# Cologne/body spray with caffeine = Huh?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cologne-body-spray-with-caffeine-huh/971486>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 13, 2022, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cologne-body-spray-with-caffeine-huh/971486 "2022-09-13T09:51:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cologne-body-spray-with-caffeine-huh/971486/1 "2022-09-13T09:51:07Z")

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I’ve seen a few colognes and body sprays that claim to contain caffeine.

Why?

Does the caffeine evaporate from the skin and give the wearer and others around them a caffeine buzz? How on Earth could there be enough to have any noticeable effect?

Or does the caffeine absorb through the wearers skin and give them a boost?

What is the point of this?  
[![](https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/abb29af3-983c-4d1c-8a70-097203f1147a_1.a72294f8c6daa99dc13090bf581fba59.jpeg?odnHeight=612&odnWidth=612&odnBg=FFFFFF) ](https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/abb29af3-983c-4d1c-8a70-097203f1147a_1.a72294f8c6daa99dc13090bf581fba59.jpeg?odnHeight=612&odnWidth=612&odnBg=FFFFFF)

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cologne-body-spray-with-caffeine-huh/971486/2 "2022-09-13T11:33:23Z")

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Through the skin, I think. The defunct but wonderfully quirky ThinkGeek used to sell caffeinated soap which purported to have the same effect.

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cologne-body-spray-with-caffeine-huh/971486/3 "2022-09-13T16:03:22Z")

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There’s a caffeine shampoo that I keep seeing advertised on TV (Alpecin) - the ad goes on about how it’s very effective, and most customers were surprised how effective it was, but never claims anything about _what the effect is supposed to be_. The style of the ad suggests it might be hair retention, or maybe sexual performance, but it’s all _nudge nudge_ here, try some of this - you won’t be sorry.

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**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cologne-body-spray-with-caffeine-huh/971486/4 "2022-09-13T17:35:08Z")

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I was getting ready to call hoax when I ran into this [article](https://coffeeaffection.com/can-caffeine-be-absorbed-through-skin/) that sounds authoritative. It talks about caffeine patches, which is different than caffeine cologne.

“It is possible to absorb caffeine through the skin, and it’s also possible to find caffeine patches. Unfortunately, there isn’t much information about how much caffeine you can consume each day using this method.”

My guess is that it’s pure marketing hoo-ha and nothing more. As P.T. Barnum is claimed to have said…