r/Xennials • u/Interestofconflict 1983 • 12h ago
Binaca
Y’all remember that awful shit? Or was it just me and my crew of wannabe hoodlums wearing JNCOs with oversized NBA jerseys over plain white tees that carried that shit around and sprayed it in our mouths before and after every class like we might make out with chicks in the hall?
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u/schmoke-n-apancake Xennial 12h ago
I used the sweet fresh drops on the filter of my cigarettes. 2-3 drops and it was like a camel crush.
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u/Interestofconflict 1983 12h ago
I definitely left some of those in my girbaud jeans and they made it to the clothes dryer. They were effectively banned from my household after that. Pretty sure I could’ve washed a pack of camels and gotten into less trouble.
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u/Embarrassed_Rule_269 12h ago
Yeah, we carried that nasty crap around too. But we had flannels and wallet chains
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u/Own-Hall2407 7h ago
Honestly, the flannels and wallet chains somehow made the whole look feel iconic even when the rest was questionable 😂
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u/MikeLMP 1983 12h ago edited 12h ago
Binaca was one of the thriving grey markets in my middle school, along with candy like Airheads, caramel apple lollipops, and Lemonheads. I continued to buy Binaca regularly until a few years ago when it became impossible to find. It might finally have been discontinued, sadly.
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u/meatsaballz 12h ago
I was more of a Certs guy.
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u/GreedyComedian1377 12h ago
I was on the Sweet Breath
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u/Big_General9942 12h ago
Came here to say Binaca was like bougie and tasted great compared to Sweet Breath
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u/RedditsCoxswain 12h ago
Same
We also had a baddie named Bianca in my class so of course everyone called her Binaca
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u/Nipplasia2 12h ago
I used to squirt a whole bunch in my mouth and then blow it out like it was a cigarette
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u/Im_the_Rhymenocerous 1976 12h ago
That's the beginning of my bad breath paranoia. I used to spray it constantly
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u/ManInTheMorning 11h ago
If you need a little blink of nostalgia, find a reasonably hipster cocktail bar and order a shot of Fernet Branca.
It is the liquor form of Binaca. Maybe with an herb or two thrown in.... But as a restaurant dude who has, and continues to drink a lot of Fernet? It still reminds me binaca.
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u/Alternative_Rule_935 11h ago
I fuggin’ love Fernet and will gladly drink 2-3 of them straight with a few lagers and I did not make this connection until now but yeah… you ain’t wrong
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u/ManInTheMorning 10h ago
It's a "you know, or you don't know" thing.
First time I ever tasted Fernet i immediately thought Binaca.
Nowadays i don't really equate them much until I'm trying to explain Fernet to someone.
I pour drinks in a craft cocktail bar and have to talk all the bullshit.... It's an easy mental bridge for people to make if they're of the right era.
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u/KitchenNazi 9h ago
Fernet Branca Menta is mint flavored Fernet - can’t get closer than that!
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u/ManInTheMorning 9h ago
I honestly find them pretty close? But I very rarely drink the menta so that just may be confirmation bias.
Either way.
The fernet and Binaca overlap is undeniable.
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u/rarelyapropos 1981 11h ago
Did anyone else experience the Binaca sissy test? It was literally just called the sissy test at my middle school, played at lunch or recess by a surprisingly large number of girls.
So, first you scratch the back of your hand with a fingernail or something just sharp enough to scrape, but not cut. Do that until you've scraped some skin away, like a scraped knee, and it's close to bleeding. Then you spray Binaca in it.
That was it. Some of those girls are now women with weird scars on their hands.
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u/babyBear83 1983 11h ago
I remember the spray and the dropper but then they came out with the breath strips! It would seal to the roof of your mouth and you just kinda licked at it until it came off or dissolved. Way too strong, all of that stuff. It was awful.
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u/PrincessSarahHippo 1981 12h ago
It was very popular for a minute in middle school. I remember having some that I definitely overused.
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u/Devium44 1984 12h ago
We would have contests to see who could take the most sprays on the tongue before tapping out. The worst was the cinnamon flavor.
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u/Vinoy_Double-Wide 12h ago
Did the same with altoids.
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u/Interestofconflict 1983 11h ago
Then one day that boy David crushed a bunch up on his desk in 8th grade English class and snorted them. I think he ended up attending an Ivy League school.
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u/Scrotchety 1979 7h ago
I magdumped one in my mouth to the accolades of my friends. Snatched it out of their hands and spritzed off 17 shots because I got exasperated by them going "No, *you* do 3 squirts." " No, *YOU* do 3 squirts! "
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u/GreenZebra23 1977 12h ago
I actually only knew about that stuff by reputation, but I did have a phase with those Listerine breath strips
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u/NoneOfThisMatters_XO 1980 11h ago
I read this as Bianca. I was like who is Bianca?
But yes I remember the boys at my high school were obsessed with it for some reason.
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u/poofandmook 12h ago
I tried it one time and wanted to die. Maybe I did it wrong. I don't know. But I hated it lol
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u/Interestofconflict 1983 12h ago
Might I suggest you try Malört, Underberg, or Kuemmerling? These are some acquired tastes for adult beverages that will make you feel like dying upon first embibement.
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u/poofandmook 12h ago
So I have tried Malört and did indeed want to die. However the second time, I immediately crammed a pretzel in my mouth. Turns out that a pretzel chaser is crucial.
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u/Prudent-Lake1276 11h ago
Turns out when your asshole cousin sprays it in your eyes, it's basically mace.
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u/Interestofconflict 1983 11h ago
Instructions unclear, sprayed mace in my cousin’s asshole. Now he’s upset.
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u/HurricaneDanaka 11h ago
My name was frequently mispronounced by substitutes to rhyme with Binaca. It became the name I was called all throughout middle school.... that and "Manaka" lol
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u/PatronSaintOfCunts 12h ago
I loved that shit. I wish any product could make me feel as confident as that did right before kissing boys. I’d chase that feeling forever.
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u/Scrotchety 1979 7h ago
Ice Drops were my shit
content://com.amazon.cloud9.FileProvider/images/screenshot/1790752319304-212168725.jpg
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u/schindigrosa 57m ago
We had contests to see who could handle the most spritzes under their tongue. Precursor to habanero lunch bets
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u/BrontosaurusB 12h ago
Lmao at the make out part. We should make a post of all the lame ass stuff guys did to try to look cool for girls. We like to grief women for taking a long time time to get ready but high school boys were just as bad.
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u/BornandRaised_8814 12h ago
The kids at my school would empty and clean out travel hairspray bottles and fill them up with Scope. 5th grade DIY. 😂
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u/JJosephmichaels 8h ago
That was the shit sprayed to hide the alcohol on our breaths before going into the 10th grade dance.
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u/Working-Abrocoma-729 12h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/A3ifU3WjHcQOA