacob, an expert on "smell" of the University of Cardiff, will also present data showing our selection of fragrances is also influenced by our immune system.

He said: "Our personal body odor is determined by the immune system in fact we tend to be attracted by the smell of people who have different immune system from us and we do not like the smell of those who have the same immune system.

"This makes sense biologically, since it has obvious advantages for our children who will inherit a combination of both immune systems.