The company claim Perk is the ultimate wearable energy source for whatever life throws at you.

A BRACELET capable of gradually delivering caffeine hits directly into your skin over the course of four hours sounds like a match made in heaven for coffee lovers everywhere.

This is the concept for a product known as the Perk Caffeine Bracelet, which works with a similar philosophy to nicotine patches — except for coffee.

Born from a successful crowd-funding campaign on IndieGoGo, the product raised $A117,000.

Unfortunately, after using the product, I can’t help but feel sorry for the people that donated.

While I am very well aware the results may be subjective, I failed to notice any effects from the product that claims to be “better than coffee”.

Perk comes with one fashionable and durable Perk bracelet and 30 four-hour caffeine patches containing a patent-pending dry formulation.Source:Supplied

HOW THE PRODUCT IS SUPPOSED TO WORK

Perk claims to be the first caffeinated wearable with a proprietary, gradual release technology capable of delivering four hours of energy without jitters or crash.

The product requires a small adhesive caffeine strip to be attached to a high-quality rubber bracelet that is worn around your wrist — this is how the “magic” happens.

“When the patch contacts the skin, the outer layer starts melting due to human’s body temperature and will start releasing the active ingredients on the skin that will later pass through,” the company’s website explains.

“In regular, you will feel the caffeine in 20-30 minutes after applying the Perk.”

The company states caffeine is able to sneak through the skin and gain access to the circulatory system.

“The transdermal process is more effective on regions on the body that don’t have much fatty tissue blocking the way to the blood stream,” the website reads.

“This is why Perk targets the bottom of the wrist, where very few people have developed love handles.

“At Perk, we trust our formulations and product development to MDs and PhDs so can rest assured sound science is a part of everything we do.”

I mean, sure, that seems totally legit.Source:Supplied

WHAT OUR EXPERTS SAY

Sure, I could have believed what the “MDs and PhDs” from Perk said about the product, but I felt it would be better to reach out and ask a third party medical professional.

Enter Ross Walker.

According to Dr Walker, a standard cup of coffee has around 100mg of caffeine, while a cup of tea and can of coke contain around 40mg.

While the product itself doesn’t give any specifics of the dosage in the patches, the website states “one patch will deliver roughly the same amount of caffeine as a medium cup of coffee”.

So this means the bracelet should contain somewhere around 100mg of caffeine and this is where the problem lies.

“Because of the chemicals, caffeine is best absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract, which means it would require a huge amount of caffeine for it to work with transdermal absorption,” Dr Walker said.

So while it is scientifically possible for caffeine to be delivered with transdermal absorption, it needs a much higher dose than “a medium cup of coffee” for it to effectively work.

When quizzed on my experience with the bracelet, a spokesman from Perk seemed confident the product did in fact work and found it “very unusual” there was not “a mild energy boost”.

“The caffeine tolerance could vary from one person to another. We never had an intention for our product to make it ‘strong’,” he told news.com.au.

“The transdermal delivery method is more about constant gradual flow compared to fast jolt that you can get from the oral/liquid alternatives.”

This is a replacement for the Perk bracelet.Source:Supplied

WHAT OUR GUYS HAD TO SAY

Despite my own experience and the opinion of Dr Walker, I felt the product deserved a few more tests.

Here is what some of the people in our newsroom had to say:

MARNIE O’NEILL

“As a chronic insomniac with a three-year-old who wakes up three times a night for ‘cuddles’, I jumped at the chance to trial the Perk energy band,” she said.

“I used it for a week while reducing my daily coffee intake from three to one (large cups) and failed to notice any improvement to my energy levels.

“I did, however, notice a not unpleasant minty/menthol feeling where the patch made contact with my skin.”

TYSON OTTO

“I didn’t really get any kind of energy buzz. I kept waiting, but all I got was a bit of a dull ache in the wrist where the band was,” he said.

“I took it off after a while and went and got a coffee.”

CAMERON TOMARCHIO

“It was first thing in the morning, I was feeling OK before putting the band on and hadn’t had a morning coffee yet,” he said.

“Within half an hour I was yawning at my desk. I’m not necessarily saying it made me feel more tired, but there was certainly no energy lift.”

Would you go out of your way to purchase this product? Continue the conversation in the comments below, or with Matthew Dunn on Facebook and Twitter.