My goodness, it's been over a year since I posted! Fortunately, Japan has not strayed far from their beloved skincare, so last year's bests still apply (mostly). However, today I'm going to talk a little bit about some of the things I use for my own personal skincare - stuff that I've been using for a long time, and that I love.
Oil Cleanser: Kracie PureNavi Cleansing Oil
Cost: Around $12 from my local japanese market.
Pros: Nice faint smell, rinses clean, gets everything off
Cons: None (yet)
Review: I started PureNavi because I wanted something cheaper than my (beloved) Fancl Mild Cleansing - something that costs around $25 for me, which is a lot to spend (even though it lasts for a long time). PureNavi is Kracie's sensitive line- there's no SLS, mineral oil, parabens, added fragrance, etc. The cleansing oil uses grapeseed oil and has lemon and grapefruit extracts, perfect for my normal to oily skin.
Face Wash: Shiseido Pure Whip
Cost: Around $10 from my local japanese market. You can also find this on adambeauty.com
Pros: Nice foamy lather, rinses clean
Cons: Slightly drying
Review: I originally bought Pure Whip because it'd been best of beauty (or at least in the top 10) for a few years - thousands of japanese women can't be THAT wrong. It foams up to a nice creamy lather, almost feeling like shaving cream on your face. Seriously cushiony and luxe. It does dry me a little, even though it has no SLS that I know of, but it rinses very cleanly and leaves my skin feeling super soft.
Toner (Lotion), Milk, Cream: Juju cosmetics Aquajuju
Cost: Between $15 and $18, depending on the product. You can find them on adambeauty.com
Pros: No mineral oil, alcohol, parabens
Cons: Moisture milk feels slightly sticky, takes a little while to sink into skin.
Review: I've been using aquajuju for a few years now and I LURVE it. Seriously. If I could be in love with a series of products, these would be the products. There are three types, all formulated with hyaluronic acid - plain, whitening with vitamin c, and collagen infused. I've switched back and forth over the years, depending on what I feel my skin needs - the vitamin C line is easily the most comfortable for me, then the collagen, then the plain. However, all three are really nice. They're formulated without mineral oil, scent, or extras (with the exception of the creams, which have dimethicone as a thickener). The only con is that they do take a little while to sink into skin unless you hold your warm hands over it for around 30 seconds. But the results are flawless: gorgeous skin without any of the extra unnecessary fillers.
I realize this post has no pictures, but that's because my beloved digicam is broken T_T However, you can google any of the above and find plenty of pictures of these products!
Otsukare~
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Friday, January 23, 2009
Best of Biteki 2008 continued...
Hello addicts!
Man, that sounds kinda bad. At least we're addicted to something healthy, right?
...Well, anyway, let's keep going with the best of Biteki! I'm going to be adding images and prices of the products I'm talking about now, please keep in mind that these prices are for the SMALLEST size available.
Best of Biteki 2008 Skincare
Cleansing
1. Fancl Mild Cleansing Oil
$21.95 through Fancl's own website, various prices elsewhere.
2. Shu Uemura High Performance Balancing Cleansing Oil Advanced Formula
$28, available through the Shu Uemura website.
3. DHC Deep Cleansing Oil
$12.50, available through the DHC website.
4. Ignis Cleansing Cream
I have yet to find this ANYWHERE. It's not on ebay, not in any of the stores I frequent - all I can find out is that this is a high end brand not found in drugstores.
5. Orbis Cleansing Liquid Oil Cut
$26 on IchibanKao.com
Washing
1. Shiseido Perfect Whip Foam
Found all over the place - Amazon, beautykat, ebay, all sorts of places. Usually around $10.
2. Fancl Washing Powder
$17.95 at the Fancl website.
3. Sofina Beaute Facial Cleansing Beauty Essence
$35 at IchibanKao.com
4. Arsoa Queen Silver Soap
$40 at Neoskincare.com
4. Impress IC Shadow Clear Wash 
$54 at Ichibankao.com
Tune in tomorrow for the picks for the top 5 lotions and masks, along with prices and availability...and pics, of course!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Biteki Best of 2008
So, for those of you who don't know, I'm way into japanese makeup and skincare - well, all asian makeup and skincare, but since I live across the street from a japanese market, it's much easier for me to find the japanese stuff. This market also sells magazines - I have subscriptions for CanCam (the best fashion mag ever made), Maquia (a good makeup magazine) and Biteki (my addiction, my favorite, and the one magazine I would still find money to buy even if I was living on the street.)
So, in any case, Biteki, in their february issue of 2009, has come out with the best (most popular) products of 2008 - everything from skin care to hair care to makeup. This is basically my list of what I'm going to be buying for at least the first half of 2009! However, I know that some people may not have access to this most holy of holy lists, and even if you do you may not be able to read it. Well, never fear! I'm here to translate!!
So without further adieu, I present...
The Biteki Best of 2008
Overall skincare favorite 20
1. Albion Essential Skin Conditioner - surprisingly, this is a toner, NOT a moisturizer as the name might imply.
2. Otsuka Pharmaceutical Inner Signal Rejuvenate Lotion
3. Shiseido Haku2 Melanofocus whitening essence - a serum that includes hyaluronic acid and 4MSK complex which helps inhibit the production of melanin.
4. Kose Cosme Decorte Moisture Liposome - a moisture serum. I think.
5. Clinique's Moisture Surge Cream
6. SK-II Facial Treatment Essence - A toner that isn't called "lotion"!
6. Estee Lauder Idealist Pore Minimizing Skin Refinisher - A serum that wishes it was a primer. In fact, I used it as such with good results!
8. Ayura Bicassa Face Serum & Massage
9. DHC Olive Virgin Oil - Used as a moisturizer, this is basically cold-pressed olive oil.
10. HACCI 1912 Honey Soap
10. IPSA Preparing Clear Lotion EX1
12. Albion Exage Moist Innovation Milk
12. Kanebo Impress Brightener - A serum
12. Kinari Mask Gel - The subset of this looks to be Inhamahou, I think? I've never heard of this brand at all!
15. Estee Lauder Perfectionist CP+ Wrinkle Lifting Serum
16. SK-II Signs Treatment Totality - A cream
17. SK-II Whitening Source Derm-Revival Mask - A sheet mask
17. L'Oreal Revitalift Essence - This is a serum that is NOT sold in the US!
19. Pola Aglaira Lotion Lift Essence
20. Lancome Renergie Morpholift R.A.R.E Lotion - Also not sold in the US, this is toner.
In the next posts, we'll have the top 5 skincare items in each category - cleansing, washing, lotion, masks, essence (serum), milk, cream, and massage - as well as the top items in makeup, hair care, body care, healthy living, even perfume! With this list, you too can be up to date on the latest and greatest in japanese beauty!
A few useful terms and my own regimen
When talking about japanese skin care, there are a lot of different names for things. Lotion, milk, cream, massage, sheet masks, gel masks, cream masks, all of these crazy things! Well, have no fear, Nik is here.
A few terms that may be a good addition to your dictionary:
Lotion - Toner
Massage - A serum, cream, or oil used in facial massage, which is popular in asia. I don't do it personally, but I'll probably learn someday.
Milk - A light moisturizing lotion.
Cream - a heavier moisturizer, used to seal in everything else you've got on your face.
Cleansing oil/cream - An oil or cream used to remove makeup. It can be used as the only cleanser, but is more often used with another, foaming cleanser afterwards.
Sheet mask - Usually a liquid or gel soaked paper or cloth shaped like a face. Unlike most american or european masks, the liquid is NOT washed off after. These are my FAVORITE types of masks, they absorb quickly, feel awesome, and have instant results as far as the look and feel of your skin goes.
Essence - A serum. It's usually paired with the words "brightening" or "whitening", but not always.
It isn't unheard of to use a cleansing oil, foaming cleanser, lotion, massage, serum, milk, and cream every night, plus a mask a couple of times a week. In fact, some skin care lines encourage it!
This is my personal skin care army as of right now:
Cleansing oil: I'm using DHC's oil right now, but I want to try the Fancl mild cleansing oil.
Cleanser: Shiseido Pure Whip
Lotion/Toner- this changes: I REALLY want to try Albion's Essential Skin Conditioner, but right now I'm using Fancl Lotion
Essence/Serum - I would give my left arm to try Shiseido's Haku2 melanofocus, but it's SUPER expensive. I use Estee Lauder Idealist or Olay Regenerist serum.
Milk - Fancl milky lotion
Cream - At the moment, it's Neutrogena. But soon, I'm going to try some DHC creams, see how they work for me!
Mask - I go through various Kanebo Hadabisei varieties - most often the whitening with vitamin C or the hydrating.
Scrub - When I need one (which is rare, but it happens) I'll use the olay microdermabrasion system.
Those are the things I use now, and I really love most of them!
DHC is available at DHC.com, Fancl at fancl.com (although I get it at my local store), and most other brands at bobodave.com, gooddealer.com, or adambeauty.com.
Hello world!!
My name is Nikki, and I'm a japanese beauty addict. I'm 25 (26 in a few weeks!)
In this blog, we'll talk about and review japanese beauty - cosmetics and skincare mostly, but I'll be uploading tutorials from magazines and products I'm lemming and other things as often as possible - maybe one day I'll even expand and start doing video tutorials on the looks I post!
I hope some people enjoy this blog, and come to learn more about the products I really love!
