Fields May Be Gone, But You Can Get Fresh with Frango

By Olivia Leigh in Miscellaneous on Nov 21, 2006 5:45PM

Chicagoist is not a year-round mint consumer. We'll generally take a chocolate-caramel conocotion over a peppermint patty, and opt to suck on a strawberry bon bon over a Starlight mint.

But as the seasons change and the scarves and mittens come out of our closet, we find ourselves itching for some minty goodness. Like good Chicagoans, we've generally found our comfort in the form of Fannie May Mint Meltaways or Marshall Field's Frango mints.

Frangos, whose name was switched from the original acronym, Franco, after the rise of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco in the late 1930s, have been a popular Chiacgo staple since the early 1900s.

Now, despite Macy's floundering Chicago sales, the former-Marshall Field's treat is going into the beauty business, with big player, Philosophy, creating a Frango-scented product just in time for the holidays.

The product, called the Frango Mint Diet, will be introduced as a new scent to their popular 3-in-1 shower gels, which currently include other seasonal smells like double rich hot cocoa, pumpkin pie and eggnog. The 16-ounce bottle will be available at Macy’s for $16 beginning Dec. 1. The product can be used as a body wash, shampoo and bubble bath, so you can truly smell minty fresh all over.

The Sun-Times reports that Philosophy has deemed it “a diet you can love.” The bottle lists six steps to the diet including, "Dinner -- keep it light, eat whatever you want and include two Frango mint chocolates."

Cheesy lines aside, a minty bubble bath and a cup of hot chocolate certainly sounds like a good way to keep the winter chills away, assuming our unseasonably mild weather finally turns into a bonafide Chicago winter.