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The craze to lose weight without even setting foot in a gym is now at a new level. Forget fad cookie diets or strange slimming underwear, the newest way to lose weight while barely lifting a finger is with your perfume.

French perfume house Robertet seems to have hit the jackpot with their new perfume called ‘Prends-moi.’ The fragrance from Velds is designed to ‘slim with pleasure.’ The product is apparently the world’s first slimming fragrance.

The name ‘Prends-moi’ means ‘take me’ in French and the product is based on ‘aromatherapeutic’ and ‘neurocosmetic’ research.

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The product is supposed to release B-endorphins when it touches your skin; these endorphins make you happy and thus supposedly keep you from snacking.

The trial results indicated that 73 per cent of testers felt a feeling of pleasure when applying the perfume. That feeling apparently gives one a sense of well being and an increase in contentment. The effect sounds similar to reaching for a block of chocolate to give you that extra boost of happiness, without all the calories.

Credit: Prends-moi

In the trial, performed by BIO-EC of women aged between 18 and 70, who were not on a diet, 75 per cent felt the perfume limited the need to snack. It seems like a label of ‘anti-snacking’ rather than ‘weight-loss’ would be more appropriate for the fragrance but regardless there has already been a surge of interest in the product. The product is now available in the UK through The Fragrance Shop online.

The scent of the perfume includes top notes of bergamot, mandarin and grapefruit; middle notes of floral scents like jasmine and freshly picked lilac, and base notes of musk and vanilla. The result is a light and summery fragrance.

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While this may be the world’s first official slimming fragrance, it is not the first time people have realised the effect of scent on weight, or perception of weight. In a study conducted by Dr. Hirsch at the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, research showed that men estimating the weight of women wearing a floral/spicy fragrance estimated they were almost 2 kilos less than their actual weight. Men that liked the fragrance estimated the women were almost 6 kilos less than their actual weight.

‘Prends-moi’ also includes a ‘slimming complex’ formulated with caffeine, carnitine and spirulina extract. The ‘complex’ activates the two key enzymes directly involved in lipolysis or fat degradation.

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The other results of the trial showed that 70 per cent felt it acting on their eating behaviour and 75 per cent thought it had a pleasant fragrance and they would wear it every day. There were no available results on actual weight lost by women in the trial.

With the success of the product in the UK, perhaps also in part due to the price tag, £29.99 for 100ml, we may be seeing this interesting new fragrance reach additional countries before long. Instead of a queue in front of the vending machine, there may be a whole new plume of perfume wafting through the office.