Should single women stock up on Chanel No. 5?

While researching the season’s newest scents — shown in the accompanying photos — I came across a story in The New York Daily News that said women who wear Chanel No. 5 have better luck with men than women who don’t wear the classic scent.

And that one in 10 women reported meeting the man of her dreams while wearing Chanel No. 5.

The story went on to list the scents with the most man-attracting power, the world’s sexiest scents, based on a 2009 poll of 3,000 women for Superdrug, a British fragrance retailer.

Besides Chanel No. 5, the Top 10 include, in order: Be Delicious by DKNY; Ghost by Ghost; Eternity for Women by Calvin Klein; Hugo Woman by Hugo; Classique by Jean Paul Gaultier; Cool Water by Davidoff; Angel by Thierry Mugler; Anais Anais by Cacharel and Obsession by Calvin Klein.

I’ve dabbled with two of these perfumes — Chanel No. 5 (it was a gift); and Anais Anais, a college favorite.

I am saddened to report that neither got me any attention from men. I am sometimes sensitive to smells. I gave up Chanel No. 5 because it made me feel queasy. I gave up Anais Anais after about a year for the same reason — although I like it on other people.

That’s when I started thinking: Maybe it’s not so much the scent of perfume that attracts men to women.

Maybe it’s the way women feel and carry themselves when they’re wearing the perfume.

Kay Caccamo, who is 40 and lives in Canton, Mich., wears Happy by Clinique when she goes out in the evenings. It makes her feel polished. “If I’m going to get dressed up, it’s part of your accessories,” she said.

Jill Wright, 45, of Wixom, Mich., discovered her signature scent, Innocence by Chloe, during a 1998 trip to France with girlfriends.

“One of the girls on our trip wore it, and I smelled it and was, ‘Oh, I love that. Tell me the name.’ And we went to the Sephora on the Champs-Elysees. It reminds me of the trip. We did so much, we went to Giverny. I went down to Nice. So I think when I put it on, it kind of takes me back.”

She loves Innocence so much that she stocked up on the perfume after it was discontinued. She has about 1 1/2 bottles left.

“I was wearing it, and then I met my husband,” she said. “Sometimes I’ll wear it, and he’ll say, ‘Oh, that reminds me of when we were dating.’”

Maybe that’s the real magic of perfume — that its scent makes us feel special, that it reminds us of happy times.

And there’s a certain confidence that comes from feeling special. Men I know find confident women attractive.