When I went to London for the first time (well, which means when I went abroad for the first time) in June, so many things excited me. The first exciting thing for me was that everyone was speaking English. I know it sounds stupid but it was my dream come true as I had been studying English by myself for more than 10 years. The landscape amazed me, houses look totally different from Japan, I was so busy being excited. One of the most fun places to go was a supermarket and a drugstore. Everything looked different from Japan in there, and I was there looking around for more than an hour I guess. Anyway, cut the long story short, I thought it would be interesting for you all to see what Japanese drugstores look like. So that's the theme of today's post, a drugstore tour!
Japanese drugstore brands called MAJOLICA MAJORCA and Lavshuca. Majolica Majorca is more popular than Lavshuca I guess, I only have tried their mascara a long time ago.
Milky is one of the most famous candies in Japan. It's like a soft milk candy and it's described as "Mummy's taste (ママの味)" meaning it reminds you of your mum....well it sounds gross, does it mean it reminds you of your mum's milk? It's so weird if that's what they mean, why do we need to be reminded of that? Anyway, this is hand cream with Milky's scent.
Hair styling products.
And the shampoo and conditioner section.
Apparently Reveur is the best selling drugstore shampoo and conditioner at the moment. I've tried the green one at the left, and it smelled so nice but my scalp got itchy and I stopped using it.
This is the bath salts section. Bub (バブ) is one of the most famous bath bombs in Japan. I haven't used it for more than 20 years I think. They smells of chemical in my opinion. Japanese people generally love taking a bath so bath salts and bath soaks are essential.
You know what they are? Yes, masks! I know it looks weird for you all but we do wear them like crazy. I wear a mask every day as I don't want to catch a cold from a stranger in the packed train. I don't wear it in summer much just because it's too hot but it's definitely a winter essential.
It's the makeup section. This drugstore didn't have many makeup products though.
Some bodycare products called Happy Bath Day. I've never used it but I have tried it on the back of my hands before and it has a really girlie rose scent.
Sorry I didn't get to take more photos especially of the makeup products, this drugstore just didn't have a large selection. But hope it gave you an idea what the Japanese drugstores are like! Thanks for reading <3
Nourish Protect Gift Box £45.00
Can you imagine how excited I was to receive this box? Every time I unwrapped something, I was literally screaming like "Oh my gosh, how pretty it is?" "Oh my gosh, it's amazing!!" all by myself. Don't you think that the box looks so pretty? I really love the design which is simple yet colourful. Love it.
Nourish is a British organic beauty brand. They use organic ingredients as much as they could and it's written clearly on the bottles how much percentage of organic ingredient are used in the product. They have four different ranges for different skin types. Relax is suitable for sensitive skin, Balance is for oily and combination skin, Radiance is for normal skin and Protect is for dry skin.
Mine is Protect which is suitable for dry skin. It contains Vitamin C which helps protect the structural proteins of your skin as well as collagen and elastin from free radical damage. It also contains Orange and Mandarin essential oils.
These are the items come in the cute box. I'm going to introduce them one by one here.
Protect Refreshing Cleanser
This is a gentle milky cream cleanser which removes dirt and makeup. According to the direction given by the brand, you're supposed to apply it on a cotton pad and sweep over the face. I tried that way but it kind of irritated my skin because the consistency didn't seem to be right for using on a cotton pad. It doesn't sink in like water cleanser, or it doesn't stay on the cotton pad to prevent friction like cream cleanser does. So instead I apply it on my palms, cleanse my face and rinse with warm water. It smells absolutely amazing. It smells just like fresh orange juice, a little bit zesty and bitter, and so refreshing. It's the best cleanser in the morning because whenever I wash my face with it, it wakes me up with a happy feeling! But the only downside of this cleanser is the pump. It's too weak and I have to put more than 10 pumps on my palm to cleanse my face without friction. Also it doesn't remove makeup much so I need to remove my eye makeup first with BIODERMA. I would have a smudged eyeliners and eyeshadows under my eyes if I don't do that in advance.
Protect Cooling Toning Mist
The bottle looks identical to the cleanser. It's got the pump so you can spray it directly on your face. I actually spray it on my palms and apply it on my face because the spray is a little bit too direct, I wish it was more like mist than water-jet. It smells very nice too, it's just like orange juice for skin! It's not the most moisturizing lotion in the world but it prevents dryness pretty well and makes my skin soft.
Protect Replenishing Peptide Serum
I love the bottle of this product. It's the frosted glass bottle which is smaller than the other two but definitely heavier. It's the serum which locks in moisture and protect skin from dryness. On their website this product is described as "Nourish Peptide Serums feature skin-smoothing tripeptides and ultra-moisturising hyaluronic acid, combined with scientifically proven natural extracts to deliver an intense nutritional boost".
It's got this loose gel-like-texture. As you can imagine, it spreads really quickly on my skin. But it's almost too slippery and slimy, it takes more than 30 seconds for the serum to sink in. I keep massaging it into my skin until it stops my fingers, which is the sign that the serum has sank in, but then my skin becomes so gloopy somehow. I have to wash my hands after using it because otherwise everything I touch gets gloopy. Although my skin feels pretty smooth in the next morning, I hesitate to use it at night because I know it takes long to apply. It's really a shame that the texture is not very good because it seems to be effective.
Protect Hydrating Moisturiser
Again, I love this packaging. It contains Vitamin C and plant oils such as organic rosehip oil, organic sunflower oil, organic orange and mandarin oils, to moisturize skin.
It's pretty thick cream which smells absolutely amazing. It does moisturize my skin but it just doesn't sink in much. It stays on my skin surface for a pretty long time and even though the cream is on my skin it makes my face feel dry. It's a weird feeling really. It doesn't actually dry out my skin but it feels like so. Weird isn't it? But what I love about this cream is the scent. This is the best smelling cream I've ever used. And it's not an artificial fragrance!
Over all, I really love the concept, packaging and scent. I hope they develop the texture of each product to make it comfortable and easy to use. I'm very curious about their bodycare products, I cannot even imagine how amazing it would be to wash / moisturize my body with their wonderful scents! I strongly recommend their products if you love natural scents.
Have you tried their products? What did you think? :)
Ruam Ruam Herbal Fresh Soap - Lavender 1,575yen
This unique looking soap developed and made in Japan caught my eyes immediately after its launch, although I didn't have a chance to buy it until when a friend of mine gave it to me as a gift. It really does look like a glue stick, I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't told so!
Basically you rub it against the net type of thing (it's called washing net here, you know the one looks like a bath lily for your face!) and foam it with a bit of warm water. I usually hate foaming soap because it's a bother and I just don't feel like my face is washed and completely clean after washing with foam. But it's quite fun to foam this soap because of the relaxing scent first of all, it smells of natural Lavender which is absolutely soothing. And another big reason is that the foam is much thicker and bouncy if that make sense. I'm going to show you what foam looks like!
How exciting it is to create this much foam!
And I only used a tiny bit of the soap, now you can imagine how much of a long-lasting soap it would be. It feels so good on my skin while washing and it doesn't leave that uncomfortable feeling after rinsing my face like it normally does with other soap.
My skin feels really fresh afterwords but it doesn't feel dry at all. It contains 17 herbs to hydrate and smooth out your skin and also to prevent blemishes. There are other scents as well such as Grapefruits, Bargamot Orange, Citrus, Original which is the blend of some different essential oils and Patchouli. I love Lavender the most because the scent is subtle and not too heavy, and of course it's relaxing.
The only reason why I might not buy it myself once it runs out is that I would like just one cleanser which removes makeup because I'm really lazy :P Other than that, I love this soap! Do you use soap to wash your face? Are you interested in this soap? Let me know!
I know there are a lot of fans of Liz Earle already and I don't even have to go on and on about their products in my poor English, but I had to do a blog post about the brand as I'm so obsessed with their products!
As I mentioned in my full review and also in my October favourite post, I am totally in love with Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser. Although I don't use it every day as I don't want to exfoliate too much, whenever I use this product my skin feels incredibly soft and smooth. I think I've mentioned it too many times already here and there, so I'm going to talk about other products of the brand today!
This is one of the best lotion I've ever used. It smells like granny's makeup dresser which means a sweet and nostalgic scent. I was not a big fan of this smell at the beginning but now I'm used to it and I kind of like it. I put it on the organic cotton pad from The Body Shop, and gently place it on my cheek and press it with my fingers so that the lotion exudes and sinks into the skin. I try not to rub it against my skin because I don't want to exfoliate anymore especially after using the cleanser. So I just place the cotton pad in each area like cheeks, nose, forehead, chin and around my eyes and repeat the process.
It makes my skin very moisturized just by that. It's light and refreshing yet hydrating. I cannot describe how much I love this toner, it's just amazing. The bottle I own is the smallest one and I'm nearly finished (and now I'm trying not to use it up because I want it to be my rescue lotion that I can turn to!) but I'm sure I will repurchase it once I've finished this bottle.
And now this cream is the BEST cream ever! I know I said the same thing abut the toner but I just can't find other ways to describe my feelings towards this product! First of all, I really don't like the smell. At the beginning I couldn't stand the smell, and I even told my husband not to use it when I'm around because the smell was too much for me. It's not an artificial smell that I can't stand, but it's a mixture of herbs and plant extracts I guess, and I just didn't like the smell...for me it smelled fishy although nobody would agree with me! But anyway, my mum says it smells herbal and she liked it, so I guess it's just me so please don't be scared to try it out if you haven't used it and are considering trying, because this cream is just AMAZING.
Once I was convinced that this brand is something by using the cleanser and toner, I forced myself to use this cream at night. I started from just a little bit and once I was used to the smell I increased the amount of cream to apply on my face. Immediately I felt the difference. It was the next morning when I touched my face waking up. It felt much smoother and softer. I looked into a mirror and found that my spots on my forehead which suddenly appeared a few days before were reduced a lot. There was no pore that I could see on my cheek, my skin had never been a better condition in the past few years.
I've got dry skin but this moisturizer for normal / combination skin hydrates my skin enough which is surprising. The consistency is pretty light but it's moisturizing enough so I even can use it in the morning if I wish. As for the smell I still am not a huge fan of it but I don't hate it. I don't even care about it anymore because I am totally in love with this cream and am satisfied with the result it gives.
It's a very unique product and I couldn't figure out how to /when to use it at first. But I knew this was a very good product by reading reviews. I used it for the first time in the morning when I had puffy eyes. I didn't have much time but I put it on a cotton pad and placed it on my eye and waited for a few minutes. It didn't make a huge difference but it reduced the redness and puffiness a bit. Actually it was really good considering that I didn't do it properly which is to leave the cotton pads on my eyes for 5-10 minutes.
For those who have never heard of this product, basically it's lotion to calm your eyes area, it says "A gentle herbal lotion to soothe and refresh tired, puffy eyes and remove light eye makeup. Apply to a cotton wool pad and sweep over eyelids and lashes or place over your eyes and relax for 5-10 minutes. Eyebright is light, non-oily and suitable for contact lens wearers" on the bottle.
I'm not sure if I would repurchase it because I don't get puffy eyes often, but I heard it's really good for sensitive skin and also for those who have allergy.
I'd love to try out their makeup and bodycare products as well, I have very high expectation as the products I have tried are all very good and effective. Liz Earle is definitely the brand I would turn to when I have a trouble with my skin. Someone should introduce their products (meaning distribute) to Japan because natural / organic beauty brands are very popular here in Japan and also there are not so many products which don't contain too much chemicals yet effective.
What is your favourite of the brand? Share it with me! :)
This is the time of the month to talk about empties again! In October I used up quite a lot of products considering the fact I am a slow-user. I am going through the products I used up quickly now!
Rahua Shampoo and Conditioner
Rahua is an american haircare brand which came to Japan at the end of last year I think. Their products are pretty expensive, these are 3900yen and 4200yen, and their hair oil which I don't own costs 18900yen for 30ml botttle. Ridiculous!
But trust me, this is the best harecare products I've ever used. They contain a plant oil called rahua oil and that seems to be the key ingredient. It makes my hair unbelievably soft and silky, like it's never been. They smell weird but I just don't care because the result is absolutely amazing.
I'm very sad that I've used them up. I was given them as PR samples from a Japanese company and just loved them so much but don't think I would spend about 8000yen on haircare products. Not that I don't want to but I can't! I strongly recommend rahua if you are interested, it's so amazing.
...Oh and I apologize for the dirty bottles, I washed them but wasn't able to make them crystal clear.
moemoe Spa Treatment
Can you believe this pair of small tubes costs about 1000yen? These are hair treatment tubes for an intensive haircare. They smell amazing, like fruity floral clean scent if that makes sense. You apply tube No.1 treatment mainly at the end of your hair after wash, then apply tube No.2 treatment on top, leave it for 5 minutes and rinse. It does make my hair soft and moisturized I guess but at the same time it makes my hair flat. I liked this product but I wouldn't buy it myself.
These are sent by Zanka from Zanka talks cosmetics, and it was fun to choose which one to use depending on my skin condition and mood!
The honey one was a peel-off facial mask which I had never experienced, and it smelled just like honey!! I was like "Oh my gosh it does smell like honey and I feel like I'm Winnie-the-Pooh!" It felt a bit tingly on my skin but didn't make my skin red or irritated. I think it contains pretty high level of alcohol and maybe that is why. I really enjoyed how it worked and the smell of course, and it made my skin feel clean.
The avocado one smelled lovely too. It didn't smell of avocado and I cannot describe the scent but I liked it very much. This one tingled my skin as well but again it didn't affect my skin. Maybe it was because this facial mask is supposed to stimulate my skin, I cannot tell if it did to be honest but I really liked the smell. And the packaging is so pretty!
Caudalie Grape Water
It only lasted less than a month I guess but I can't blame it as it's only a 75ml bottle which is tiny! I used it as lotion after washing my face every morning and night. It doesn't have any smell in it and it doesn't hydrate skin too much but it was a nice product. I think it's good for summer to carry it around to refresh.
L'OREAL Paris ELSEVE Damage Care Pro
It's hair treatment in a spray bottle which you use in the shower. Basically you spray this mainly at the end of your hair after wash and rinse it off. You don't have to wait for 5 minutes to rinse as the oil sinks in quickly. It smells amazing and it does work. I will miss this product.
Caudalie Lip Conditioner
This lipbalm is one of the best ones I've ever used. I love the subtle smell of vanilla, and the matte finish it gives, and of course the fact that it moisturizes my often-chapped-lips! It really works and I actually repurchased this item recently! I recommend this lipbalm to anyone who's suffering from chapped lips.
I am not sure if I would use up more products in November as I finished quite a lot of products in October, but I will write about my empties when I have enough products to talk about for sure!
The Body Shop Organic Cotton Rounds 2.5GBP
Recently I realized that I had never paid attention on cotton pads before. It was new for me to use cleansing water such as Caudalie Cleansing Water and Bioderma Sensibio H2O to remove makeup, and also to use toner after washing my face. At the beginning I was using normal and the cheapest cotton pads that I got from drugstore but they irritated my skin hard. My skin was itching after wiped and sometimes it hurt even. I didn't want my skin especially my eye areas to get dark-pigmented by friction so I decided to get softer cotton pads.
Actually Lola from LolaStar gave me this incredible advice to get organic cotton wool pads, thanks so much Lola and this is why I love blogging and making blogger friends whom I can talk and ask about beauty! :)
Anyway, then I decided to get ones from The Body Shop. Simply because these are cheap and seemed to be good quality. These cotton pads are 100% organic which is perfect for me and also I loved the shape of them. I don't know why but I prefer round shaped cotton pads than square ones.
I really like the fact that it's got two different textures on each side. One side has got this bumpy texture which is perfect to be used to remove makeup. Another side has got smoother texture which I use for toner or lotion masks. They are so soft and smooth which doesn't irritate my skin at all, even when I wipe my eye areas on these quite hard! I love how it feels on my skin, and again I love the shape somehow :P
One bag has got 100 cotton pads which last at least a month and a half and it's only 2.5 pounds. I bought it in Japan so it was 368yen which is a little bit more expensive than the UK retail price, but there's not much difference. I am sure I will repurchase once I've used up two bags of cotton pads that I have now!
Have you tried organic cotton wool pads? What kind of cotton pads do you use?
Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser 14.25GBP
To tell the conclusion first, this is the best cleanser I have ever used. I always thought cleansing was a boring step of skincare because whatever you use it doesn't make a huge difference unless you have an allergy to the cleanser you're using or something. I thought cleansers cannot be effective and powerful enough to change your skin. But this cleanser from Liz Earle, the British beauty brand makes effective cosmetics with natural ingredients, changed my mind completely. Cleansers CAN be effective and powerful enough to change your skin.
This starter kit comes in this bag which makes it easy to carry it around to a trip or a gym / yoga classes if needed.
Inside of the bag it's got two muslin cloths and a bottle of cleanser. This one is the 100ml pump bottle, and there is the 200ml tube as well which is 24 pounds itself. I personally like the pump bottle better because of how it looks nice. But the only downside of this bottle is that you cannot tell how much is left in there. I wish there was a thin and clear window on the side so that you can tell when to repurchase another bottle.
The official website says "Phase one is the cleansing. Free from mineral oil, it has a rich and
creamy texture and swiftly removes all traces of face and eye make up,
even stubborn mascara. Phase two is the polishing. Polish off the cream using the pure
muslin cloth to gently dislodge dead skin cells and help reveal clean,
soft and radiant skin" So basically this removes makeup, cleanse and polishes your skin!
I place one and a half pumps of the cleanser on my palm and gentle massage into my skin. I always remove eye makeup off with Bioderma or Caudalie's cleansing water beforehand because it clouds my contact lenses, so I only use enough amount to remove my foundation and dirt. If you wish to remove your eye makeup only with this cleanser, I guess you need two pumps.
This cleanser has got this rich and creamy texture which feels good on my skin. Also the herbal scent is very relaxing. It smells of Eucalyptus mainly, it also contains Rosemary and Chamomile. It reminds me of air in the early morning at the summer camp I joined when I was little, the smell of trees and greens...basically the smell of nature. It makes me want to take a deep breath while washing my face.
It spreads well over my face, and because it smells very relaxing I don't mind massaging for a while. I usually take about a minute to massage realistically and removes the cleanser with the wet muslin cloths. I like to wet the cloths with hot water, and place it on my face and steam it for about 10 seconds after the cleanser is removed. It's really relaxing!
Right after I dry my skin I notice the difference. My skin is softer and smoother obviously, and all the bumps and unevenness are completely gone. Because of this cleanser my skin has been in the best condition ever. It's like a baby's skin, and I don't even need foundation to cover up as my pores became smaller.
Last weekend I stayed at home without makeup on, so I didn't use this cleanser because I didn't want to waste it. Then after 2 days my skin got a little bit bumpy and lost suppleness apparently. I am completely addicted to this cleanser, now I cannot live without it!!
I'm dying to try out their limited one which has got Lavender and Rose essential oils in it, it must smell amazing. It's really a shame that their products are not sold here in Japan, but fortunately I can purchase them on their official website although the postage is a bit expensive -not their fault, it's as it is... Anyway I will definitely repurchase it for sure, I might get a bigger one in tube. I'm so glad that I finally found the effective cleanser!
Have you ever tried their cleanser? What did you think about it? Let me know!
Today I would like to share my morning skincare routine! Hope you enjoy :)
Shigeta Awakening Radiance Mousse
I wrote the full review
here if you're interested. Shigeta is a Japanese brand which was actually launched in France first. They only use natural and organic ingredients and are against animal testing. This cleansing foam contains fragrant rose water and rose essential oil which give a heavenly scent to it. It comes out as foam so it's very easy to cleanse your face and I just like to use it in the morning because it doesn't remove makeup and also the scent is perfect to awake my skin.
Caudalie Grape Water
This is basically just water. It's fragrance free 100% grape water. Apparently grape water is good for your skin but to be honest I haven't noticed any difference since I started using it. I just like to spritzing this fine mist after I wash my face to refresh.
Aveda all sensitive moisturizer 34GBP
I'm not going to talk about how amazing this product is here as I've written enough already before, basically I cannot live without this product. The end.
Weleda Wild Rose Smoothing Day Cream 13.95GBP
I received this product from lovely Zanka from Zanka talks cosmetics, and I've been loving it so much. It's the perfect day cream which is light and yet moisturizing, with this amazing rosy scent. It moisturizes my skin just enough and I love it!
Devita Solar Protective Moisturizer SPF 30 $14.15
Read full review here! I love this creamy texture so much, it's easy to spread and feels like it gives a thin veil over my face to protect it from the sun. But recently I realized that my waterproof eyeliner transfers to my eyelid when I put this cream on my eyelid. So if you're considering getting this cream avoid your eye area otherwise it ruins your makeup! And the reason why I use Weleda's cream before this one is because it dries out my skin a little in this colder season. It might be too light for dry skin.
Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream 20GBP
Full review is here. This is my favourite eye cream ever! I love the pump because I don't have to scoop using a spatula like I used to do. The pump bottle makes it much easier to apply eye cream a few times a day. This cream is perfect under the makeup because it's very light-textured and does sink in quickly. It makes the skin around the eye area very smooth which prevents a concealer to get cakey. I also love the lovely scent in the morning :)
What are your morning skincare essentials?
BIODERMA Sensibio H2O 840yen
I think it was a couple of years ago when I heard about this product for the first time. I heard it was good and was one of the biggest-hyped products at that time. And recently I've been hearing and reading about this product so much again here and there so I thought I should give it a try. This small bottle (100ml) was supposed to be 1260yen but it was on sale at the time I picked it up. Still 840yen for this small bottle is a joke but I just wanted to try.
Recently I realized that I rub my eye area quite hard when I wash my face to get rid of mascara and eyeliner, and that could have been one of the causes of my dark circles. I thought it would be nice to use this type of cleansing water to remove eye makeup first using organic cotton pads so that I wouldn't be too harsh on the area while washing.
Look how tiny the bottle is!! It would be very good for travel, you can even bring it on flight as it's 100ml. I soak a cotton pad with Sensibio H2O and gently wipe my whole face before wash. I normally use 2-3 cotton pads to remove makeup including my eye makeup. I don't mind leaving a bit of my foundation on my skin because I wash right after using this anyway.
I was surprised how easy it was to remove makeup using this product as if it's melting my makeup or something. The only thing I don't like about this product is the smell. It doesn't have any perfume added but it does smell of the ingredients, like a chemical smell. I don't know how to describe the smell but I just don't like it at all. I have to run to the bathroom to wash my face right after using this, because I cannot stand the smell! I really wish it had a nice relaxing scent like Caudalie Cleansing Water, that would make the process much more fun.
Overall, as everyone says, it is a good product which does its job. But I won't repurchase it simply because it's too expensive for quality and I didn't like the smell. Skincare is something I want to enjoy, and I have more other choices for cleansing water which smell nice and does its job.
I would like to try cleansing water from other brands,do you have any recommendation for me?? What is your favourite? :)
