As the rainy season draws to an end, the arrival of summer with its heat and humidity means we’ll soon be sipping on iced lattes, chomping down on endless kakigori, chilling out by the beach and enjoying those long summer nights. Whilst these are all things we can look forward to, there is one part of summer that you might not be too thrilled to see, or should we say...smell?
That’s right. Whilst the Japanese summer brings boundless heaps of fun, it also turns us all into hot, sweaty and very smelly messes.

Even sitting at home under the AC will not save you from smelling like you just ran 10 laps of a football pitch in 40°C (104°F) heat. Sure, it’s all natural, and we can accept that it happens to all of us, but when you step onto a crowded train that smells like your local gym’s changing room after a sweaty spin class, you’re going to wish for another 3 layers of mask and a nose peg.

Of course, you can always stock up on roll-on’s and body sprays, but the truth is, they’re not good for you and they don’t last very long, so those unwanted smells will start to creep back up on you in as little as 30 minutes.
Now, you’re probably thinking something along the lines of ‘well, a little bit of body odour can’t hurt, I guess we’re stuck with this for summer’, but let us tell you this...it’s not a little bit, it’s a lot, however there is also a way you can hide it.

Fragram is an odour-masking perfume, that wraps up foul smelling body odour and turns it into a much more nose friendly smell. Wish your sweat could come out smelling just like citrus, pear or berries? With Fragram that’s now actually possible; instead of trying to fight an unbeatable battle with perspiration by covering it up, the perfume actually utilises and mixes with body odours in order to ensure you will be smelling good all through the day.

Fragram’s Eau de Fragrance perfume is available in 6 unisex scents; Blanc Savon, Tea & Citrus, Fresh Water, Green & Berry, Rich Pear and Sweet Citrus.
They can be bought individually for 3,300 yen per 50ml bottle, or later this month as part of a set which includes all six scents in 2ml bottles for 1,980 yen

The scents are also available as a fabric mist, which in addition to masking smells is also able to provide sterilization*, prevent static and remove fabric wrinkles.
The fabric mists come in two sizes; 40ml for 770 yen, and 300ml for 1,100 yen.
*The fabric mist can not sterilize all types of bacteria and should not be used in place of an approved sterilization spray.

Fragram was launched back in March of this year, and is usually only available to purchase from their official online shop, but this summer you can pick up a selection of sweat masking perfumes from a number of pop up stores.

Fragram Pop-up Stores

Ikebukuro, Tokyo
Dates: 8 July – 15 July 2021
2F, 3rd Event Space, Tobu Department Store, Ikebukuro

Shinjuku, Tokyo
Dates: 15 July – 3 August 2021
2F Special Event Space, Mylord, Shinjuku

Hiroshima
Dates: 29 June – 26 July 2021
1F ‘Cool Beauty’, Sogo Hiroshima Main Building, Hiroshima