Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair is a cult product in the UK as well as in Japan. It's one of the best selling serums in Japan, and it's chosen to be the best beauty product in beauty magazines almost every year. SK-II Essential Power Essence, also, is a very popular serum in Japan. As you know SK-II is a luxury skincare brand that represents Japanese beauty brands. As SK-II is even more expensive than Estee Lauder, I had never tried anything from the brand until when I was given the serum to review on my Japanese blog a few months ago. I almost finished my bottle, so I thought it's a time for me to do a comparison review on two cult serums!
Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair
I totally understand why people have been raving about this serum. And also, why people spend quite a lot of money on this serum. Because it's definitely worth it. Apparently this super serum reduces wrinkles and lines while hydrating the skin. As you can guess from the name, it's a night serum that you apply before bed, and it helps your skin to recover from the damages it received during the day while asleep.
The scent did not impress me when I first used it, it's very subtle yet herbal and medicinal. I expected a floral scent because their products tend to smell good so I was a bit surprised at first. The texture is very loose, it goes on like a lotion when applied on the skin. It sinks in quickly, and leaves a slight stick film on the surface. It doesn't feel uncomfortable at all especially when a night cream is applied on top.
It's the next morning you notice your skin is in a better condition. It's plumped, hydrated yet not greasy or oily, and most importantly (at least to me) the pores have been shrunken. I was shocked to see how minimised my pores were when I tried it for the first time. It's definitely effective and I will continue using it until it stops working on my skin.
SK-II Essential Power Essence
Now let's talk about SK-II, A friend of mine has been using SK-II for years and she raves about the brand. People assume that it's cheaper in Japan as it's a Japanese brand, and I have no idea how much they are in other countries, but believe me their products are super expensive here in Japan as well. This serum is 16,500yen, which is about $137.5 ($=120yen). I was excited to try this out because I would never be able to afford it yet I was very curious to find out what is so amazing about it.
This serum contains Pitera, just as other products from the brand, which is full of vitamins, amino acids and minerals that work together to allow the skin’s natural surface rejuvenation process to function at its prime. Pitera is said to have a strange smell, but I didn't pick up the smell at all as this serum smells very nice and floral. To me it smells like a floral earl grey tea.
When I looked at the ingredient list, I was shocked to find out how many different types of silicons it contains. And as expected, it feels very siliconey that it almost feels like a primer rather than a serum. It's said to plump up your skin and minimises the pores, but it didn't sink into the skin at all and I didn't feel that it was working. It would just sit on my skin and stay there until I wash my face in the morning. It contains polymer that plumps your skin temporally, and it did work I think because the shape of my pores slightly changed from oval to round, which is a sign that it's plumped. But that's the only thing I noticed about my skin since I started using it. It didn't break me out but didn't do a fantastic job either. For 16,500yen serum, I was pretty disappointed.
Overall, I much prefer Advanced Night Repair because it did actually work. I ended up giving my SK-II serum to my mum and she is loving it. She says it plumps up her skin and it feels much smoother. She is 52 (yes she was quite young when I was born) and I guess that must be the appropriate age for the brand. I might try SK-II when I'm older, but if you are in your 20's or 30's, you might want to wait a bit more to spend a lot of money on their products. Just my opinion though!
John Frieda Sheer Blonde Colour Renew Tone Correcting Shampoo
John Frieda Sheer Blonde Colour Renew Tone Correcting Conditioner
I have been colouring my hair for more than 10 years now. I don't mind going back to dark brown which is my natural hair colour, but I enjoy changing hair colour depending on my mood. I never colour my hair at home, I left that to my teenage stage when I didn't have money to go to the hair salon and had no choice but to do it at home damaging my hair. I go to the hair salon in Shimokitazawa where I have a reliable hair dresser who has been taking care of me for more than 13 years now. He used to be an assistant and I used to be his model, and now he is a director and charges quite a lot of money yet he gives me a discount kindly as I was his model and I've known him for ages. I go there every 3 months to cut and colour my hair. I perm my hair every year as well.
In the past year or so, I have been requesting the same colour which is super rare for me. It's called 'Mermaid Ash' and is such a gorgeous shade. I like to colour my hair pretty dark, but as it's very thin and doesn't hold any colour agents, it gets yellowy and brassy. I hate this tone but no matter how hard my hair dresser tries, it gets yellowy within a week or so.
I decided to try John Frieda Sheer Blonde range because it looks like the range that combats the brassy tone in your hair rather than making blond hair look even blonder. I wasn't sure if it works for brown hair, because all the reviews I'd found online were by blonde girls. But I can tell you that it does work for darker hair too!
The shampoo doesn't as purple as I expected, but it's got this bluey purple tint to it. It lathers up well, and as the foam is completely white, it doesn't stain my bathtub. I put it in my hair and let it sit for like 5 minutes before rinsing it out. It has this clean, floral scent that I don't see anybody would complain about.
The conditioner doesn't have much of a colour agent, but slightly tinted. I was really skeptical and assumed that it wouldn't do anything when it comes to colour correcting, but it does work, surprisingly. When I used the shampoo and conditioner together, it worked much better than when using the shampoo with another conditioner.
However, I don't like this conditioner much because it's too light for my dry hair. My hair still gets tangled after use of this conditioner, and it just doesn't do much in my opinion. I definitely need to use a leave-in conditioner when I use this conditioner.
The photo in the left is my disgusting yellow toned hair. And the brassy tone in my hair is almost gone in the photo in the right. I only use it once or twice a week, and it works perfectly!
I was worried that it could irritate my scalp as I heard sometimes purple shampoo would make your scalp feel itchy, but this one didn't do any of that at all. It's such a mild, yet effective purple shampoo which is super affordable too!
Unfortunately it's not available in Japan but thank god feelunique carries the whole range. I hope someday they would come out with a hair mask version as well. If you have hair that doesn't hold hair colour and tends to get yellowy, it's worth trying out this range even if you are not blonde!
MegRhythm Steam Good-Night Neck Mask
You must have heard of MegRhythm Steam Eye Mask if you are interested in Japanese beauty products. It's now sold in many countries and is still popular in Japan though it's been years since its launch. I wasn't a big fan of the eye mask because it was pretty uncomfortable and I simply couldn't be closing my eyes for more than a minute without getting bored.
But a heat pad that warms up your neck to help you fall asleep? Yes please!
Apparently this is a new release from MegRhythm, and there are two types that you can choose depending on your liking. One is lavender scented, and another is unscented. I obviously chose the scented one because I love anything scented.
The box contains 14 sheets individually wrapped. It's so handy that you can take one or two out when you have a long journey waiting for you, especially on a long flight it would be super relaxing to use.
It starts heating up immediately when taken out from the bag, so I always open it when I am fully ready to go to sleep. Though the scent of Lavender is a little artificial, it doesn't bother me at all.
The temperature goes up to 40 degrees and it remains for 30 minutes, which is enough time for me to fall asleep. I put it on the back of my neck, get into my bed, and while watching one or two YouTube videos (of course beauty related ones), I just fall asleep.
It feels so good that it kind of loosens up my muscles and forces me to relax. You know it feels relaxing when you place a hot towel on your shoulders, don't you? Imagine that feeling without having to place a wet towel in your bed.
It's about 1,400 yen for 14 sheets which makes it 100 yen per sheet -not the cheapest product ever, and some people may think it's ridiculous to spend that much money on something only lasts for 30 minutes, but if you are stressed and tired like I am, you will love it. And it's so addictive that I get tempted every night to open a new one.
I strongly recommend it to those who didn't like the eye mask version, because this one feels much better and you can use your phone or PC while relaxing. Also if you have stiff shoulders, it's a must-have. I have really bad stiff shoulders that sometime feel cold because of a poor blood flow, and this kind of products always help my shoulders feel lighter.
Is it available in your country yet? Would you like to try them?
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