Deoco by Rohto: body wash and deodorant with the scent of a Japanese schoolgirl?

The bare minimum a body soap should do is leave you feeling fresh and clean. Added skin moisturising, yeah that’s useful. Easy-to-use pump bottle instead of an awkward screw cap, saves you time. Funky colour, all good if it’s not staining your bath.

But ultimately, what you want after a wash – what we all want – is to smell better.

With Deoco, you’re gonna smell… younger.

What the hell does that mean?

Yeah, that’s what we said too.

Deoco is a Rohto brand, aimed at women in their 30s and up.

Rohto’s claims about Deoco making you smell younger are backed up by weird, maybe ageist science. Over 80% of women they surveyed said they’d noticed their own body scent changing as they got older.

Apparently women naturally smell sweeter and fruity when they’re young. Once they hit their 30s, that aroma changes into something called ‘adult stink’. It’s not as sweet, less like fruit and way more like… fatty acids. Ew.

And it won’t go away again. In fact, as you keep aging into your 40s and 50s, your adult stink gets even worse.

The same studies by Rohto say that the ‘young lady’ sweet scent makes a woman 74% more attractive. Isn’t that a kick in the pants for anyone who’s reached middle age already…

How did they work all that out? They got 500 women of different ages to take a bath, get clean, and wear the same clothes for 24 hours afterwards. Then… they got hold of all those clothes and sniffed them.

If you’re trying to track down a specific smell, using your nose is the only way!

All that research on women doesn’t mean men can’t use Deoco. They totally can – and they already do. Japan’s got a nickname for guys who swear by this body soap: ‘Uncle Deoco’.

When you stink, life stinks for other people

Have you ever heard of ‘smell harassment’?

Bet you haven’t, it’s a Japan thing. A legit problem, based on body odours, that’s been around since 2016.

Making sure you don’t smell like week-old trash before you leave the house is common courtesy – that’s true in any country. In Japan, rocking up in a cloud of natto breath or tobacco smoke is so not done, it counts as harassment towards anyone who has to smell you.

And it’s affecting businesses. Companies get worried that the stinky dude wearing their uniform’s damaging their brand image and reputation.

If that sounds kinda unfair, keep in mind we’re talking about a country that has a word for ‘old people smell’.

So, older workers have 2 things to worry about: if they stink or not, and how much it’s bothering the person next to them. No wonder a product that claims to bring their youthful fruity sweetness back is selling well.

The power of a not-a-secret ingredient…

Lactones!

Organic compounds made from acids. That’s the simplest way we can put it. Most dictionary explanations use all the complicated science words.

Rohto’s hard work sniffing women’s clothes led them to Lactones C10 and C11. These 2 acids are mainly responsible for sweet body odour – and for the yummy scents of peaches and coconuts.

The amount of lactones in your skin drops as you age, so year by year you end up smelling different. Rohto says this change is the most obvious when you turn 35. Any 34-year-olds reading this… we think you might be in for a shock real soon.

The Deoco range is packed with lactones, for a sweet youthful scent. An industry first in Japan? Put it this way, we’ve never seen any other skincare claim to take years off the way your body smells.

Deoco Body Cleanse

This foamy body wash will have you feeling as fresh as a high school freshman in no time.

Along with the lactones, it contains active disinfecting bacteria – isopropyl methylphenol, if you really wanted to know. That stuff cancels out any stink-making germs on your skin.

One other important ingredient’s the white clay. It’s what helps Deoco Body Cleanse get deeper into your pores, clearing out more dirt than your average body soap. And it’s not harsh like exfoliating scrubs, either. The clay’s infused with moisturising Vitamin C, leaving you with smoother skin.

Deoco Deodorant

Before we even start to explain, the TV ad should convince you to order Deoco deodorant right away. It’ll have you feeling like ‘YOLO’, ‘FOMO’, and ‘whoa what a weird advert’.

Choose between the roll-on and stick versions – if you can. They’re not that easy to tell apart from the packaging, or from the container and lid designs…

Look for the pink corner top right if you want the 30ml roll-on deodorant:

And find the top right blue corner to know it’s the 13g stick version instead:

Both types work in the same way as the body wash, replacing any underarm stink with floral sweetness. They also contain the disinfectant bacteria and the vitamin-rich white clay.

Because the deodorant stays on your skin, it keeps on working against your armpit sweat. Reviews talk about the positive effects lasting anywhere between 12 and 24 hours. That’s enough for the commute, a day at the office, and more (if you’ve got the energy).

Time to bring those lactones back

Use DEJAPAN to order Deoco’s sweet-smelling deodorant and body wash from Japan. And let us know if you’ve ever tried it before – does it work? Do you smell like a junior high school girl now? We’re super curious.