Mindfully Masculine: Personal Growth and Mental Health for Men

Your First Impression Includes Your Scent

March 20, 2023 Episode 76
Mindfully Masculine: Personal Growth and Mental Health for Men
Your First Impression Includes Your Scent
Show Notes Transcript

Memory is so often triggered by smell, that to be positively memorable, a man should not neglect to curate his entire presence, including his smell.

In this episode, we'll talk about attraction through scent, and discuss our own personal experiences trying to be men that are remembered for smelling good.

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Charles:
let's move on to the topic of smelling good, and had the, and how and why we want to smell good. So the

Dan:
M.

Charles:
next chapter is called smells that seduce, and the opening quote is Smell is the sense of memory and desire by Jen Jacques Rouse, the

Dan:
Who's

Charles:
man

Dan:
Jean Jaques Roused? By the way, I don't know.

Charles:
Rouse

Dan:
Rouseuhe's

Charles:
was a.

Dan:
like an author.

Charles:
He's

Dan:
Right

Charles:
a

Dan:
as he.

Charles:
philosopher. I believe,

Dan:
Philosopher.

Charles:
let's

Dan:
Okay,

Charles:
let's see here

Dan:
I've heard

Charles:
If it's

Dan:
the

Charles:
as

Dan:
last name, but I've never bothered to look it up. Why why he's import?

Charles:
He was a philosopher, writer and composer from Geneva, who influenced the progress of the age of Enlightenment throughout Europe. There were some very specific political things that that he was responsible for that I remember reading through Actually cited him in a in a talk I gave at at a fraternal society meeting not too long ago. Um, but yeah, he had some very. I had some very specific thoughts about politics. And what? What democracy

Dan:
Okay,

Charles:
and individualism

Dan:
smell,

Charles:
and classic liberalism looked like?

Dan:
No, Yeah, it's interesting. Smell is the sense of memory and desire. I didn't realize he'd be speaking on behalf of Cinabon all the way back then.

Charles:
It is funny that.

Dan:
Ver walked by

Charles:
I

Dan:
one

Charles:
mean.

Dan:
of those

Charles:
Oh yes,

Dan:
talk about desire.

Charles:
yeah, Louis, Louis, C. K, has a great joke about stopping for a cinnamon bun at the airport that he arrived at. He's like. That's how you know you're

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
the nice version of it is the nice version of it. That's how you know you're eating out of control when you're stopping for a cinombun at the airport you arrive at.

Dan:
Listen, you know, I've done that with barbecue down to Texas when I've gone

Charles:
Yeah,

Dan:
to Dallas and stuff,

Charles:
yeah,

Dan:
or listen, I get it. I'm not no judgment man.

Charles:
It is. it's interesting to me that the sense of smell and then the sense of hearing are the two that really for me do the most trigger memories. It's like there was this particular smell I remember encountering at two places the King Kong ride at Universal Studios, Which confrontation, The old one. Now there's there's one at Islands of Adventure, that's based on Skull Island, But there was one that was at Univers Studios that was replaced by the Mummy, I believe, And so when they opened up in the late eighties, I think it was. It was one of the first rides that. with Jaws and an earthquake, there was a smell there that was from. I believe it, as the air conditioning system that smelled a very particular way, and the air conditioner at my high school smelled the exact same way, And so whenever I walked by an industrial

Dan:
M.

Charles:
air conditioner that uses the same kind of technology or whatever it smells that way, it Stantly reminds me of standing in line for King Kong, and for walking in the back entrance of my high school. Just instantly my mind is taken right back there and music can do that too, Like there are certain songs that you associate with periods of your life, and as soon as you hear it on the radio, you're like Oh yeah, I remember, I lived in this apartment or lived in this place, But we're going. We're going to talk about the smell one right now, so smells can can definitely have a profound effect on the people that we are near, And for both good and bad reasons, you know there's there if you're if you're smelling of. I mean, not not just sweat, sweat, sweating of itself like re, recently. sweating does not usually turn people off very much, but sweat that has dried on your body is God, it's it's the worst. I occasionally

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
occasionally walked next to somebody who has that smell where they've been, And maybe they're not used to being in florid heat or some, And like that, and the deodar is not either present or up for the task, And so they've got that smell of man. I was sweating really profusely this morning and now it's about six o'clock at night and I'm not sweating anymore. But boy do I think and know that that's the negative, and the other thing is when you, when you walk across somebody you know in a crowded place and they smell really good. That's that's is equally potent experience. so we're going to talk about the way that you smell as Sult of specifically wearing colon or after shave, and the effect that that can have. so The author poses the question of you know, Is there a magic cent that can be used to attract women? And it sounds like the way he answers it is kinda Um.

Dan:
Hm,

Charles:
There's a compound called Hedon, that spelled d o. An. Is that how you pronounce it as well, Dan Hedione, or S

Dan:
Or

Charles:
headin

Dan:
had I own?

Charles:
Head

Dan:
I think

Charles:
on

Dan:
he said he pronounced head, I own, But I mean how many times are we gonna use that outside of this podcastot? this,

Charles:
Exactly so head I own is a chemical compound that was first used by Christian Dore in A savage that was found to stimulate an area of the brain in women responsible for the release of sex hormones. Head One is now found in many well known fragrances like Sky One in Victis Aquiddigio, and H. Voyage de Hermes, The only one of those I have. Well, I've smelled C. Q. One. Obviously, that's a fairly popular one and

Dan:
Hm,

Charles:
I actually ou own and use Osevage by Christian Dor, So let's let's take a quick break to talk about the colons or fragrances that you and I like to use. So here's my methodology. I have one fragrance that I like to wear during the day, and a separate fragrance that I usually

Dan:
Hm,

Charles:
like to wear at night, because I find Like Savage by Christian D, Or is a little heavy, Especially in the line of work I'm in where you know. Occasionally I will go on site to my customers, and I have to you know, stand next to them to use their key board with their mouth, and I don't want to have something very very heavy on me that you know, people may may like a lot, but it's still you know. and what I consider to be an evening fragrance is usually something that is kind of spicy and musky, and that is not something. even a good version of that that I want somebody like leaning over me to smell like, So I don't use that when I'm when I'm going to

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
work, or, or just sort of you know, even go into the going shopping during the day. During the day I use U, La, cost blank, or least white. that is, uhlcosbeing, the brand with a little alligator on the shirts. They have a white bottle of men's cologne. I use both the deodera and the cologne, and that's what I wear during the day on most occasions and then at night if I'm going out, like when I went out to see Nicky Glaser on Saturday, I use Couple sprays of the savage. Let's talk about application to the deoderent that I use is a deoderent spray where I give a very brief spray under both of my arm pits, and that's all, and then the after shave cologne I will spray twice one on the left side of my neck, one on the right side of my neck. I do, not, nor do I recommend ever spraying a fragrance on top Your clothes. Your fragrances are meant to go on your body and then be covered by clothes. And believe me, people will still smell it. They're not going to not smell it because you put clothes on the people who even I believe I've seen in commercials where people will spray a body spray or fragrance on top of your clothing. It's not great for your clothes and it's It's also not great for how, for the people who have to stand next to you. So my my own opinion that you know this is not Ten commandments. This is right. this is wrong. This is Charles's a Non. And and I've had this opinion affirmed on many occasions by the people that I stand next to. Do not put fragrance on your clothes because you think it will smell more powerfully. The part part of the appeal of men's cologne is the way that the fragrance interacts with your own natural scent. That that brings me to another point when I am wearing a fragrance. I will also use body wash and deodorant That does not have its own fragrance, so I like to use. Generally

Dan:
M.

Charles:
speaking, I like to use uhdeoderance and body washes that don't have dies and don't have fragrances anyway, but I find that the weird Combination of whatever your body wash is supposed to smell like like Christian Door, didn't develop savage, based on how how nicely he thought it would interact with Irish Spring. You know that's that's not. That's not what it's for.

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
So my my own preference

Dan:
I think

Charles:
is.

Dan:
it would be called a savage at that point.

Charles:
Yeah, apostrophe. that's a good one, Dan. That

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
might be the funniest thing you've ever said. Good job. I like that.

Dan:
Or mix savage.

Charles:
So yeah, so uh, yeah, I use. I use a body wash by dial, which you can get any wall greens. Pretty much any public or grocery store at. It doesn't cost hardly any money. It does a real good job getting me clean, but it has no fragrances or

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
dies. And so it doesn't clash with any of my my daytime or my my evening fragrance. So that's just a little clue on my methodology. So if you, if you know me and think I smell good, feel free to Try that if you don't know me and don't know how I smell, but you're worried about how you smell. You can try my method too, So that's that's where I'm coming from. What do you do about smelling nice? Dan?

Dan:
I just used the neighbor's hose and

Charles:
Yeah,

Dan:
I'm good to go, so I like to keep it simple.

Charles:
Yeah,

Dan:
Yeah know, so you know I am. I know those are some good tips because you know I do make that mistake of spraying. Maybe, maybe that was your subtle way of telling me to not spread it on my clothes anymore. So I definitely have a habit of doing that putting my my, my colon on my clothes. I love far in height. I know it's old, but I just love the way it smells it that it's a little bit of a spicy type of woods, Type of smell Ve been wearing that, and I do tend to wear that in the evenings when I'm going out for something special During the day I have a scented Leave in conditioner that I use.

Charles:
M,

Dan:
Gibbs has a leavin conditioner and it's for hair and also for beard. And so it's not only softens you know, the little bit of whiskers I've got here, but it also smells really good and I've been. I've been told that by my girl friend and some other people that they definitely like the smell of that, so I tend to also try not to do both. I will do one or the other, because they're both fairly strong smelling. once

Charles:
M,

Dan:
in a while, I forget, and that that one That the collision, the conditioner, has actually a smell to it. So I'm I'm absolutely guilty of that, but you're right. It makes total sense to the reason why you wear the colonies, because it interacts with the pharamones and the other sense that you have on your your natural body, So I also don't use any type of you know, champoos or conditioners or soap that has a lot of sense or any type of chemicals and things in there. I try to go as natural as possible, Mostly to preserve a lot of the good healthy bacteria on the skin,

Charles:
M, yeah,

Dan:
And I don't always use soap when I when I shower either, I don't you know, I don't think it's good to continuously use chemicals on the body. Once in a while I will just rent off with water. If if I'm not you now totally filthy and sweaty, you know, and I'm

Charles:
M,

Dan:
just need to cool off as it gets a little humid here and I'm sweating a little bit a little sticky. You know, I just rent off with some water, and you know that's absolutely help My my complexion and my skin all over my body By doing that, and a lot of times I'll finish off with with a cold shower to kind of close

Charles:
Hm,

Dan:
up the pores and that helps with that, but sense wise, you know, definitely agree with what you just said.

Charles:
Yeah, I'm not. I've not showered without the body wash before, but that totally makes sense. You know now that I'm starting to grow the top of my the hair on the top of my head a little bit longer. I'm not always washing that

Dan:
M.

Charles:
with shampoo. Sometimes I'm just using now hot water to kind of rinse my hair out. And it would make sense that the advantages of that, you know, letting that sort of healthy oil build up a little bit and not, you know, like

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
going after

Dan:
you

Charles:
a

Dan:
don't

Charles:
cast

Dan:
go

Charles:
iron

Dan:
weeks,

Charles:
pan. You

Dan:
you

Charles:
don't

Dan:
know

Charles:
want to. No, No,

Dan:
right,

Charles:
Oh, but,

Dan:
yeah,

Charles:
but you

Dan:
right,

Charles:
know, I shower Every day and so showering every day and washing. you know, shampooing your hair every day. Could you know the thread? This is one of those things that I think women have figured out a long time ago that washing your hair with um shampoo every day is probably not the best thing. So you know every every other day or something like that, there's again. unless you've you know, been really sweating or you've been in a really dusty environment or something like that. I mean there's there's probably good reasons to not shampoo your hair every day, and I could see that the woldprobably be good reasons. not to You know, wash your body with a very suds aggressive body wash every day as well.

Dan:
Yeah, I mean, we've got to remember here that the skin is also an Oregon, and it also absorbs everything what you put on your skin gets put into your blood stream. So something to think about when you're using different En, you're choosing different moisturizers and any topical stuff you put on your body soap. shampoo, Things like that that does make it into your blood stream. And so that it is not you, you're not. It's not a turtle shell that we're walking around in, and so keep in mind that also can affect your horn on levels. So you know we talk about. There's different. There's different chemicals in different types of sense and everything else you're puttin on your body

Charles:
M.

Dan:
that your body can actually interpret as estrogenic, like hormones, they called zenoextrogens,

Charles:
M.

Dan:
And so that could actually alter your hormone profile, your your estrogen, and test osten levels, But there's there's so many great you know moisturizers, body, typical stuff out there that have a lot Natural ingredients. A lot of things that you know don't convert into zenontrestrogens in your body. You've got a lot of choices out there these days. It's you know more and more and more as a more companies are becoming aware of that they're trying to accommodate us.

Charles:
Yeah, that's There's definitely a lot there to to google to learn more about that and you know as always you know, Just mind your mind, your sources, and remember who's who's out to make money on you when it comes to researching stuff like that. I will. I will mention

Dan:
M.

Charles:
that I was just you know, as as as I often do go going down you tube rabbit holes, and having I love that Youtube agora than they always suggest stuff to me that I really want to watch And one of them was a clip from Joe Rogan interviewing Dr. Andrew Huberman and talk About some of the some of the rough stuff you can find in Sun screens, and

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
some of the some of the stuff they put in Sun screen, that particles that are small enough to pass the blood brain barrier in your head, And you know he was like listening. You know Sun screens have there's great advantages to Sun screen. you know, stopping skin cancer and stuff like that, but he's like you got to you. Got to be careful about what people are putting in sun screens, because I mean also from an environmental perspective. When my girl friend and I Went to Hawaii, there are just certain kinds of sun screen that either are illegal there or there's heavy, pure pressure like on you to not like. They pretty much want you to wear only metallic sun screen there, stuff that

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
you

Dan:
like

Charles:
know,

Dan:
zink, like zinc

Charles:
like

Dan:
oxide.

Charles:
zinc and titanium. stuff like that where

Dan:
Yep,

Charles:
it does

Dan:
Yep,

Charles:
it doesn't kill coral because the particles are so small that it can get in there and and destroy the reefs. So boy, they are a bar to put on compared to you know, the nice All Hawaiian tropic stuff. But now a lot of those say that the reef safe, but I believe Hawaii, since we went, has even gotten rid of a lot of the stuff that our advertiser s reef safe, and I think they've gone straight to the metallic stuff now where that's all that they want you to use. If you're even all that they sell. Maybe I'm not

Dan:
They.

Charles:
sure I saw an article about it very recently, but don't remember all the details.

Dan:
I think if you do a little googling, there are some companies now that have developed some Multifies or basically changes those those metal based sun screens so that they're not like big white blotches on

Charles:
Yeah,

Dan:
you. And they're and they're ittle bit easier to apply. I can't think of any of top my head right now. I apologize, but it did remind me that I ordered some while ago and I don't think it ever showed up and I need to go check my receipts, because

Charles:
Absolutely

Dan:
yeah, like wait a min. You know, I never remember that coming in, so I got a check.

Charles:
Yeah. I mean, my, my general rule for myself has been okay. If I'm just hanging out at the hotel pool, then I'll use the comfortable stuff, but if I'm going in the you know into going snorkling or going into the ocean, then I'll wear the stuff that's a little bit better for the sea creatures that I like looking at so much right. but apparently

Dan:
Yep.

Charles:
I mean one one could make a good argument that the same stuff that's bad for the coral is probably bad for for the human, too, And that's that's definitely something that I will find it worth to do a little bit more research into.

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
Okay, So the the second sort of substance here that that the author talks about in this chapter on On smells is Andrew Stadia. One, Don't know if I'm saying that right, So I'm going

Dan:
No,

Charles:
to spell

Dan:
it sounds

Charles:
it

Dan:
right. yeah,

Charles:
Okay, Andrew, a n d r, O, and then s t a d, I e, n o, n E. This is a phermone that is derived from Tistosterone, And you know it's not Hard to look up phairemones and what they do and how they work, But the message of a good portion of this chapter is that like the way you sound and the way you look, the way you smell, can communicate your fitness as a partner to women. and and there their bodies are kind of tuned to really use all of the senses that they have at their disposal to evaluate whether some, whether a man would be a good partner for them or not, and

Dan:
Hm

Charles:
so generally speaking, More testosteron, you have. the more this particular chemical compound is going to be available through an interested woman's nose, and and that can increase or decrease the amount of attraction she might feel for you. And so the, and it does say that women who are exposed to this this compound for around fifteen minutes become subtly more attentive, aroused and happy. You know subtly is in is in quotation marks. And and one has to ask, Okay, how, I'm not going to say that Ou know the the amount of this in your blood stream that is coming out and being smelled by women is not going to offset your poor fitting suit or your inability to talk and interact with a woman? You know. it's your behavior Is still, because I was just listening to the episode that we released this morning about you know, working out and having a muscular fit physique And And we did a pretty good job of emphasizing You know there's There's no amount of lifting you can do That will offset your poor behavioral skills. If you don't know how to act strong and confident with women, then it doesn't really much matter what you, what you look like or what you have on under your clothes. And it doesn't matter how good you smell, if if you don't know how, if you're Peter, from our first case study, who you know, sees a pretty girl and decides to go to the same coffee shop for two weeks, so he can stare Ad er in the hopes he might be willing to talk to her some day. If you're acting that way, it doesn't matter how good you smell, so behavior is still number one. but we're talking about other things

Dan:
Right

Charles:
that can

Dan:
right.

Charles:
help give you a little bit of an edge and make you feel more confident, so that you know interacting with women becomes easier and more pleasant for you, Which it's easier and more pleasant. You're going to do it more Nd. you're gonna get better at it. So that said,

Dan:
Yep. that's a great way of phrasing it.

Charles:
smelling like you have high testosteron is one of the benefits of having high test astern, But it's it's not. It's not the top benefit. I would say, men, men with high test astern enjoy lots of benefits from A from a health and even a sociological perspective. But so let's talk a little bit about the things you can do and the things you probably can't do to increase your test astro level so that you smell better Naturally right, Um, here's

Dan:
Hm.

Charles:
a question that I'd like to ask for you, Dan, based on your background and nutrition, as well as in your background and into chronology. I've been told that there's pretty much nothing you can eat in the form of a supplement that will have a large impact on the amount of testostraon your body produces is And, and the person who told me that I believe they were a doctor, And they cited this as a reference. They said, If if it was possible to Something like a pill in your mouth, that would have a major impact on the hormones that your body releases, we would have gotten rid of injectable insolent a long time ago,

Dan:
Yeah, yeah, I, because it all gets broken broken down by the stomach,

Charles:
Right,

Dan:
because you know all of these horn bones. Are you know, comprised of components that your your stomach or your digestive system would would break down, and basically you know, take them out of effect, so there's you know when it comes to you know hormones. the two major ways are either injectible or topical. so goes though the

Charles:
M,

Dan:
skin to the blood stream, or injecting it right. So that's for for large differen Is, I think

Charles:
Right,

Dan:
I totally agree with that. That's that's really the way it works. I mean, some some people have dabbled with like topical sprays that you know might work, might not work. and I think the you know they're experimenting or have some in sling that gets you like no spray, but even then that

Charles:
M,

Dan:
still doesn't go through your digestive system necessarily,

Charles:
Right,

Dan:
but it's hard to problems. It's hard to dial that in to get specific with with a no spray. but yeah, that's that's been my experience. Well,

Charles:
And

Dan:
I would totally

Charles:
I

Dan:
agree

Charles:
imagine

Dan:
with that.

Charles:
there's There's probably a really good reason for that too, right because it's like we. we eat a lot of foods from both plants and animals that have a lot of components are compounds in them That may not be the best for us. You know, E, getting to that blood brain barrier. There's there's stuff in plants and there's stuff in animals that we don't want traversing that. so our stomach is as evolved in environment where it can. It can kind of do away with that stuff. that's pretty bad for us now. Obviously there's still you know viruses back there That you can pick up that will make you sick, but the highly acetic environment of the human stomach is made to deal with some of that stuff so that it doesn't impact our our health on a long term basis, So that said,

Dan:
Yeah, and I mean it doesn't.

Charles:
the testostron pills you get off

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
Amazon probably aren't going to do much.

Dan:
Yeah, I mean, the other thing to keep in mind here is to when you're looking for food. you know it is still better to get food from animals that haven't had hormones.

Charles:
Sure

Dan:
You know you know endabiotics as well. It does get broken down in your stomach, but it's not a hundred per cent right. You're still

Charles:
Right, right,

Dan:
and think about it too. Is you eat multiple times a day, right every single day, So

Charles:
Right,

Dan:
even if it's a tiny little fractional amount, why are you you know if you can afford to get the healthier meats than For the ones that you know haven't been manipulated with with hormones. But yes, yeah, the pills. Now there are some herbs that you know can increase. You know, your test ostrom levels a little bit right. and the again, it's really an individual thing, because it's like Okay. Where are you starting from? In terms of your current

Charles:
M,

Dan:
test as their own levels Now do you have really low test Oster own, and then doing some of the things he's talking about here that are basically You know. mostly you know, food and life style related. Those things can make a difference where you're going. a notice a change right. But if you're like in a

Charles:
Right,

Dan:
normal range and you know you want you want to significant increase. you know most of the stuff dietary. you may not see that much or feel that much of a difference.

Charles:
Yeah, I was. I was just thinking that, I guess the value that some of those testostron building supplements could have is there. You know. there are certain compounds that your body has to have present in order to make testostron, So, if you, if you bump up the

Dan:
M.

Charles:
level of those compounds that your body uses to to put together into a into testostrone, then having more of those at your body's disposal would probably be better than Then not. but you know, I think the the practices that are mentioned in this chapter will have a bigger impact on your test ostrom level. Then you know, then some some things that they're selling on Amazon to boost your test ostrom, And those would include getting sleep now for men. The seven to nine hours is a pretty healthy recommendation that you're getting more of that sleep and it's good quality sleep in a cold room that's completely blocked out your ear. Wake up feeling more rested and I believe you're your test. Ostrom levels will thank you for that as well. eating enough protein is a big one from from good sources. And and that's I mean, really, all protein sources are pretty good sources. But you know drinking your protein is not going to be as good as eating your protein. Least, that's what I've always heard, and it seems to, I feel certainly feel more satiated when I eat a high protein meal than when I grab a protein shake on the go.

Dan:
Yeah, you know the othe thing to think about to is that you know I'm really. I'm a fan of more animal based proteins over a plant. The absorption is always significantly better when it comes to

Charles:
M.

Dan:
the food that you're getting, And they do make animal based protein powders. You just need to look for them and so was kind of one. But I use a grass fed beef from New Zealand

Charles:
M,

Dan:
and it's you know

Charles:
fancy,

Dan:
again you need you need well, think is to it it doesn't It's not a milk shake right. So some of these things, if you're looking for a tasty protein

Charles:
Yes,

Dan:
shake, the grass fed beef from New Zealand. that is not going to be. It smells a little bit like beef,

Charles:
Oh,

Dan:
as you would imagine, because I don't get them flavored with any type of Steve or anything else like that.

Charles:
M,

Dan:
You know, I'll typically I'll mix it with. I'll mix it with some honey, and maybe a little bit of half and half. and then sometimes I will throw some fruit in there and kind of make like a protein pudding. And and the honey. Basically you masks this Smell and the taste for me. I don't. I am, not, you know, in all fairness, my taste, but are not super sensitive. So for those of you out there, who who can taste just about everything that comes across your palate than you might need to supplement with a couple of other things in there to make it taste a little bit better. but yeah, absolutely, protein is the one thing that our body has a minimum requirement for and we will continue to eat. There's been many many studies and a lot of meta analysis looked at different studies at show. Uh, based on you know eating patterns and things like that, that our bodies will eat as many calories as it needs to get a certain minimum allowed amount of protein. So basically, if our body needs, let say hundrograms of protein a day, it doesn't care if we get that hundred grams of protein from. you know. Uh, you know five hundred twinkies, because there's a tiny little bit of

Charles:
Right, right,

Dan:
protein in each one,

Charles:
right,

Dan:
or, or you could have you know, you know five or six stakes right, or or a bunch of ground beef, whatever that Is right, And and that might be a lot less calories. So that's something to keep in mind is for optimizing protein and general energy and health is, or you know, the well being is to have that protein and every single meal, a little bit of every single meal spur out throughout the day.

Charles:
Yeah, that's That's a good point and I definitely yeah. I'm on the opposite side of I. I respect Dan's ability to eat what's good for him. in spite of the way that it tastes. I do

Dan:
Oh

Charles:
not have that ability. And so you know anything I've said in the last few weeks about my, my, my facial harror on my voice. You can you can discount the idea that I'm more manly than Dan, because I am certainly not when it comes to my ability to eat food that I don't find yummy. I just can't do it, Man if

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
if I'm if I'm having a protein shake, it better taste like a milk shake. Um, and I'll go ahead

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
and put a plug out there for the the Fair Life. I think it's the Fair life core elite, ready to drink shakes that have like forty two grams of protein in them. Those things

Dan:
M.

Charles:
are yummy. I like. I like the vanilla and the strawberry the best the chocolate. I've not had a. I've not really had a protein shake of the chocolate flavor that I would say. Oh, that's good. Oh, that taste Chocolate milk like none of them do. But the

Dan:
Hm.

Charles:
the strawberry and the vanilla, Fair life core lets good stuff. Um,

Dan:
Oh,

Charles:
the and again, When I say that you can, you can believe it, because if it doesn't taste good, I am not. I'm not eating or drinking it.

Dan:
And I've tried. I've tried to get Charles to even taste some of the concoctions that I make, and he's like he's very played about. He's like, Yeah, maybe later,

Charles:
Yeah, it is.

Dan:
in a mood for it later and the later

Charles:
Yeah,

Dan:
never comes. Later never comes.

Charles:
I've not. I mean, I did mean that sincerely when talking about like Oregon meat or hamburger mixed with Oregon meat, but

Dan:
Oh, I love

Charles:
I mean

Dan:
it.

Charles:
it is like the You made us really good files the other night when we were working at your house, And like with the irst bite, I'm like this is grass fed right

Dan:
Yep.

Charles:
because

Dan:
Yep.

Charles:
I could.

Dan:
it does as

Charles:
I

Dan:
different.

Charles:
could immediately tell I love the. I know, it's not as good for me, but man, the corn fed beef just tastes tastes different. I don't know if it tastes better or I'm just used to it because that's all I grew up on, but man, nice, nice corn fed steak, which I know like some of the some of the really good prime steaks that you get will feed the cow grass for its whole life, and that right before they slaughter, they start feeding at corn, so that as that

Dan:
Hm.

Charles:
flavor and that's that's tasty stuff. I like. I like that, but one thing I didn't want to talk about is alcohol consumption is mentioned in the book specifically Being estrogenic

Dan:
M,

Charles:
and ntoxic,

Dan:
hm,

Charles:
which you know. we all know that. I mean who I don't tink. There's anybody walking around who thinks that the alcohol and cigarettes are actually good for. you know,

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
it's like we. We know that they're not good for you. We we choose to do them anyway. I mean some of you do I, I do not take. I do not consume either cigarette or alcohol, And that's not because I'm I'm better than you. I mean, I am better than you, And that's why I don't do cigarettes or alcohol, But it's not. It only goes a wonder Action, but the second thing that, well, the thing that he list right under alcohol, Dan excess body fat. I've heard that that's estrogenic as

Dan:
M.

Charles:
well, if you have. If you're carrying around body fat. that's a test ostrom killer. Correct.

Dan:
It is people. This was relatively new information for me too. In the last few years, I realized I learned that fat is not like a dead like cell. It's a live active cell that actually secretes hormones, and one of the hormones it secretes I think it is estrogen. And and it does. Yeah, so the problem is that know the alcohol can cause a cause. The you know additional of you know, not just a fatty liver, But you get a fat around your stomach area as well, and that stomach area. The fat, that is, that's part of your body. There can generate quite a bit of estrogen, and that affect the other parts of your body as well.

Charles:
Yeah, and that is, that is certainly something to. To keep in mind one of the benefits of of shedding that body fat and getting down into some of the ranges we talked about like the sub twenty percent body fat will have benefits on your test ostrom production as well, and so a couple of other points intermitente fasting suggest, because it can reduce insolent spikes and also release more human growth hormone, eating healthy fats like nut, butters, Olive oil, avacados, eggs and red meat, And then, in addition to sleep, I would say again, just from my own experience of what I've read in other sources, getting good sleep and working out in the gym, especially working out in the gym in ways that your big muscle groups are stressed to the point where they feel that they need to recover and adapt from that stress that will will up your test. Astro, and you know, even I can definitely tell a difference when I'm you know, taking test of our own replacement therapy

Dan:
M.

Charles:
and in the gym doin my compound lifts. My levels definitely go up, and and I can, I can certainly tell that with with the way I feel and even the way that my skin reacts when I'm when I'm having those higher levels, so get good sleep and and hit the gym and work out your big muscles, like we discussed in episode number seventy That released today, That's that's another good way to. those are two. in my opinion, probably the best ways to Quote quote, Naturally, bump your test ostrom levels up. but let's talk about the unnatural ways too.

Dan:
Yep,

Charles:
If you're If you're you know, certainly mid thirties or higher. I would say go go get your test ostrom levels checked and be open to the idea that you might need to supplement your your body's testosteron. You know, there's so many studies that just show that the average test ostrom level of males in Western cultures is just taking a nose dive. And you know whether that's environmental Or the level of stress that were being subjected to, or whatever, Nobody has come out and clearly said. This is exactly why test ostrom levels are falling, but everybody pretty much agrees that they are, And it is it's not. It's not ideal to live a low test ostrom life.

Dan:
Yeah, you know, and if you do go to your doctor, you want to make sure that the doctor tests the free test Astro, as well as the overall total test ostrom levels, because there's a number of different factors that actually can affect the free test ostrom levels and bind up that the free test ostrom, So, even if you have normal range test, astro, or high test Astro, if you are, you know the free test stone is in range. That's too low. something else is happening to bind up, so you could be producing enough, But there's Thing else at play there That's not allowing

Charles:
M.

Dan:
the test Astro to make it where it needs to go, and that's going to affect your overall feeling of health and well ness. And so if if you're going to like a primary doctor for this, I mean, you know, really, depends on the doctor, but you want to make sure that they're not just testing your total test, Astro. they're testing some other things like the free and then consider may be looking for a functional health, a functional medicine doctor end, or go to an age management clinic where they are more familiar with dealing with Hormones, And so they might also test things like your estrogen, Your extra dial, those things that was well, and just make sure that's a healthy balance. So you really want to have quite a few different aspects of your hormone profile looked at before you start any type of replacement therapy or any other type of treatment for your hormones, So that you're not, you're not wasting your time or puttin yourself in a weird range. That's not doing anything for you.

Charles:
Yeah, I remember when I first reached out to the the company that the doctor's office that I that I went to for t. r. T. You know, I found them just through like a Google Add, because I searched for you know, low test Ostrander Men's test, Ostrom, replacement therapy or whatever, And they, basically their deal was for ninety nine dollars. They would send you to a basement down in South Florida, but they were like. For ninety nine dollars, they would send me to a local, sort of like Minute clinic, urgent care place to get my blood drawn, and they would give me. They gave me a full hormone work up for that ninety nine dollars. And then that also included their recommended prescription. So you know, at the time, based on the insurance that I had, and what my own doctor would charge to do lab work, it was cheaper to me or cheaper for me to just go to this clinic and say hey, here's my ninety nine dollars. Give me my full hormone work. So even if I decided not to move forward the t, r t, it still would have, And an inexpensive way to find out you know what my levels were, and then deciding how I wanted to go forward from that point. So that's that's one option you have if if you're not sure that you are primary care physician, is, um, you don't get the vibe that this is something that they're very familiar with And they're gonna. they're looking to work with you on because normal test Osteron, and I say that normal in quotation marks, there's a huge range that can come up as normal and we don't really know. Um, What all the factors in that could go into your. Your test result on that particular day might be. And so like, I think the normal range is considered like two hundred to nine hundred, which. That's a pretty dog on big big range, And I was within the normal range, but I was

Dan:
Yep,

Charles:
on the low end of it and and the clinic I went through was like Yeah, your your quoting quote normal, but you're on the very low end of the normal range, so we think you'd be a good candidate for this, and I was like, I agree, and I moved forward with it. So M. Yeah, sometimes just go into one of those Party clinics that specializes in anti aging or in men's hormone therapy might be a better option than than just dealing with your own your own doctor.

Dan:
Yeah, and you know, really, the doctor should be talking to you, trying to understand how you're feeling on a day to day basis and get an understanding

Charles:
M.

Dan:
of your lifestyle and be able to really help you figure out. Hey, you know, you know, based on my age, my lifestyle and my health, you know, you know, should I have some more energy? Should I have a little bit of a better body composition? Things like that. And so, even if you come back somewhere within a normal quote and quote normal range, if you're not feeling optimal, you know, I think

Charles:
M,

Dan:
you know it is a fairly safe know with t r T level Anyway, Not like

Charles:
Right,

Dan:
body building levels, but

Charles:
right, exactly,

Dan:
you know our T amounts of of of test ostrom supplementation, I think you know can do wonders for for you physically mentally, and that being said, it doesn't mean you should be ignoring all the other suggestions that can well talks about, and that that we recommend in terms of your life style to help to help with our test. Ostrom levels. Talk about, you know, sleep and the rest and the exercise and you know, and you know It's sufficient amount of protein. Also look to increase. You know, the healthy fats and he talks about things like you know, avacatos and red meat eggs, dark chocolate. Things like that. saturated fats are actually very healthy for you. despite what the marketing has been telling us,

Charles:
M.

Dan:
So you want to stay away from seed oils. And so you know Canoa oil Ou know all of it is fine, but a lot of the vegetable oils are not. You know if they're not naturally greasy. If you can't pick them out of nature, then that you know it's

Charles:
Yeah,

Dan:
not a healthy oil right, So avacatois there, a little greasy olive? you can squeeze out your hand. You can get some some grease out of that right, or it can be a little oily corn. Not so much soil, not so much right. Those are

Charles:
Right,

Dan:
things that we should not be consuming. Those things have been highly processed by chemical compounds as well as you know, machines and things to create these oils, and that our bodies it's not healthy for. So you know, if you're gonna go for the t r T stuff, you know you don't want to be Pending all the money and time and energy getting the t r T stuff, and then even like complete crap. Now it doesn't mean you have

Charles:
Right,

Dan:
to be perfect, you know, and do all of these things and be you know, flawless at this point, but now you do just want to be a little bit more conscientious of the life style that you've got, and Ou know to kind of come back to the whole mental thing here. Right In terms of you know, you're talking about how you know people had a trauma and and and they,

Charles:
M.

Dan:
it can actually affect the vocal cords and stuff the local cords. If you were taking some of these actions, even Small little ways, and you know you are, then know thinking, Hey, I am working on my body and working on being healthy and working on improving my test of stone, which I know is going to help my confidence and my attractiveness. That will. Then you know those are, then you're setting the mind set and you're supporting that mind set of being healthy, and you probably can increase. you know, your test of throne, and your confidence and your Ttractiveness also quite a bit from from your mind set.

Charles:
Yeah, And that that leads me into, there's two final points I want to make for this chapter. The one is that they did that study, that study where women looked at videos of men who had you know, put on some cologne and men who had not put on cologne, and they could kind of tell that the the men who were wearing cologne behaved in a way that made them more attractive than the men who were not wearing cologne. And so I'm sure the there may be guys out there who worked the opposite way, but I think for most of us if we know we're smelling good and that you know when we Led by that good looking gal in the in the isle of the grocery store, she's going to think, Man, he smells nice. Then we're going. You know our strut will be a little bit different when we're in those scenarios than if we weren't wearing something that made it smell good. M. So that's one thing I want to mention. The other thing I wanted

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
to mention is you know, we want to talk a little bit about briefly about the how you shop for a nice fragrance, and uh, I typically think that fragrance is one of those things where you generally get what you pay for, so I Commend you know, not, in most cases buying your cologne at Wal Mart or Wall greens, but going some place that has a little nicer of a high end selection because if you're using cologne, especially a spray colon. in the quantities that you ought to be, it will last you a very long time, perhaps perhaps years, you know, like since I've got one fragrance that I use during the day and one that I use at night after one or two years, I just grow tired of it and I move on to something else and I've never Used up the whole bottle. I've gotten rid of it, and there's still been some last ither given to a friend who wants to try something new or something like that. You know you should not be bathing in the stuff to the level that you're going through it very quickly at all, but I would say so it's worth spending a little bit of extra money on it and getting really good stuff because it will last you a long long time. But if you can't do that, there are a couple of fragrances that you can get fairly inexpensively that I think still smell pretty nice, And I don't have a problem recommending one of them would be Clubman C, l, u, b, m, a N, by a company called Pinaud P, I, n a U. D. And they do sell this at a lot of drug stores. You can also get it on Amazon. And this stuff goes for maybe six or seven dollars a bottle. It is not very expensive and it

Dan:
Wow,

Charles:
smells. It's a very barber shop kind of smell, so there is kind of a classic masculine sent to it that that's pretty nice. The second one is the Blue

Dan:
So

Charles:
aclagoahead.

Dan:
it smells like cut hair. What do you? you mean? What do you barber shop? like?

Charles:
Like

Dan:
cut

Charles:
the

Dan:
hair or like

Charles:
the, the powder

Dan:
shaving

Charles:
that they

Dan:
cream?

Charles:
will,

Dan:
I mean, what are we talking about

Charles:
a

Dan:
here?

Charles:
little a little like shaving cream. Yes, a little like shaving cream, and a

Dan:
Okay,

Charles:
little like the panada, also makes the green talcum powder that they will often put on their brush, and then sort of used to get the hair off the hair off the back of your neck, and so

Dan:
I

Charles:
yeah,

Dan:
know that bottle. I didn't realize that was them.

Charles:
Yeah, they make. They make

Dan:
All right.

Charles:
a pretty good smell in after shave too, that you can get on on Amazon or a lot of drug stores for not very much money. And then the second one that I like is Aquavlva, the original blue Aquavelva, which is a pretty nice smell in after shade, very clean. I would say, if I had to categorize two of them, I would say the aquavelvais more of a daytime fragrance, where the clubman could be used more of of a night time fragrance. And the aquavelva. I looked at it on Amazon today. It's less And five dollars a bottle for for for a bottle of it on on Amazon. So they're both. They're both pretty inexpensive. They both smell clean, not overpowering, Not really spicy. I am not a fan of the Ax brand and what they have done to every gym that I, every Jim lock room that I go into. Not not a big fan of that at all, So I, if if there's any chance you may run into me accidentally or on purpose, don't wear Ax, and I would appreciate that so much the big one when I was in middle school that guys would spray themselves down with in the in the locker room after P. E was brute, the same one that Kevin from home alone, you know, puts on his hands and then puts on his face and he screams in the mirror after he takes a shower that was real popular in my middle school locker room, and the new version of Brute is kind of ax body spray. So yeah, I would. I would recommend either of the low priced brands I mentioned, Alcovelva or Clubman by Pinaud over over acts, and pretty much everything else. Old Spice is the other one that you can kind of get away with because it does have a very classic and timeless scent and it's also fairly inexpensive, but some of the stuff that

Dan:
M.

Charles:
I remember is being sort of inexpensive drug store cologne. As a kid I looked on Amazon, and some of its selling for like twenty twenty five dollars a bottle. Now things like old spice English leather stuff like that.

Dan:
Wow,

Charles:
It's more expensive than I remember it. and and I would say, Spend more money now. let's talk about how to try some of these on what I recommend is again if you can afford. if you can afford a daytime sent. nighttime sent. Great, If you can't then you can. I would just go with a daytime sent and just and just where that. The thing I would do is I like to shop at Blumydales. We have one locally here in Orlando, and I find that their sales people are usually really nice and really honest and you know about what they like and what they don't like. And so I've just had good experiences there. Working in Blooming Dales stuff is pretty expensive, so they probably make good money. so the best sales people probably kind of gravitate to an environment like that, and what I say is try on, not try on. Try smelling lots of different kinds by spraying them on to the little paper swatches that they have, and then when you've narrowed it down to your favorite to, at that point get the sales person involved and say hey, I'm down to these two colons that I really like the way they they smell, but I can't decide which one Would be the best for me And then what you do is spray one on your left wrist and one on your right wrist, and and don't rub them together, Just you know, spray it on your wrist and let it kind of just seep into your skin for thirty seconds or so, and then you give to smell and ask them if they wouldn't mind giving it a smell to say how it smells on you, and they will because they're looking to sell you some cologne and then factor in how you think it smells as well as how they think it smells. Now the goal here is you know you don't want to just go to For example a Ralph Loren store and ask them how Polo smells on you, because the answer is going to always be It smells great. You should definitely buy it. But if you go to a place like Blooming Dales or even Marcus, or even know Dillard's or Mass, where they have lots of different brands, they're probably not. You know. they could be slightly incentivized to recommend one over another, but it won't be such a huge incentive that I think they would be willing to lie to you again. That's one of hereasons. I like going to blooming Dales, because they just seem to be straight shooters when it comes to this stuff, so yeah, try lots Stuff by smelling it on the little paper you spray, then your top to put on one one on each wrist. Let it sleep in for a little bit, Then smell it, and then I would usually recommend once you even decide Okay, I definitely like the left wrist better than the right wrist. Go ahead and do a lap around the all and see how it smells half hour later, an hour later, Because a lot of a lot of fragrances will change. You know if you sweat a little bit, or if it's just on your body for a little while, it will change the way that it smells as the day goes on, so it's probably the best die To to live with the smell for a while. Revisit it and see if you still like it and then and then go back and make sure you find the person who helped you and buy it from them so they make their commission.

Dan:
Have you ever experimented with any of these knock off imitation clones?

Charles:
Yeah, I have, and while the smell is usually pretty close, I can usually tell a little bit of a difference because they usually go a little too far in making it stronger than than the real thing is. I've also noticed that the viscosity of the perfume

Dan:
M.

Charles:
is a little bit different, or the colon is a little bit different too. It usually like the actual. The actual liquid looks thicker for some reason, so Um, I would say I would. I would probably Buy a, and for a long a good long term experience. I would buy a mid grade authentic fragrance that you know, actually is what what it's trying to be, and not trying to imitate something else. Instead of getting a knock off of a really expensive fragrance, I would just get the actual version of a more inexpensive fragrance and go with that.

Dan:
And and I mean, it sounds to me that's only a benefit. right. It lasts longer. and I mean, who cares if it's a little thicker? I mean, but what do you think? it just doesn't smell exactly the same, Or are you concerned about maybe how they make it or what's in it? I mean,

Charles:
Ah, no. I would

Dan:
Really

Charles:
just say

Dan:
yet it's difficult to know, but I was just

Charles:
Yeah,

Dan:
curious.

Charles:
it can be. It can be a little overpowering. Like I tried the knock off version

Dan:
Okay.

Charles:
of tobacco. Venial by Um. Tom Ford, and the one you get man, Marcus is pretty strong. I mean, tobacco and vanilla are some pretty strong and somewhat polarizing sense anyway, And so

Dan:
M.

Charles:
if somebody is trying to push it and make it a little over the top, and you know you still just use one spray On your neck, or or two sprays on your neck, And it's still is like really strong. Um, it can. It can kind of present as a like while that guy is wearing a lot of cologne and you never. you never want the reaction of. While that guy is

Dan:
Interesting.

Charles:
wearing a lot

Dan:
yeah,

Charles:
of cologne, you

Dan:
yeah,

Charles:
just want that you know.

Dan:
yeah,

Charles:
I think probably the best case scenario is when a woman can smell it on you and she's not even sure that she is smelling it on you. It's just like there's something something about that guy

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
and end it, You know, being detected by her by her nose and her brain and in at a subconscious level. That's that's probably your best case scenario. But

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
then

Dan:
definitely

Charles:
again, I

Dan:
get

Charles:
mean

Dan:
some

Charles:
some,

Dan:
feedback

Charles:
some of

Dan:
if

Charles:
them.

Dan:
your nose is not quite as sensitive. you know.

Charles:
Some of the knock offs are very inexpensive, especialy, if you buy them on line, and you know if if you've got some time and some money and you're

Dan:
Hm.

Charles:
willing to experiment, then by all means give it a shot and see you know you might. you might look into something better than the ones I've tried. And uh, yeah, but I wouldn't.

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
I wouldn't spend. You know, Certainly, if you're looking at a bottle of something than the knock off is sixty or seventy dollars. sixty or seventy dollars can get you something really good at Macy's And Oh, the other thing I want to say is try to avoid you like Dan, Like his Fairenhegt Nd. E's been using it for a while, but Fairenhet is a deorfragrance, so hat's not the same as a lower like there are guys walking around still wearing dracarnoi and cool water, just like they did back in the you know in the early nineties I would. I would consider switching up your fragrance at least every ten years and a minimum. You know, unless it is like something like

Dan:
He.

Charles:
you know, creed or dor, or one of the really O, high end uh

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
colons that that that can be

Dan:
I

Charles:
a

Dan:
mean

Charles:
lifetime choice.

Dan:
an elf.

Charles:
but but cool water is not

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
if.

Dan:
Listen.

Charles:
if

Dan:
so just so you know, I came back to Fairnhight, I have been wearing it since high school. I've definitely tried a couple of other other sense since then, but I just I came back to it recently, so

Charles:
But again, I mean

Dan:
I

Charles:
you

Dan:
just

Charles:
know,

Dan:
needed

Charles:
there's

Dan:
to

Charles:
plenty

Dan:
throw that out there

Charles:
plenty of people who've been drinking Domparenn for fifty years, and I'm not telling them it's time to move on to a different champagne. I mean, when when you're talking about the high end stuff

Dan:
Right,

Charles:
in dear

Dan:
but

Charles:
dear

Dan:
faronheightis,

Charles:
is pretty

Dan:
not

Charles:
pretty.

Dan:
the domparenyon of smells, Though

Charles:
That's true. That's that's fair. but yeah, cool, cool water and dracar

Dan:
I'm not spending

Charles:
are the

Dan:
that

Charles:
ones

Dan:
much money on it

Charles:
cool

Dan:
right.

Charles:
water and dracarare, The ones that I know. you know guys.

Dan:
Oh,

Charles:
that was their first Nigce Colon in high school, and you know generally if Snoop Dogs hang about it on his first album, you shouldn't be. And any more, I think that's fair to say

Dan:
I did. I did. I did wear a little drear back in high school. I did

Charles:
I did too. Yeah,

Dan:
and and I, actually I did when I. when I went back to Farenheiht, I bought some tracar too, and I was like, Oh, let me let me see which one I like and I just I like the farenheit better and I had to throw away. I don't eat the rest

Charles:
Yeah,

Dan:
of Dacre.

Charles:
the dracar and the cool water. Speaking of smells that take you back both of

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
those. If if I smell those, I was like. Oh my gosh, is it nineteen

Dan:
Yeah,

Charles:
ninety two again?

Dan:
memories,

Charles:
It feels like nineteen ninety two.

Dan:
memories

Charles:
All right. cool Well, I think we went a little bit longer than we. We tend to to like to go down. but you know, hopefully when when all the sand ums get edited out, it will be down to about forty five minutes. So well we'll be right in the right in the range after after it gets edited

Dan:
Right in

Charles:
down,

Dan:
a sweet spot

Charles:
So Exactly anything

Dan:
sounds

Charles:
else

Dan:
good.

Charles:
to share before we move on.

Dan:
No, I'm good with that,

Charles:
All right, Our next episode will be about clothes, and we will probably be on clothes for a few weeks, because I have a lot to say about clothes. I will talk to you guys, later,

Dan:
All right, Have a good one man.

Charles:
You to by by.