Japanese Makeup: Must Buy Japanese Cosmetics
Japanese cosmetics have effectively won over numerous big name makeup artists, Hollywood celebrities, fashion's top models, and regular cosmetic clients have additionally progressively begun to browse Asia for beauty items to add to their makeup list. Whether you are looking for an eye makeup, cleansing oils, pressed powders, lip products, or makeup tools, there are a lot to choose from across Japan’s cosmetics brands. If you are getting confused on which products to prioritize in buying first, see below for a short guide on Japan’s must buy cosmetics:
- Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation: This is a sheer to medium foundation with dewy finish. This famous Japanese water-based foundation is kind to the skin and will not cause you any breakouts. Learn more about Koh Gen Do and Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation on the latter part of this article.
- Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil: You may already know that Shu Uemura’s Cleansing Oils are considered cult products in the beauty industry. The Cleansing Oils have a huge following around the world. It can remove waterproof makeup and at the same time clean dirt that is not visible to the naked eye. With its wide range of cleansing oil, you will surely find the perfect cleansing for you! You might also want to try Shu Uemura’s Cleansing Oil Shampoo for normal hair.
- Shiseido Perfect Rogue Lipstick: It is easy to love the smooth consistency of this shockingly delicate lipstick. It is anything but difficult to apply, skimming over the lips fluidly just like a lip conditioner. The rich pigment of the lipstick stays put for two or three hours without drying your lips.
- SK-II Facial Treatment Essence: This treatment essence is another cult favorite from Japan. The SK-II Facial Treatment Essence contains Pitera, an anti-aging ingredient procured from yeast. Despite its expensive tag price, this SK-II product has a huge following and is the brand’s top selling product in Japan and in the United States. You will find a lot of posts online about all the good reviews on this product.
- Muji’s Face Blotting Paper: Oil blotting paper starts from Japan and has been utilized there for a considerable length of time. Kabuki actors and Geisha's back in the days have already been using oil blotting papers. Compared to oil blotting papers of western brands, the Japanese oil blotting paper is customarily produced using abaca leaf, yet these days, it is all the more generally produced using pulp or rice paper. The best part is, Muji's oil blotting paper is environmentally friendly and naturally degrades or decomposes. No harm is done to the earth!
Koh Gen Do Cosmetics in Japan
Koh Gen Do has a very interesting history. The brand was started by Ai Saotome, a Japanese actress who got worried about the skin being covered heavily with makeup for long hours due to her line of work. Koh Gen Do started as a skin care brand founded on Asian botanicals and homeopathy. Since the outcomes and reactions were positive, Ai Saotome chose to coordinate this inventive idea into a stylish, eco-accommodating cosmetics line. Today, although Koh Gen Do is not as big as Shu Uemura or Shiseido, the brand’s products have consistently been getting rave reviews and is slowly making waves in the Hollywood scene and fashion shows. Koh Gen Do’s flagship store opened in Barneys New York in the year 2011.
The Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation is arguably the most famous and raved about a product of the brand. The sheer to medium coverage foundation is packaged in a glass bottle with a pump that makes it look smooth and classic. Although it’s packaging is not much different from other liquid foundations such that of MAC, Shu Uemura, and Makeup Forever, the Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation can surely compete with these big brands’ foundation lines. Choosing a foundation is such an individual decision. Some of you may need something amazingly full coverage or HD, while some may need something matte, and some will need light and dewy. Nevertheless, if you need something light and dewy, the Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation is a must buy for yours. The lightweight foundation has a luminous finish that will give you that glowing natural look. It is a great foundation that is kind to the skin and will improve your complexion without fully covering your freckles or moles. The Aqua Foundation might be pricey at over 4000 yen in Japan and its price even go up as much as 7000 yen in the United States, but this foundation is definitely a must buy! Always remember, a great base is the key to a beautiful makeup look! Consider it as an investment.
A Review of the Three Highest Ranking Affordable Japanese Cosmetics
If you ask anyone who had spent some time in Japan on where to go to get beauty products, they would most probably point you in the direction of the nearest drugstore. Drugstores in Japan, especially big cities such as Kyoto and Tokyo, have these big drugstores that are almost comparable to a general merchandise store with the sheer size and variety of items offered. Included in these drugstores are the very wide selection of beauty and wellness products that could intimidate even the most seasoned of cosmetics buyer. The volume of brands and items available will shock you as anything you could’ve needed is under one roof. Now it might be confusing to the average buyer or tourist as to which items to get. After all, these drugstores have been known to get jam-packed with people, both locals, and tourists, and the high amount of advertisements and buy-one-get-one-free signs plastered all over the shops can make everything very confusing. If you don’t know what to look for in these shops, the following three items are the most recommended and sought after items in the Japanese drugstore cosmetics department.
The Cure Natural Aqua Gel is the most coveted and bought skincare product in Japan. This clear gel in a bottle is so popular that it is said that one bottle is sold for every 12 seconds in Japan. This item is so popular, even outside Japan, that many people have included it into their wishlists and must-buys when visiting Japan. Most people would wonder why the Cure Natural Aqua Gel had gained such a big cult following. Its popularity rose from the simple fact that it does exactly what it says on the packaging and is sold at a reasonable price. The Cure Natural Aqua Gel is described as a gentle exfoliator that is made of natural ingredients. This product exfoliates one’s skin in a very gentle and efficient manner that can be used on all skin types, no matter how sensitive. It is also scentless, which is good for those who are sensitive to strong odors and is made from natural ingredients such as rosemary, ginkgo Biloba, and aloe vera extract. The instructions are very simple as well as one just needs to wash their face clean beforehand and dry it out. Then, gently massage three to five pumps of the Cure Natural Aqua Gel onto the newly cleaned area. Wait for a few moments for the skin to absorb it. After around half a minute, start massaging the affected area and you will start to notice milky white beads of dead skin peeling off your body. Wash and go on with any other beauty regime. Looking into a mirror after applying this product, one will immediately notice that their skin is softer in both colors and feel. The beauty of this product is that it can be applied to anywhere on the body and that the whole process can be as quick as 3 minutes to execute. It is recommended to use this product two days a week. The most reasonable and budget friendly, in terms of price to volume ratio, would be to get the 250 mL bottle of Cure Natural Aqua Gel which would cost around 4600 yen or around 40 US dollars.
The second most wanted cosmetics drugstore item would have to be mascara and fake eyelashes from Koji Dolly Wink. This is a very famous Japanese brand of eyeliners, eyelashes, and mascara. The owner of the brand, Tsubasa Masuwaka, was once a top earning Japanese model. She was very popular in her time as a model and was even called the 10 billion yen gal, due to the economic boosts her advertisements would bring to products. This brand has a wide range of selections that are very flamboyant, colorful and eye catching. For those who do not know whether or not they can pull something like this off in an everyday setting, it is recommended that one try out the Sweet Girly Eyelashes. At the low price of 2000 yen, which converts to around 17 US dollars, one can avail of these fairly tame and natural looking false eyelashes. The mascara to look out for would be the Isehan Kiss Me Heroine Make Long and Curl mascara as it only costs 420 yen, around 4 US dollars, and the quality can be compared to a 50 US dollar product. The beauty of brushing this product on your lashes is that it does so much at such at a cheap price. It adds volume to your lashes, it thickens and darkens each strand, and it stays on your lashes all night long. It even comes with a makeup remover as washing it normally would only lead to a frustrating waste of time.
The last item on this list would be the LuLuLun Face Mask Rich Moisture Type 32 Sheets by Glide Enterprise. This company has been in the beauty and wellness industry for some time now and they will make just about anything that they believe that will improve one’s skin, hair, and overall beauty. The LuLuLun Face Mask is their brand of face masks that have different properties depending on what the customer is looking for. Some are made with very traditional and normal ingredients such as aloe vera and eucalyptus. However, this company does delve into the more exotic ingredients to achieve certain effects such as snake venom for vitality, horse oil for shine, and snail juice for moisture. Th LuLuLun Face Mask Rich Moisture Type 32 Sheets are the best all around face mask. This is made with seaweed extract, yuzu citrus, and hyaluronic acid, which are all great for moisturizing skin. Many have left positive comments about this product as it leaves the user feeling refreshed and their skin soft. This box comes with 32 sheets and will only cost around 2300 yen or 20 US dollars. There is also a LuLuLun Face Mask Balance Moisture with 42 pieces of mask inside the pink box this time. Both LuLuLun Face Masks have good reviews so it would depend on what your skin would need remedy for.
Pola and Meiko: Two Giants in Japanese Cosmetics
Pola Cosmetics and Meiko Cosmetics have held the top positions in the Japanese personal care industry for quite some time now. Both have attained a global status as a source of advanced, innovative, and top quality personal care products. This might be because they are two of the oldest cosmetics companies in the country. Pola Cosmetics was founded by Shinobu Shuzuku in the year 1929, while Meiko Cosmetics was founded by Kohno Katsumara in 1948.
The names of these two companies are seen everywhere, from convenience stores and drugstores to malls and hotels. The two companies have much in common. They both take pride in the big innovations they bring into the skincare and beauty market. Both companies have their own research laboratories and departments that are devoted to gathering as much information on human skin as possible and this has been translated into products such as Meiko’s Beaute Collagen, which uses many natural ingredients that are blended together to give the user multiple benefits such as improved skin elasticity, moisturizing of dry skin, and the smoothening of wrinkles and fine lines. Pola had their own innovation with their introduction of the Bio-Active Theory, which allowed their products to nourish the skin at a cellular level.
These two companies may not be as loud in the beauty industry as other global brands, but their products have stood the test of time and have consistently shown to be at par if not better than other brands. They have successfully integrated Japanese innovation into the skincare industry and are constantly pushing the boundaries of what a product can do for the users.