B B Sparkling

Brand: Chocola

Cost: 144 yen

Found at: Ministop

When I first came to Japan ten years ago, there was a huge ad campaign around B.B. Sparkling in which they claimed that drinking it would make you beautiful. For several years, I was sure that this could not possibly be true and that I was misremembering it, but when I recently asked my coworker about it, she enthusiastically confirmed that it was all true. Not only was this drink formulated to enhance your beauty, but it also comes in pill form which my coworker told me she used to take as a high schooler.  As she is now quite beautiful, I can only assume that it worked. It probably has something to do with the 20mg of Niacin (B3) which a cursory internet search tells me will fix my fatigue, depression, memory loss, mental confusion, headache, and – most importantly in this case – any skin blemishes or discolorations which might scar my otherwise stunning good looks. It also has a whopping 1500 mg of vitamin C and a more reasonable respectable 0.8 mg of iron, 0.3 mg of vitamin B1, and 5 mg of vitamin B6, but what these things are supposed to do for me, outside of making me more beautiful, I am too lazy to research.

Personally, I turn to this small bottle of sparkling, pink, grapefruit and peach flavored drink, not for beauty (she lied) but for physical ailments. If I am coming down with a cold, nursing a cold, or recovering from a cold, I search the convenience stores for the elusive pink bottle. If I’m suffering from a headache, acne, fatigue, PMS, depression, dry skin, stomach ache, itchy eyes, constipation, aggravation or hangnails, I’ll pick up a dose on my way home. Basically, I will use any excuse, no matter how flimsy, to indulge in an overdose of vitamin C. It doesn’t help that the grapefruit peach flavor is delicious, with only the mildest aftertaste of iron to remind you that you are drinking this for your health.

I only wish they sold it in bulk.