Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on May 2010

Courtesy of Bio International

With hay fever season behind us, we can now look forward to a glorious summer of smog, dust and all those other irritants that turn a long-suffering section of the population into sniffling wrecks. Okay, it probably would’ve been more helpful if we’d written about Bio International’s Nose Mask Pit (tagline: “99% is shut out pollen”!) back in March, but the makers claim that it’s also effective against other allergens and pathogens. And, if we were walking around with dinky plugs stuffed up our nostrils, we’d darn well expect some results. There’s also a delightfully named Pit Stopper version available, which holds in your snot too. Gross, but in a good way.

Nose Mask Pit, ¥525 for three, ¥1,890 for fourteen. Available from drug stores.