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It wasn't just Steve McQueen's rugged looks that sent ladies into a frenzy in the 1960s.

The actor's enduring sex appeal may have been boosted by his aftershave, Eau Sauvage, which contained a potent chemical known as Hedione.

Now scientists have revealed how this chemical activates the hypothalamus - an area of the brain responsible for triggering the release of sex hormones in women.

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It wasn't just Steve McQueen's rugged looks that sent ladies into a frenzy in the 1960s. The actor's enduring sex appeal may have been boosted by his aftershave, Eau Sauvage, which contained a potent chemical known as Hedione. Pictured is Steve Mcqueen starring in the 1965 film The Cincinnati Kid

Dior's Eau Sauvage Parfum ad depicts itself as irresistible

Hedione - derived from the Greek word 'hedone', for fun, pleasure, lust - has a fresh jasmine-magnolia scent.

The Christian Dior fragrance, Eau Savage, was the first to use it in 1966, and it has since found its way into other fragrances such as Chamade by Guerlain, CKOne and Chanel no. 19.

The study found that Hedione creates 'sex-specific activation patterns' in the tissue found in the nasal cavity which connects to the brain, according to a report in the Telegraph.

Here Hedione - which has the chemical name methyl dihydro-jasmonate - activates the pheromone receptor VN1R in humans.

'These results constitute compelling evidence that a pheromone effect different from normal olfactory perception indeed exists in humans,' says scent researcher Prof Hanns Hatt from Ruhr-Universität Bochum in Germany.

Scientists analysed brain activity when a person smelled Hedione to find out how it changed their emotions and behaviour.

They then compared the results with the effects caused by a common floral fragrance known as phenylethyl alcohol.

Hedione triggered brain areas in the limbic system, which is responsible for emotions, memory and motivation, more effectively than phenylethyl alcohol.

It also activated an area of the hypothalamus which releases sex hormones throughout body to turn people on.

The Christian Dior fragrance, Eau Savage (left), was the first to use Hedione in 1966, and it has since found its way into other fragrances such as Chamade by Guerlain, CKOne and Chanel no. 19 (right)

The German study found that Hedione activated a specific hypothalamic region, in women more strongly than in men.

But scientists are still divided over whether humans can actually communicate via pheromones.

In the animal kingdom, this kind of communication is widespread.

Mice have around 300 different genes for pheromone receptors; in humans, probably only five of them are still functional.

'In the next stage, we want to find out which physiological and psychological parameters are affected when Hedione activates the pheromone receptor,' explains Hanns Hatt.

'We also have to search for scent molecules in bodily secretions, which resemble Hedione and activate the receptor.

'With its help, humans could actually communicate with each other.'