Alan R. Hirsch, MD, neurological director of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, conducted a study that looked at how different smells stimulated sexual arousal. He found that [...the] smell of cheese pizza, for instance, increased blood flow to the penis by 5 percent, buttered popcorn by 9 percent, and lavender and pumpkin pie each by 40 percent. For women, lavender and pumpkin pie also had a stimulating effect; however, the smell of [anise/fennel/licorice] combined with the scent of cucumber created the greatest increase in blood flow to the vagina.