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PRODUCT: Fuwarinka Candy - Does it Work?

My Google search keywords are demanding that I solve the mystery of Fuwarinka Candy. Very well then, I will oblige. I am sorry to say that the results are not promising.

I received two packs of Fuwarinka candy. One was flavored of rose and the other was flavored of citrus. As the packaging was all in Japanese, I have no idea if the candy came with any instructions as to dosage or any particular rules as to use. So I decided to start with eating one piece of candy and then increase it the next time I tried. I also decided to not eat or drink anything else for the one hour following my eating of the candy so as not to potentially mess with the chemistry involved.

I ate one of the rose candies first. It was disgusting. I am often enchanted by a hint of rosewater in a dish and I love middle eastern desserts that contain it. But in this case, the candy, which was a chewy gummy center that tasted of fruit surrounded by a harder candy shell that seemed to be doused in an oily rose perfume. I can safely say that there is never a time when I feel like ingesting perfume. It's not a flavor I crave. So right away I was pretty grossed out.

I waited the hour and then tried to see if I smelled like vanilla. I couldn't really tell. I thought I maybe might smell something, but I wasn't sure. If I did, it was very subtle. So subtle that it could just as well have been my mind playing tricks on me. Unfortunately, my husband was suffering through a cold and had no sense of smell temporarily. So he was no help. I tried to get my dog to sniff me to see if I could discern any changes in his behavior that might indicate a different smell, but we were in the kitchen and he insisted on sniffing the floor instead for stray pieces of food that may have dropped.

As I was getting ready for bed, I found that if I put my nose directly on my arm and sniffed, I could definitely smell a smell. But it didn't smell like vanilla, although I couldn't put my finger on what it did smell like.

The next day I tried eating two citrus flavored candies. These were much more palatable as they tasted kind of like chewier Lemonheads. I waited the requisite hour again. Still I failed to be surrounded by an aura of lovely vanilla aroma. This time, if I directly sniffed my skin I could sense the same smell, a little stronger. It wasn't vanilla, and it wasn't a bad smell, but it wasn't necesarily a smell I would go out of my way to have. It was a little fruity and a little musky. Then suddenly I realized that I don't often take a big whiff directly off of my skin. What if this was just the way I smell and I never noticed before?

So the next day I ate no candies and smelled my skin at certain times throughout the day. It was pleasantly neutral smelling to me. So my natural scent is not fruit/musk. That's nice to know.

That was enough evidence for me to put the scent down to the candy and to decide not to continue with the experiment. Although it did seem that the candies created some type of scent, it was not a vanilla scent and it was not an awesome enough scent to be desirable. Plus, I was afraid that if I at more of the candies, the scent would turn from "not bad" to "gross." And that would be my nightmare.

Comments

Chubbypanda said…
What? That was the experiment? I demand a better structured test under more controlled conditions! (^_^)

- Chubbypanda
KT said…
As soon as I get a science lab in my house and hundreds of willing volunteers, I am going to get right on that!

Or, if someone will give me a grant to study it.

Unfortunately, this is what you get when it's for free and in my spare time.
Anonymous said…
Perhaps one needs a little Asia DNA in order to release the linalool! its going to be a fun 21 days....

Tell the guy with the cold, I'm watching USC kick Beezerkly's behind (with a little help from the refs)
Well I for one am happy that you have completed the experiement and nobody got hurt. Put the candy down and walk away while your ahead and go the Grove with your boys. We were there yesterday and saw "Stranger Than Fiction." AWESOME movie.
Anonymous said…
As an addendeum I did some more research and figured out that the faint "fruit musky" smell I could smell when sniffing my skin directly was actually my Body Shop Grape Seed Body Scrub and not even the candy. So I have serious doubts that the candy does anything at all.

I, alas, will not be attending the Grove today as they are doing their horrendous Christmas tree ceremony. And I am afraid that not even the prospect of a Hall and Oates mini-concert can bring me to pay money to walk into a place I go so often for free. I may hit up the Farmer's Market, but that's as far as I will go.

But it's possible I will go see Stranger Than Fiction today.

I was at El Coyote last night, by the way, and thought of you Mr. Acme. It's really hard to go to El Coyote when you're on detox. I had two waters while everyone else had margaritas. Sad KT.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
Hi. I suspect that the reason you couldn't tell what the scent was that you were smelling is because you were trying to smell vanilla, for some strange reason. The rose-flavoured gum is supposed to cause your body to give off a slightly rose-flavoured scent. The citrus, logically, is supposed to give your body a slightly lemony smell. It isn't supposed to act as perfume, either. It is supposed to make your armpits (and other unmentionable areas) smell unoffensive after exercise.

Cheers.
Meushnei said…
One should also consider acclimatization. Although sometimes people can smell some things on themselves, this is not always the case. I'd really like to hear about a few other people smelling the chewer.

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