if you haven't read my previous post, you can read it here. anyway, i am going to go to japan next october, and while i'm putting my shopping list, i realize that that's not so many guides out there about japan products. even some of the guides are not comprehensive. so i decided to compile a long post about all the products that i've tried and give some recommendation to help people that want to buy japan beauty products. i hope it would help. i've talked about all previous step in my other post, so in this post i will cover for mask, sunscreen and eye cream. i will make another post about makeup products.

masks

let me start from eye mask. there's one that i've seen around so much but honestly, for me i like eye hydrogel patches better. but if you don't like to use eye cream and opt for eye mask instead, then you should try it. the one that i've tried is from kose cosmeport and it's quite popular there. i believe they've renewed the packaging but it's very similar, so you might easily find them (read my review here).

kose eye mask

 another eye mask that's popular there is their self-heating eye mask. it's supposed to relax your tired eyes. they have unscented ones and some fragranced one. they usually comes in a box of 5, but i bought a box that comes with all 4 fragrance variants. i have tried the yuzu and chamomile one, check my review here and here.

the yuzu steam mask

the chamomile steam mask

as for sheet masks, there are plenty of them. but if you are familiar with taiwanese masks, then you might not want to try japanese masks as they are inferior to taiwanese masks. some of japanese masks are meant to be used daily, so they're thinner and doesn't soak much in essence. some are quite thick and drenched in enough essence but it's not highly spectacular.

so, the brand that i use most is lululun. they have several line and i've tried their regular one (the one that comes in a bunch of mask, like 7 masks in a pouch, 21 or 42 masks) and their plus line (the aromatic one and the non aromatic one). from their regular line, they have the pink, white, blue, aside from limited regional edition. i have tried them all and i think the pink and blue are better. the precious one (still from the regular type, but this one is more targeted for anti aging) has red, white (but the pouch is yellow) and green and i like the white and green one. the plus line... i don't like the aromatic one because it's definitely has fragrance added and some of the fragrance are weird for me, but the essential oil blend i like the sunny days and homeo age. you can read my review about lululun masks here).

lululun regular series (pic from their website)

the precious line (pic from their website)

the new precious green (this is the 7 masks in a pack) pic taken from their website

kose cosmeport also has a bunch of mask sheet line that's marketed as best sellers, but honestly, i don't find a favorite yet from this brand. there's the babyish line which is easily recognized as it has baby picture at front. this is a 7 in a pouch type, similar to regular line from lululun. it also has 3 types, the pink, white and yellow. i've tried them all and i have no favorite. there's also another line, the clear turn line. all i can say that if you see the packaging, you will see female face wearing a mask sheet on the left and on the right is the mask name written in japanese. i think it might get renewed, but i will update you about that. the famous one would be the black masks, but let me tell you, i don't think these masks are worth buying. but if you're curious about them, you can still try it since it's quite affordable. there are two types, the premium and regular. the premium has thicker jelly essence and i think there are two types, the hyaluronic acid and the collagen one. the regular line that they called as white mask has several types that you can differentiate from the packaging color. i've tried the vitamin C (yellow), coenzyme q10 (orange), and the herbal (black mask one) but since i don't like it, i don't make effort to find the other. they still have hyaluronic acid (pink), collagen (blue), astaxanthin (red), placenta and tranexamic acid (both are purple). you can read all about kose products here.

this is some of their new line up (they change the packaging a bit, you can find out in their japan website)

there's another brand that's quite popular there for its simplicity and it's gentle for sensitive skin, it's called minon and i've tried their mask sheet. they have other products too such as emulsion and face wash, but minon is more like middle-ranged price over there, so i decided not to buy anything from them yet. but if you're curious, their emulsion is highly raved over there. as for the mask sheet, i think there are two type and i've tried the moist type. read my review here.

minon sheet mask

and if you go to donki, you'd definitely see some pure smile masks. this is like the etude house for japan. they have lots of varieties, and very cheap. and it's made in korea too. unfortunately, the regular line does nothing. all varieties feel the same and i don't notice any difference. but i like their yogurt line better. somehow it's more moisturizing. but, compared to other masks that i've said before, this one is not worth buying. you can skip this if you like. but if you're looking for mask-entertainment, they have several character masks that's not only limited to cats and dogs but also several kabuki face. read all my review about pure smile masks here.
last, you can always find some my beauty diary masks. in fact, my first MBD masks were bought in japan. so if you're looking for a trusty sheet mask, then just buy MBD masks.

eye cream
well, i have no recommendation in this area. although i have tried two of the most best selling eye creams, i don't think it's worth buying. both eye creams only offer moisturizing under eye area and does nothing else. both are affordable and easily to find almost everywhere. but if you ask me, i like the sana retinol better than the meishoku. read my review about meishoku eye cream here, and sana one here. however, there's a beauty influencer here that's recommending country& stream eye cream which has rollerball on its tip, so if i could buy one, i will try that one next.

meishoku eye cream

sana eye cream

sunscreen
i know.... you would say i should put this first! as japan is known as "sunscreen heaven". well, the famous one is obviously biore aqua watery essence and watery gel. but the japanese is known to change their formulation every 3 years, so if the 2017 version lets you down, perhaps you should try the 2019 version that everyone seems to like. i've bought the gel type but i haven't tried it, but i have tried the gel and essence from original version that everybody like (read the essence review here and the gel review here), the cool gel version which is released specially for summer (here) as well as the 2017 formulation essence (read here). they also have several base/sunscreen type and i've tried the oil control one (read here). i believe there are two other version of this base/sunscreen version. the newest that everyone seems to like is the athlizm which is a standout since the bottle comes in red. pretty far from the usual biore blue.

biore sunscreen

another favorite is shiseido anessa both the gold and silver one. let me tell you this one is really expensive, but they make smaller size, so if you want to try, buying the travel size would be more reasonable. i have tried the travel size gold one, and it's okay but it's not my favorite. perhaps if you have dry skin you'd like it better. read my review here. another sunscreen from shiseido is the senka line. somehow i only found these in singapore. i never encounter them in japan, so i don't know if this another regional product. i don't like the mineral essence one (but people with drier skin seems to like this better, read my review here) and the perfect uv gel which i quite like (read here).

shiseido anessa

shiseido senka mineral uv essence

shiseido senka perfect uv gel

another brand that makes a lot of sunscreen is kose with their suncut line. i've tried their spray which some people like for reapplying but i don't fond of the aerosol scent, so i'll try another spray (read here). i also have tried their essence (read here).

kose suncut uv essence

the uv spray

i also have tried another recommendation from other bloggers which is nivea milky gel (unfortunately i don't like it, read here) and skin aqua essence (i like the gel version better, and i will update the link after i finish my review. meanwhile, here's my thought on the essence). another brand that's targeted sensitive skin (that's why they called it "mommy" brand as it's supposed to be gentle to be used on mother and baby) is mommy and they have several sunscreen. they have milder version which is just SPF 33 that everyone has tried, but i decided to try the SPF 50 but unfortunately, i don't quite like it (read here). another sunscreen that i've tried and i think will be more suitable for dry skin is from kose sekkisui. unfortunately it does contain alcohol, so you might want to think twice. anyway, read my thought here.

nivea milky gel

skin aqua essence

mommy uv aqua milk

kose sekkisui sunscreen

lip balm
the most famous one is DHC lip balm. they have 2 versions, the original and the UV one (this one has added SPF 15). i bought the UV one and i've tried it for awhile, so i will update you on this one. but, there are other lip balm out there. for me, i like my body shop lip balm better, so i won't repurchase DHC.

left: white tube is the uv moisture right: pink tube is the original

anyway, if you're looking for japanese products review as well as ingredients list, i suggest you head on to ratzillacosme website. i can't copy their ingredients list due to copyright issue, but if you're wondering about japanese products, you can get most reliable information here. i hope this guide will help you deciding which one to get because japan can be overwhelming with their beauty products offer. during my first trip there i went shopping wildly, and the second time i shopped wiser. so, even though it's affordable and you can get tax return, better shop wisely. oh, and even though they don't speak english, make sure you screenshot the items that you want to buy and show it to the shop assistant if you couldn't find it. don't forget to say "sumimasen" which is "excuse me" when you ask them, and say "arigato" which is "thank you" after they help you. they will appreciate it. 

i will put recommendation according to my routine steps and i will try my best to link it to my review. you can basically find beauty products almost everywhere, not only in beauty shops. from drugstores to even BIC camera shop. but you won't find rare brands in those stores. usual drugstores brand you can find at don quixote (or they call it donki, and not two donki stores have the same inventory so you might want to enter every donki shops that you encounter) and matsumoto kiyoshi (again, not all shops are the same, so better roam every stores). there's also a small selection of beauty products at 7eleven, family mart and lawson. but if you want to find rare brands, you might want to peek into tokyu hands, ainz and tulpe, cosme store and department stores especially if you're looking into high end brands. different city sometimes offer different products, one of them is lululun. they make special limited edition mask for some cities, so make sure you get one if you're interested. so let's get down to the list. oh.. and i'm sorry if this post will be super long so i will separate this post into two part. read the part two here.

cleansing oil

if you're looking for a good cleansing oil, then you won't be disappointed. you can easily find good cleansing oil here. for high end brands, you might heard of shu uemura cleansing oil but i personally never tried it since it's quite expensive. and the other high end brand is DHC. fortunately, there are some sizes of DHC cleansing oil, and the travel size is quite affordable so i got the chance to try one. although i don't like it, many people love it, so you might want to try it (read my review here).

DHC cleansing oil

as for affordable option, it would be a lot, but i narrow down to three products that i have tried and like. if you're looking for super affordable, no lathering option, then you should try biore (my review here). if you're looking for the one that gives a bit lather then you should try kose softymo. they have the speedy version (review here) and the deep one (this one is similar to DHC but a bit lightweight, read my review here). they also sell the refill, so better grab one refill if you really like it.

biore cleansing oil (they have renewed the packaging so make sure to check the latest version packaging)

kose softymo speedy version

kose softymo deep version

cleansing water

if you're into cleansing oil, i also have tried several of their cleansing water, although i have not find a favorite yet. but i guess bifesta is easier to find than haruhada. bifesta has 4 different types and i have tried two of them, the bright up one (my review here) and the moist one (my review here).

bifesta moist

bifesta bright up

i also have tried two types of haruhada but i'm not sure how many version are there in the market. i've tried their hyaluronic acid one (my review here) and the collagen one(my review here). 

haruhada hyaluronic acid

haruhada collagen

facial wash

you can try different types of face wash, from powder, foam to just regular non foaming face wash. if you're looking for travel friendly face wash, maybe face powder wash is a good alternative for you. and you might've heard the famous kanebo powder wash and it comes in little pods, good for travelling but if you're concern about those plastic waste, then skip it. my review here.

kanebo powder wash

if you're looking for gentle and non foaming face wash, you should try mochitto face wash. you have to look carefully though as the face wash and the lotion bottle is similar. i found this one in tokyu hands, so you might want try finding it there first instead of usual drugstores. read my review here.

mochitto face wash

if you have net foam, then these two face wash might work better. as it need net foam to bubble up, and it will be more gentle if you bubble it up first. both are affordable, and can be found in usual drugstores. the shiseido senka perfect whip is more popular and there are several types, but i only tried the usual type (my review here) and the hada labo is underrated because people like the foaming one better (read my review on hada labo face wash here and the foaming one here).

senka perfect whip

hada labo gokujyun foaming face wash

hada labo gokujyun non foaming

i also have tried other face wash from kanebo evita (entertaining as it forms rose bubble and it's not drying so it's a good thing), and several from rosette and sana, but nothing worth mentioning as they all will give you that squeaky clean feeling. but if you're curious, you can read all my thought about them in my blog.

first essence

even though japanese brand SKII brought fermented products to global market, surprisingly, not so many other brands follow. in fact, i haven't found any other brand that makes fermented essence there aside from SK-II. i understand that it's very expensive, but i believe they also make travel size so if you're interested, you should get the travel size first. i personally never tried it as i heard several people have reactions to it, so i can't say anything. but it's a highly recommended product, so if you're curious, get one while you're there.

hydrating toner

you might be surprised that there's almost no acid toner in japan. if you said that there's hadalabo tamagohada peeling toner, then let me tell you, it's not available in japan. they have this regional products and the tamagohada can only be found in singapore and malaysia. but if you're curious, here my thought on the peeling toner here. the famous hydrating toner would be hada labo hyaluronic acid toner which everyone seems to love and the premium version. though i've never tried the premium version, i do like the regular one but not enough to repurchase as there are so many options there. read my review about the hydrating toner here.

hadalabo gokujyun toner

and if you're familiar with CSM method or dry tablet mask, you might want to buy hydrating toner that comes in a giant size. i've had two of them, one is hatomugi which is super lightweight (read my review here), and the kikumasamune one (there are two version, the light one that comes in white bottle and the moist one that i bought in pink bottle. read my review about the moist one here).

naturie hatomugi toner

kikumasamune high moist toner

there's another option from cezanne that also comes in two varieties, but i haven't tried it but i will if i could find it. there's also muji toner that people like, but i only tried the light one and for me it's too lightweight, so i will try another version if i could get it. for now, read my review about the light one here. oh, and they use "lotion" to indicate "toner". 

muji light toning water light

essence and serum

there's not so many essence and serum from japan that i like, but i have tried some of them. i prefer korean serum better somehow. the kikumasamune essence is basically a hydrating and brightening essence/serum and it comes in big size, and it has sake in it, so if you're interested in liquor-scented essence, read my review here.

kikumasamune essence

melano cc serum

and if you're looking into vitamin c serum or spot treatment, the famous one is melano cc serum. though so many people like it, i don't fond of it, so try it yourself (read my review here).

emulsion and moisturizer

okay, so they call emulsion in japan as "milk". i've tried several of them and none of them can compare to my favorite emulsion from the face shop. but if you're interested, i could line up some for you. my favorite among four that i've tried is the cutura milk that contains probiotic. unfortunately the one that i tried is discontinued but they use another strain to make the similar product, only with different strain of probiotic. read my review here.

cutura emulsion

the hada labo one is from their alpha line which contain retinol, but i think it only contains little concentration of retinol (read my review here).

hada labo alpha emulsion

the other two are from sana. sana is known for using soy as its main ingredients and there are several line from this brand too. the original one comes in white bottle, the moist one in orange one, the one with added coenzyme q10 comes in pink bottle and last one has retinol in it in yellow bottle. i've tried the pink one (read my review here) and the original one (read my review here) but honestly, i don't like them both. but i think if you live in 4 seasons-country or have drier skin than i do, you might like them.

sana haritsuya emulsion

sana original emulsion

as for moisturizer, the famous one is obviously from hada labo. people like the gokujyun one, unfortunately i bought the wrong type. i got the koi-gokujyun that also has brightening properties like shirojyun line (read my review here).

hada labo koi-gokujyun gel

my favorite is from sana retinol one (read my review here) and i've repurchased it once but i bought the big tub so it seems forever before i finish it. and now they renew it, so i'm hoping i could get the newer version when i visit japan next october. i also have tried the haritsuya (the pink one) but i seems ordinary so i don't repurchase it (read my review here). anyway, whatever you decide to pick, all of my recommendations are affordable and easy to find on any drugstores.

sana retinol cream

sana haritsuya cream

another people favorite is hatomugi gel, which also comes in tub, but i never try it. 

peeling gel

another famous product is their peeling gel. i bet you've heard of cure natural aqua gel. it's been best selling peeling gel for years. unfortunately it's not that affordable and you have to use it in 6 months or it will gone bad. you can read my review here. but if you want affordable option, there's rosette peeling gel. there are two of them, the blue one is the original version (read my review here) and the red one is the moist type that i haven't tried so i don't know what is the difference. 

cure natural peeling gel

rosette peeling gel

okay.. i think it's enough for part 1. i will try to list the rest of the routine in my part 2. i hope this list will help you to make your own wish list. if you're looking for trusted website that has japanese products review and ingredients list, you can check out ratzillacosme website. also, make sure you screenshot the picture of the products you want to find and ask for help if you couldn't find it. i hope you spend your money wisely and have fun in japan.